Recently, a photo of a Vietnamese woman selling sticky rice on a bicycle on a Korean street was widely shared on many online forums and quickly attracted tens of thousands of likes and comments.
In Vietnam, especially in Hanoi , the image of people cycling around selling banh khuc in every corner has become familiar every morning and evening, accompanied by the unforgettable cheerful sound "I make banh khuc here".
Therefore, when this moment appeared in Korea, the online community became even more curious and excited because a familiar Vietnamese dish had spread abroad.
Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Ms. Vu Thi Phuong (from Do Son, Hai Phong ) said that the character in the above image is her biological mother, with a simple bicycle selling sticky rice on the streets of Korea.
“In 2020, I just stayed at home to take care of my children, so I thought about making and selling sticky rice to earn extra income to help my family. At first, I sold it at home, and on weekends, my mother would ride her bike to sell around the area and the market near where I lived. Korean people were curious about this sticky rice dish, bought it to enjoy, and gradually got used to it, liked Vietnamese sticky rice and supported it regularly,” Ms. Phuong said.
After a few years, when the number of customers buying xoi khuc increased, Phuong and her mother saved up some capital and decided to open a restaurant near their home. The restaurant is small, located in an alley near the market on Jeongwang-dong Street, Shiheung City, Gyeonggi-do Province, but is always crowded with customers.
The woman from Do Son (Hai Phong) said that she learned the recipe for making sticky rice from an aunt when she was still in Vietnam. This is also her favorite dish, so she came up with the idea of cooking and selling it in Korea, both to serve Vietnamese people far from home and to introduce it to international friends.
To make quality sticky rice, Ms. Phuong has to transport ingredients such as green beans and leaf from Vietnam. As for sticky rice, she selects delicious Korean sticky rice, ensuring the same flavor as Vietnamese rice while saving on long-distance transportation costs.
In addition, she also uses pandan leaves to make the sticky rice more fragrant and adjusts the ratio and spices to suit Korean tastes as well as keeping the price affordable so that everyone can enjoy it.
Ms. Phuong said that before, her family only focused on selling sticky rice, so the number of sales each day was about 100 portions, equivalent to nearly 40kg of sticky rice. On peak days, she sold double that, each portion costing 3,000 won (more than 53,000 VND).
Currently, the amount of sticky rice she sells has decreased because she also serves many other Vietnamese dishes, so customers have more choices to enjoy. However, sticky rice is still a favorite snack of many Koreans because of its unique flavor, and can be bought to take away or eaten at any time of the day.
In addition to sticky rice, Ms. Phuong's family restaurant also serves many other Vietnamese dishes such as pho, banh mi, banh cuon, banh gio, banh chung, rib porridge, sugarcane juice, nem thinh, ... and a series of famous Hai Phong specialties such as crab rice noodles, baguettes, jellyfish salad, ...
The restaurant is open all day, directly operated, managed and prepared by Ms. Phuong's parents and in the kitchen, serving customers to enjoy on the spot or take away.
Some Vietnamese dishes at Ms. Phuong's restaurant are loved by many foreign diners (Photo: Hai Phong Quan).
This woman also shared that the restaurant welcomes guests from many different countries, including Vietnamese people living far away from home, native Koreans, and even Chinese, Thai, and Indonesian guests living in the area.
They especially love pho, noodle dishes such as fish noodle soup, duck noodle soup with bamboo shoots, etc. and Hai Phong crab noodle soup. Most diners have compliments for traditional Vietnamese dishes.
“I am very happy to welcome a large number of customers to the restaurant and receive compliments on the taste of Vietnamese dishes. Many people have become regular customers, coming to eat regularly, helping me and my family have more motivation to spread Vietnamese cuisine in the heart of Korea,” Ms. Phuong expressed.
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