Sidewalk restaurant with high prices and simple food but still attracts a lot of customers

Hot pot is certainly a dish that is no longer strange to each of us. This popular dish has countless different versions. If you are familiar with hot pot, chicken hot pot, beef hot pot... then today let's learn about a hot pot called tam tinh hot pot. This is a dish at a restaurant of the Hakka people (Hakka people who immigrated from Fujian).

Three-star hotpot is simply... a hotpot with three toppings.

"Tam Tinh" means "three stars". Tam Tinh hotpot is simply a hotpot with 3 toppings. The 3 main ingredients in this hotpot include stuffed tofu, fish cakes, and Chinese spring rolls. All are prepared by the restaurant itself.

3 toppings of tam tinh hot pot.

The broth of the three-star hotpot is simply bone broth that is clear and sweet. The three toppings in the hotpot don’t sound too special. The fish cake is made from catfish, soft tofu with pork stuffed in the middle. The most special is probably the Chinese-style spring rolls. Unlike the Southern-style spring rolls, this dish is simply minced meat wrapped in tofu skin and then deep-fried.

Hot pot of three ingredients and side dishes.

When a customer orders a tam tinh hotpot, the restaurant will put these 3 toppings in the pot, add a little bit of traditional spices, some fried garlic, fried pork fat, green onions, then add the broth and serve it to the customer. Not fussy or complicated, tam tinh hotpot just like that attracts many customers to eat. Because a delicious dish is thanks to fresh and quality ingredients. Tam tinh hotpot is such a dish.

Stuffed tofu, fish cakes and fried spring rolls are the three main ingredients of tam tinh hot pot.

Teochew yellow tofu (left photo) is also often ordered to go with tam tinh hotpot. This type of tofu has a fatty taste, the thick pieces of tofu are very delicious. Chinese-style fried spring rolls (right photo) have a chewy tofu skin on the outside, with minced meat inside.

The tam tinh hotpot is served with dried vermicelli, chrysanthemum greens, enoki mushrooms, and tofu skin. The toppings can be dipped in fermented bean curd or homemade satay.

Take a spoonful of the light hot pot broth, eat a piece of chewy fish cake, enjoy a piece of soft and fragrant stuffed tofu and a piece of spring roll with rich meat... you will realize that the hot pot is delicious enough just like that. Add some vegetables, mushrooms, noodles... and you have a warm dinner.

If you like more toppings, you can order more Chaozhou yellow tofu or pork heart, kidney, shrimp... to eat with the hot pot. In addition, dried pork belly is also a dish loved by many diners. The pork belly is simmered thoroughly and then put into the pot and stir-fried with green onions, fried onions, and pork rinds, which is also very appealing to eat.

Tam Tinh hot pot is simple but popular with many diners.

Sidewalk hot pot restaurant has high prices but is a favorite place for many families

Up to now, the Huy Ky hotpot restaurant in Cho Lon area has been around for over 40 years and the current owners are the second generation to take over. The hotpot restaurant with tables and chairs arranged on the sidewalk in a simple style is a familiar hotpot address for many people.

Located right at the beginning of Vo Truong Toan Street in District 5, you will easily see this hot pot restaurant because it is always crowded with customers. We visited Huy Ky at 7 pm and the tables were almost full. In return, despite the crowd, the food here was served very quickly.

Sidewalk hot pot restaurants are almost always full during peak hours.

A small pot of tam tinh hotpot here costs 230,000 VND, a large pot costs 310,000 VND. Side dishes such as vermicelli, vegetables, golden needle mushrooms, tofu skin... cost 20,000 VND/plate, yellow tofu skin costs 30,000 VND/piece. Additional dishes such as shrimp, meat... cost 70,000 VND/plate. Many people think that a hotpot with only 3 simple toppings is quite expensive, not to mention the side dishes are charged separately.

Hot pot dishes at Huy Ky restaurant.

Despite this, over the past few decades, Huy Ky's tam tinh hotpot restaurant has always been crowded. Many families often come here on weekends and become regular customers of the restaurant. Ms. Bich Thuy, who came here with her whole family, shared: "When my family comes to Huy Ky, they often order a large pot of tam tinh hotpot and add yellow tofu to eat with it. The ingredients here feel fresh and delicious when eaten. My kids like to eat spring rolls, so I often order a separate plate without putting them in the hotpot. This spring roll dish is delicious when dipped with plum sauce."

Chinese spring rolls are always fried fresh and hot.

Stuffed tofu and fish cakes are made from fresh ingredients.

Around 8am the shop will prepare the ingredients and at around 5pm it will start to open to serve customers. The stuffed tofu pieces are neatly arranged on trays, fish cakes are ready in boxes, spring rolls are continuously fried. In addition, in the food processing area, from the bowls containing fried garlic, pork rinds, green onions... to the places containing vegetables, noodles... are all arranged quite neatly and cleanly. The sidewalk restaurant still always brings a sense of security to customers.

Food is neatly arranged and clean.

The shop owners prepare the food directly.

In addition to tam tinh hotpot, customers here also have other hotpot options such as pig's trotter hotpot, fish head hotpot, goat hotpot, fresh hotpot... But perhaps tam tinh hotpot is still the favorite dish and makes Huy Ky's name.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/tiem-lau-tam-tinh-nguoi-he-tuoi-doi-hon-40-nam-o-khu-cho-lon-quan-via-he-gia-cao-do-an-don-gian-nhung-khach-van-nuom-nuop-den-20240618084436855.htm