Aunt Hai's noodles for 40 years in Ho Chi Minh City: Selling for 20,000 VND, raising 6 children

On a chilly morning at the end of the year in Ho Chi Minh City, Aunt Hai's noodle cart, whose real name is Pham Thi Thoa (74 years old), is still in a peaceful alley on Hau Giang Street (District 6) as usual, waiting for customers to stop by and eat.

"Legend" Aunt Hai's noodle cart

Born in Hanoi , when she was very young, Aunt Hai followed her parents to Saigon to live. When she was 16 or 17 years old, she followed her mother to sell vermicelli soup at Binh Tay market, and now she is over 70. But the memories of her childhood with her mother's vermicelli soup stall are something that she can never forget.

After getting married and cooking for employees of a company in Ho Chi Minh City, to take care of her children and have more time, Aunt Hai decided to open a bean porridge and noodle soup cart to make a living, also selling at the beginning of alley 136 Hau Giang.

After selling for a few years, Aunt Hai changed the dish and decided to stick with Hu Tieu until now. Most of Aunt Hai's Hu Tieu customers are neighbors and acquaintances living in this area, only occasional visitors.

Thanks to this small noodle cart, she raised 6 children, including 4 girls and 2 boys. Now, 4 of them are married and have their own lives , only 2 girls live with her. For the old lady, the noodle cart is the source of food that has fed the whole family for decades, so Aunt Hai cherishes it very much.

Selling to neighbors, acquaintances, and ordinary workers , each portion of noodles here costs only 30,000 VND. However, Aunt Hai confided that she also "indulges" customers who buy portions of 20,000 VND. People are familiar with the image of an old lady wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress and pajamas, gentle and smiling, selling noodles to customers.

"Sometimes there are too many customers, I can't cook fast enough, so they come in and cook for themselves. Most of the customers here are regulars, some of whom have been eating with me for decades, so we're no longer strangers. Later, many children shared the noodle cart online, and many strangers also came to eat, so it was fun," the old lady said with a laugh.

Rarely take a break from selling because…

Having been a cook since before opening the restaurant, cooking delicious noodles is not too difficult for Aunt Hai. The owner has her own secrets, especially in seasoning and cooking the broth to make it rich and suitable for the customers' taste.

In addition to the soft noodles, vermicelli and hu tieu, Aunt Hai also buys hu tieu noodles from Sa Dec (Dong Thap) to create a special flavor for this popular hu tieu cart. Mrs. Sau, a "decades-old" regular customer of this unmarked hu tieu cart, comes to the hu tieu cart early in the morning with a bowl of noodles and orders the dish as if it were too familiar.

A moment later, the hot meal was ready, and the old lady brought it into the house to enjoy. Mrs. Sau said that Aunt Hai's noodle shop is a familiar breakfast place for many people in this neighborhood, and people often come to support it because of its delicious taste and reasonable price. Like in the past years, Mrs. Sau smiled and said that she will continue to support it for a long time.

Ms. Bich Phuong, the daughter of Aunt Hai, who has been helping her mother sell noodles for nearly 20 years, also said that this noodle cart has a special meaning to her because thanks to it, her mother raised her and her siblings. Now that she has a family, it is the source of income for her and her husband to raise 3 children.

"My mother and I sell all year round, and also sell ginseng water for customers to drink to cool off. My mother only takes a day off during Tet or when she has family matters, because even one day off makes her feel bored and misses her customers," the daughter said.

Every day, Aunt Hai's noodle cart is still there and sells until the owner can no longer sell. "When I am old and no longer have the strength, my daughter will take over and sell to customers near and far who come here to support me," the old lady said.