A restaurant passed down through generations.
At dawn, I stopped by Mr. Do Khiem's noodle shop near my house, a well-maintained establishment at 26 Dinh Hoa Street (District 8, Ho Chi Minh City). Seeing me intently looking at the shop's sign with the names Do Khon and Huy Dat, the owner warmly greeted me, explaining that "Do Khon" was his father's name, and "Huy" and "Dat" were the names of his two sons.
The shop is open from 6 AM to 11:30 AM.
Mr. Khiem and his sister inherited their father's noodle soup restaurant.
Mr. Khiem proudly states that this noodle soup stall is a "family business passed down through generations," and he is the second generation to continue his father's legacy. According to the white-haired owner, at the age of 15, his father, Mr. Do Khon, migrated with his family to the Cholon area and started his business with a noodle soup cart near the Ba Cang bridge, close to Kim Bien market.
After more than 40 years of making a living with his father selling popular noodle soup from a cart at the foot of Ba Cang Bridge, Mr. Do Khiem opened his own shop in Binh Phu communal house nearly 10 years ago, and then moved to his current shop on Dinh Hoa Street, where he has been for almost a decade.
While sweating profusely preparing a huge pan of chili sauce in front of the restaurant, looking inside at the packed crowd of customers, the owner introduced all the businessmen as his family, including his older sister, his wife, and his two sons. Because the restaurant is so busy, he has also hired two additional staff members to keep up with the demand.
Mrs. Thuc Anh (54 years old, Mr. Khiem's wife) has been associated with the noodle soup stall for over 30 years, ever since she became a daughter-in-law.
The bowl of noodle soup is meticulously prepared before being served to customers.
The entire Teochew family seemed very familiar with the work, so everyone did it very skillfully. This also helped ensure that each bowl of noodle soup was steaming hot on the customer's table in no time, without having to wait too long.
"My father used to be the main seller, and I assisted him. Now, my sister and I have taken over. My two children, the older one has been helping with the sales for the past six years and is quite skilled, while the younger one is studying at university and occasionally helps my husband, my sister, and me."
"I'm not sure if my children will inherit my restaurant; I respect their choice. But the way I named the restaurant also reflects my hope that they will inherit and develop the family's traditional eatery, preventing it from fading away," the owner added.
Huy hopes to inherit and develop his family's 60-year-old restaurant.
While Tuan Dat (19 years old, Mr. Khiem's youngest son) takes care of the "outside" tasks like greeting customers and parking cars, his older brother Tuan Huy (24 years old) serves customers and carries trays inside the restaurant, and whenever he has a free hand, he goes into the kitchen area to help his aunt and mother. Huy said that at this point, after nearly 6 years of running the restaurant with his family, he has acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to cook a bowl of authentic family-style hu tieu (rice noodle soup).
"Working alongside my family makes me happy and warm. I'm also trying my best every day to become more skilled, and I hope to inherit and develop my father's restaurant in the future. The restaurant is the brainchild of my grandfather and parents, so it means more to me than to my whole family," he confided.
Each serving of hu tieu ho (a type of noodle soup) costs between 55,000 and 80,000 VND, depending on the customer's needs.
Although they are family members running the shop together, Huy also "revealed" that he and his younger brother are paid a salary by their father, just like the other employees. And of course, he is satisfied with the amount of money he receives, which is commensurate with his labor.
"When you come to Vietnam, you have to visit; you can't miss it!"
Hu Tieu Ho is a fairly common dish among the Teochew community. However, this dish is considered "rare and hard to find" in Ho Chi Minh City because if you want to eat it, you usually have to go to Cholon Market or to District 8 to find it.
Called "hu tieu ho" (literally "lake noodle soup"), this dish has nothing to do with regular rice noodles. In fact, the noodles at Mr. Do Khiem's restaurant are thin sheets of dough, almost like steamed rice rolls, but thicker and square-shaped, custom-made by the owner. Instead of being served with pork, chicken, or fish like other noodle dishes, hu tieu ho is only served with pork offal, pickled mustard greens, and chili sauce.
Called "hu tieu ho," this dish has nothing to do with regular rice noodles. In fact, hu tieu ho noodles are thin sheets of dough, almost like steamed rice rolls, but thicker and square-shaped, custom-made by the owner.
According to the owner, besides the signature "hu tieu ho" (rice noodle soup), the restaurant also offers other Teochew specialties such as satay hu tieu and other noodle dishes. Most of these dishes revolve around pork offal as the main ingredient, including liver, intestines, and stomach.
Here, each bowl of noodle soup costs between 55,000 and 80,000 VND depending on the type. The bowl of noodle soup is just the right size, not too big, with a rich broth, pristine white, fragrant, chewy noodles, and meticulously prepared pork offal that isn't fishy... enough for a hearty breakfast.
The whole family is happy to run the shop together.
Mr. Jelly (69 years old, a Vietnamese-American) and his wife and daughter visited Mr. Do Khiem's noodle soup restaurant. The customer confided that he had been eating there for decades and couldn't remember exactly when. He only remembered that every time he returned to Vietnam, he would stop by to eat; he couldn't miss it because it brought back a little nostalgia for Saigon in the old days.
"The noodle soup here is delicious, I really like it. After eating here, I've become a regular customer of the owners; they still remember my face every time I come back," said the customer, then he and his family enjoyed a bowl of noodle soup they hadn't had the chance to eat in a long time.
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