Observations at many food and vegetarian restaurants show that the price of ingredients for preparing vegetarian dishes has increased slightly before Tet (Lunar New Year), but the selling price remains unchanged to serve customers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, owner of An Lac vegetarian restaurant (Ward 2, Ca Mau City), shared: “I have been involved in selling vegetarian food for 37 years. The restaurant serves a variety of dishes for customers to easily choose from, such as vermicelli soup with crab, Yangzhou fried rice, broken rice, vermicelli with pork skin, and steamed rice cakes... at affordable prices, from 25-30 thousand dong. Typically, there are three peak periods in the year: January, July, and the end of the year. In January alone, we serve an average of about 500 customers per day, either dining in or taking away.”

With 37 years of experience in the vegetarian restaurant business, Ms. Thuy Linh offers a variety of vegetarian dishes at affordable prices, ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 VND per dish.

Besides dishes available for dine-in, many places also offer delivery services for items such as soups, stews, stir-fries, grilled spring rolls, grilled meat, salads, and various types of mixed sauces... to ensure the menu isn't monotonous.

Having also chosen to run a vegetarian restaurant for about 4 years, Chay 12 (Ward 5, Ca Mau City) serves many unique vegetarian dishes such as vermicelli with fermented fish sauce, vermicelli with curry, steamed rice rolls, rice noodles, dry noodles, Thai vermicelli, braised noodles, chicken salad, and especially vegetarian hot pot dishes.

Ms. Do Thi Kieu Oanh, owner of Chay 12 restaurant, said: “The restaurant opens on the first day of Tet (Lunar New Year) to sell food for customers who come to buy offerings, then closes for Tet and reopens on the eighth day. January is also a time when many people choose to eat vegetarian food, with the busiest time being the full moon of the first lunar month. On average, we serve over 200 customers per day, and this number increases four or five times during major full moon days. To serve during the peak month, the restaurant increases the quantity of ingredients, fresh vegetables and fruits. The restaurant is open all day, with the busiest times being the afternoon and evening. On weekends, families come to order hot pot sets, priced from 100,000 to 200,000 VND per hot pot, enough for 3-4 people.”

Besides ready-made meals, many places also choose to sell a variety of pre-prepared vegetarian dishes for customers to take home.

Having opened a tofu production facility about 5 years ago, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh's household (Ward 4, Ca Mau City) prepares an average of 50 kg of soybeans daily to make various products such as fresh tofu, fried tofu, small meatballs, pork sausage, soy milk, mushroom sausage, etc.

Ms. Lan Anh shared: “Because our workshop is near the market, we can supply both wholesale and retail customers passing by. To be ready for the morning market, our workers wake up at 3 a.m. to start working. This year, the sales volume is not as high as last year, so we adjust production to ensure fresh, high-quality products every day, depending on the situation.”

Vegetarian dishes are easy to prepare using various vegetables and fruits, and mushrooms are also a clean and readily available food item in many vegetarian menus. Recognizing this market demand, Ms. Nguyen Bich Nhu (Khanh Binh commune, Tran Van Thoi district) increased the quantity of mushrooms at her farm to sell during this period.

Ms. Nhu said: "The mushroom farm currently has golden and ruby ​​mushrooms, but the most abundant and popular are still the grey oyster mushrooms. To keep the mushrooms fresh and delicious for a long time, I only harvest them when I receive an order. I don't let the mushrooms grow too big because they won't be crispy and sweet anymore. My customers are mainly local and online. Currently, grey oyster mushrooms are sold at 65,000 VND/kg."

Ngo Nhi

Source: https://baocamau.vn/thuc-pham-chay-vao-mua-cao-diem-a31404.html