This unique sticky rice with pork and peach blossom sauce stall in Hanoi requires advance reservations to secure your order.

Recently, Mr. Hoa's sticky rice with pork jowl (pork belly) in Bach Dang ( Hanoi ) has "suddenly" become a sensation on social media. However, first-time customers rarely manage to "succeed" in getting their hands on this unique sticky rice with pork jowl.

While waiting for her turn to receive her sticky rice, Ms. Hong Anh (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi) whispered her secret: "Yesterday afternoon I had to call ahead to order 3 portions of sticky rice because they only have a few dozen portions each day. I've been eating here for almost 2 years, and I always have to order in advance. Usually, I only order on weekends because I don't have time to queue or wait on weekdays."

Mr. Ho Van Hoa, the owner of the stall, is nearly 70 years old. From 1994 to 2002, Mr. Hoa used to sell pho from a mobile stall. Later, due to poor health, he stopped selling. In 2020, his family reopened the sticky rice stall right in front of the small alley leading to their house. Initially, he sold from noon to 10 pm, but recently, the number of customers has increased significantly, and by 2 or 3 pm, Mr. Hoa has already run out of stock. "I'm getting old, so I only make a fixed amount, making sure the sticky rice is delicious and of good quality," he said.

The restaurant's signature dish is sticky rice with pork cheek, with 50-80 servings available daily. Customers who want to eat it usually have to order in advance to "reserve their share".

Pork cheek meat is the inner part of the pig's cheek, with soft tendons interspersed with the meat, and less fat than the outer cheek. "When cooked, pork cheek meat has many soft tendons but is not greasy, it melts in your mouth," Mr. Hoa said. Each pig only yields 200-300 grams of pork cheek meat, so it can be said to be a "precious" and "rare" delicacy, priced from 200,000 to 250,000 VND/kg.

The preparation of pork cheek meat is quite elaborate. Once he selects the best meat, Mr. Hoa meticulously removes all the bones, including the smallest fragments, and then processes it repeatedly with salt and ginger. He marinates the pork cheek pieces with 17 different spices such as sugar, honey, mung bean powder, basil, five-spice powder, etc., including four that he "cannot reveal."

According to the owner, he doesn't marinate the meat with fish sauce because it overwhelms the flavor of the other ingredients. Each bowl of sticky rice with pork cheek costs 35,000 VND.

Besides pork cheek, Mr. Hoa also offers many other side dishes such as fried eggs, pork sausage, Chinese sausage, pate, etc., combined with pickled vegetables and fried shallots. Each portion of sticky rice here costs from 15,000 to 50,000 VND. For special portions, with more meat, eggs, sausage, etc., the price can reach 100,000 VND.

The perfectly cooked soft-boiled eggs are a favorite among many customers. The yolks are perfectly centered, neither overcooked nor runny, and the egg whites are crisp; none are overcooked. The eggs have an attractive yellow color from finely ground fresh turmeric powder. The yolks blend well with the sticky rice when eaten. On weekends, Mr. Hoa fries and sells 150 eggs. "It takes about 2 minutes to fry each egg," the owner said.

According to Mr. Hoa, he currently steams an average of 22-24 kg of rice per day. The side dishes and sticky rice are prepared starting at 3 am to ensure they're ready for sale. "For sticky rice, the rice itself is very important. The rice must be delicious, fresh, thoroughly washed, and then steamed until soft, fragrant, not mushy, and not too dry. To be honest, I buy very expensive glutinous rice. The profit isn't much, but if I'm going to sell something, I have to sell something good," Mr. Hoa said.

Ms. Oanh Thu (Cau Giay, Hanoi) visited the restaurant for the third time. After failing to get her hands on the braised pork belly twice, she messaged to place an order in advance. "The pork is truly delicious, tender, fragrant, and flavorful, but not salty or greasy like typical braised pork," Ms. Thu said. However, according to this customer, the other side dishes were not particularly outstanding.

Lately, the sticky rice stall has been much busier. On weekends, customers may have to queue for 15-20 minutes, stretching from the beginning of the alley.

The shop is located in an alley, so it's quite difficult to find. Customers should note that Mr. Hoa usually closes on the 1st, 2nd, 15th, and 16th days of the lunar month.

Hanoi pho restaurant: Customers queue up like in the old days, the owner explains why . The scene of customers queuing "like in the old days," waiting to order, pay in advance, and get a table number has become a "specialty" of Tam pho restaurant (Dong Da, Hanoi).

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