Broken rice restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City with scary name, cooks 3 bags of rice a day, customers eat all night

The broken rice restaurant has a scary-sounding nickname. It is located in a small alley, but it cooks up to 3 bags of rice a day because it attracts a large number of diners from evening until dawn the next day.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Amidst the sleepless pace of life in Ho Chi Minh City, sidewalk eateries open all night have become familiar meeting places for Saigonese.

Without flashy signs or luxurious premises, these small shops still attract customers with their own secret recipes, preserved and passed down through many generations.

VietNamNet newspaper introduces a series of articles " Sidewalk restaurants crowded all night in Ho Chi Minh City" , recording simple but famous addresses - where flavors sublimate amid street lights and the bustling breath of the city at night.

Article 1: Nearly 50 years of selling all night, the porridge shop hidden in a alley in Ho Chi Minh City attracts customers thanks to its unique recipe
Lesson 2: In the middle of the night, customers line up to eat noodles on the sidewalk in Ho Chi Minh City

The "ghost broken rice" restaurant is open all night and is located in a dark alley but is famous and has been sought out by diners for many years. Photo: Ha Nguyen

"Ghost broken rice"

Hidden in an alley on Dinh Tien Hoang Street (Gia Dinh Ward, HCMC), Huyen broken rice restaurant is open all night and has been sought out by diners for decades.

Although it is called a restaurant, there are only glass cabinets for food and many plastic tables and chairs placed in the alley. However, when the whole neighborhood is asleep, the restaurant is still bustling with customers coming to eat and buy takeout.

Mr. Tam (63 years old, owner) said that the restaurant was opened by his sister named Huyen in 1994-1995. To distinguish it from other restaurants around, Ms. Huyen named the restaurant after herself.

After Mrs. Huyen passed away, the restaurant was taken over by Mr. Tam and his wife and kept the old name. Up to now, the restaurant has existed for about 30 years.

The restaurant owner, Mr. Tam, said that the "ghost broken rice" is 30 years old. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Although its name is Huyen broken rice, over the years, the restaurant has been given a strange and "scary" nickname by diners - "ghost broken rice".

According to Mr. Tam, this nickname has been around for a long time and comes from many different reasons. Partly because the restaurant is open all night, and is usually busiest at midnight - a time when few restaurants still have their lights on.

In addition, the name “ghost broken rice” is also associated with a funny story from many years ago. Mr. Tam said: “Before, we sold on the street. At that time, there was a very famous broken rice restaurant at night called Mai. For some reason, the letter “I” on their signboard fell off, leaving only the word “Ma”. Since then, many people jokingly called it the Ghost broken rice restaurant.

After a while, this restaurant stopped operating. In the whole area, only my restaurant was left with lights on every night. Therefore, customers started calling my restaurant “ghost broken rice”.

The restaurant is famous for its delicious grilled ribs. Photo: Ha Nguyen

However, Mr. Tam’s restaurant does not only attract customers because of its special nickname. What has kept customers coming back for many years is the secret to grilling delicious ribs with a unique flavor.

The ribs here are large, thick and fragrant as soon as they are placed on the charcoal stove. Before grilling, the ribs are marinated thoroughly according to a traditional recipe and coated with a layer of honey to create a shine and a sweet taste.

When cooked, the meat turns golden brown and smells delicious. The outside is slightly charred and crispy, but the inside is still soft, juicy, and naturally sweet.

Large, juicy, soft, fragrant ribs. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Other side dishes here such as grilled chicken, pork skin, egg rolls, fried eggs, etc. are also rated as high quality and tasty. In particular, the restaurant has a recipe for sweet and spicy fish sauce, delicious and unforgettable.

In addition to eating on the spot, customers can buy to go. Depending on the dish and the customer's needs, the rice dishes here cost from 40,000 to 80,000 VND/plate.

Cook more than 3 bags of rice a day

After her night class, a female student named Minh (born in 2002) and her friend went to a hidden alley rice shop to have a late night meal. Minh became a regular customer of the shop after being introduced by a friend.

The girl commented that the restaurant had a simple space, tables and chairs placed outside in the alley but was clean and tidy. The food was carefully prepared and had rich flavors.

“I especially love the soft, juicy texture of the grilled ribs and the salty, sweet, and spicy taste of the dipping sauce. When eaten with broken rice, the aroma wafts, the flavors blend together and are delicious,” Minh shared.

A female student named Minh (left) said she is a regular customer of the restaurant and really likes the food here. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Mr. Tam shared that during Mrs. Huyen’s time, the restaurant was not well known. When he took over, he and his wife also encountered many difficulties.

However, they persevered and created their own secrets to prepare more delicious dishes. After a while, the restaurant attracted a lot of customers to come and experience.

Mr. Tam and his wife start grilling ribs and selling rice from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next morning. The restaurant is usually busiest between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., then gradually thins out and becomes bustling again from midnight to dawn.

During this time, the restaurant welcomes all types of customers: from night-goers, workers finishing or entering their shifts early, to small traders in the nearby market and even artists looking for a late-night snack.

After being highly rated by artists and celebrities, the restaurant attracts more and more customers. To meet the demand, the restaurant cooks 3-4 bags of rice every day.

The later it gets at night, the more crowded the restaurant becomes. Photo: Ha Nguyen

The owner said that before cooking, the rice is soaked. When cooking, the water and temperature must be kept at the right level so that the rice is soft and fragrant.

“Because we cook in large quantities, we use a large pot with a thick bottom so the rice cooks evenly and doesn't burn.

For the past 30 years, my wife and I have stayed up late and woken up early to sell rice. Now that my wife is older, she usually goes to bed early, and I stay up late and then go to bed early to go to the market early in the morning to get food, preparing for the next sale.

Selling food requires us to please customers, and we mainly work at night, so it's quite hard. But thanks to the trust and support of customers every night, we feel happy and forget a lot of fatigue."

“Previously, we only sold from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next morning, but now the shop is open at noon as well,” Mr. Tam added.

Unmarried, the owner of a restaurant in her 70s in Ho Chi Minh City used to sell crispy, fragrant food to support her orphaned grandchildren . Unmarried, the owner of a unique restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City used to sell steamed buns to support her younger siblings. In her old age, she sells crispy, fragrant food to support her three orphaned grandchildren.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/quan-com-tam-o-tphcm-ten-nghe-dang-so-ngay-nau-3-bao-gao-khach-an-xuyen-dem-2452521.html