(VEN) - People who have visited Phu Yen and enjoyed the pork meat rolled with Hoa Da rice cake cannot forget its delicious taste. People who have visited Phu Yen and enjoyed the pork meat rolled with Hoa Da rice cake cannot forget its delicious taste. Phu Yen has a number of rice cake making villages. However, tour guides recommend tourists to enjoy the rice cakes made in Hoa Da Village. Like other people in Phu Yen, the Hoa Da people in An My Commune, Tuy An District live amongst their paddy fields. Thanks to this plant, their rice cake making has been passed down through the generations. Hoa Da Village produces many types of rice cakes. But the most famous are rice cakes used to roll pork and rice cakes covered with sesame, onion, copra fiber or mixed with coconut water. Making rice cake requires just several steps. However, these steps require extremely sophisticated and skillful hands to choose firewood, dry and package cakes. Local people say the choice of firewood is … [Read more...] about Phu Yen Rice Cakes Develop Brand
Dough rising
Domino’s Pizza tailoring to local tastes
Hoang Phi The Saigon Times Daily: Can you tell us how Domino’s Pizza is doing globally and here in Vietnam? - Ritch Allison: We have seen enormous growth momentum globally, especially in international business – our international operation has been the accelerant for growth in the past 10 years. We have just opened our 10,000th store in Turkey on September 27 this year. This milestone will be our solid foundation for even greater growth. Among the three international regions, Asia Pacific was the fastest growing region, beating EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Latin America in terms of same store sales growth in 2011. This year, we have surpassed the 2,000th store mark, which is another significant achievement. With Asia-Pacific region on a growth trajectory, there are solid plans in motion to expand further into the region, building our existing markets as well as developing green field sites. … [Read more...] about Domino’s Pizza tailoring to local tastes
The real deal
A new donut shop in Ho Chi Minh City uses a not-so-secret ingredient to provide a traditional American taste It started with a dream and a deep fryer. For months, Doan Nguyen Tam stayed up all night in his tiny 6th floor walk-up in the center of Saigon churning out batch after batch of homemade donuts, looking to perfect the recipe. It was a labor or love born from the idea that one day he might start his own business. This was years ago, when Tam and his sweet tooth had tired of che (sweet soup) and wanted something different for dessert. "There weren't many options for something light, sweet and fresh. Being from the States, one thing I missed a lot was donuts," said the 33-year-old native of Kansas city, Missouri. Hence, Spudnuts, Tam's new donut shop in HCMC's District 3, specializes in the unique potato donut. Authenticity The idea to make and market potato donuts was purely practical. After trying dozes of different recipes and all kinds of local ingredients, … [Read more...] about The real deal
The chè lady
The best dessert in Ho Chi Minh City is being ladled up on a street corner Thanh, 50, lives in an endless cycle of chè. Every night, before going to bed, she starts soaking the beans and glutinous rice for tomorrow's batch. Up at 3 a.m., she begins boiling pot after pot of the subtly sweet, bean-based dessert. By nine, she hires a man to help her haul her low red stools, washing buckets and serving bowls to her little corner on Cong Quynh and Cao Ba Nha streets in District 1. The operation takes two trips. The xe om (motorbike taxi) driver doesn't seem to mind. And no one has ever bothered to steal her dented aluminum vessels filled with sticky rice and sweet coconut soup. "They're very heavy," she said. Thanh cracks on a coal fire and begins simmering the dessert just as the streets fill with throngs of motorbikes and mini-trucks. By 11 a.m., she is open for business. For the remainder of the day, she navigates between the pots like an octopus - ladling coconut milk soup on top of … [Read more...] about The chè lady
Salt makers rake in the dough on rising prices
Salt makers rake in the dough on rising prices (03-05-2008) A salt worker in Duc Pho District in the central province of Quang Ngai harvests salt. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Long HA NOI — Sharp increases in the price of salt has compelled salt workers in the Mekong (Cuu Long) Delta region to fill up their aquaculture areas to produce salt again. Several years ago, the price of salt was low, even falling to VND100,000 (US$6.25) per tonne. Salt makers could hardly make ends meet even while working very hard. Unable to earn a living from making salt, a lot of farmers in the Mekong Delta shifted to aquaculture. However, earlier this year, the price of salt increased considerably, rising to VND1 to 1.2 million ($62.50 - $75) per tonne. The increase was due to bad weather-early and long-lasting rainy periods - which caused low yields for salt makers. Farmers in these areas, who gain little from aquaculture, are shifting back to salt again, hoping to earn more … [Read more...] about Salt makers rake in the dough on rising prices