Rustic dishes reach out to the world
It was raining in Ho Chi Minh City, but Phillip (an Australian tourist) was still happily standing in line with his family in a wet raincoat in front of a grilled sticky rice banana stall on Vo Van Tan Street (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) in front of a wet raincoat.
Holding a box of grilled sticky rice bananas, drizzled with a little coconut milk and fragrant peanuts, Phillip couldn't help but quickly take a hot bite. The male tourist exclaimed: "This is one of the best dishes I've tried when I came to Vietnam."
Western tourists enjoy taking photos of the famous grilled banana and sticky rice stall in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
Around Phillip, there was another group of about 10 Western tourists. They wore raincoats and lined up to eat the grilled sticky rice banana dish that was just voted by CNN (USA) as one of the "World's Best Desserts", which was just announced in March.
"The hot dish is still lightly steaming and delicious, even more attractive when enjoyed with rich coconut milk and a little roasted peanuts. This is a must-try dish when coming to Vietnam," part of the article introduces.
The owner of the grilled banana sticky rice shop, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Mai (69 years old) said that every day there are many Western customers coming to buy. Among them, Indian customers or Muslims who have vegetarian habits are the most frequent customers.
Combined with hot coconut milk and peanuts, grilled sticky rice banana dish easily retains diners (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
On peak days, the grilled banana stall can sell 1,000 fruits per day. With an average price ranging from 20,000 to 22,000 VND per fruit, the estimated daily revenue can be more than 20 million VND.
Here, Mrs. Mai selects bananas that are just ripe. Every day, she has to wake up at 2am to prepare the ingredients in time to serve the "huge" purchasing power.
The bananas were peeled and washed in diluted salt water. The sticky rice was also carefully prepared to avoid the leaves sticking to it, mixed with grated coconut to retain the full fatty flavor. Mrs. Mai meticulously wrapped the sticky rice around the bananas so that they were thin enough to eat without feeling greasy.
Finally, she wraps the cake in banana leaves to prevent it from burning when baked. These banana leaves are imported from the West by Mrs. Mai to ensure cleanliness and softness.
When grilling sticky rice bananas, you can only hear the small popping sound of the charcoal, because Mrs. Mai uses a special type of charcoal that doesn't pop or smoke much. Only when you smell the aroma and feel the crispy skin can you tell that the sticky rice bananas are "done".
Many Western tourists lined up to enjoy grilled bananas (Photo: Nguyen Vy)
The "key" to this dish is the flavor of hot coconut milk. Ms. Mai said that grilled sticky rice bananas are only delicious when eaten hot, so she specially leaves the coconut milk aside so that guests can pour it on when they get home.
This coconut milk is also very carefully prepared by her, and can be preserved for about 6 hours.
"I prepare the ingredients and process them very carefully. If I do it hastily or carelessly, the dish will not retain its familiar delicious flavor, which the diners will immediately recognize. So for over 20 years, I have always sold with my heart, so I am lucky to have everyone's support," said Ms. Mai.
Business with heart
Mrs. Mai’s grilled banana stall must have 3-4 employees working in shifts to keep up with the constant flow of customers, rain or shine. Some other employees will stay home to prepare the ingredients.
It is known that the employees are all Mrs. Mai's children and grandchildren, so it can be said that this banana stall is the main source of income for her whole family.
Most of the staff here are members of Ms. Mai's family (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
More than 20 years ago, Ms. Mai's family was not very well off, mainly living off a small cosmetics shop at home. When the supermarket model developed and prices became competitive, her family had to change jobs.
At that time, to support her family, Ms. Mai came up with the idea of selling a dish that could be enjoyed by rich or poor, vegetarian or non-vegetarian alike. "I found grilled sticky rice bananas to be very delicious and rustic for Vietnamese people, so I tried selling them."
At that time, the banana stall was very simple, Mrs. Mai sat on the ground to sell but customers kept coming. Many people lined up for dozens of meters, sometimes arriving a little late and having to leave because the goods sold out too quickly.
Despite the rain, customers still patiently queued up to buy (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
Seeing that the business was doing well, she decided to expand further, from 3 kg of sticky rice per day, she increased the quantity many times until today. Thanks to her hard work, the grilled banana sticky rice stall located modestly at the corner of Vo Van Tan Street, has now become a restaurant attracting diners all over the world.
"During the Covid-19 pandemic, customers called every day to ask "Have you sold it yet? I can't stand it anymore." Then I heard that the dish was on the culinary rankings, and I was really happy. Starting a business requires perseverance and patience, especially doing business outdoors, enduring the sun and rain. Even though I'm old, I still have the strength to work and still love my job," the owner said with a smile.
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