Saigon eatery sells 2,000 fried pork buns daily

Despite being tucked away in a little corner on Nguyen Phuc Nguyen Street in District 3, Hoa’s pork bun eatery consistently draws long queues every day.

The vendor was formerly situated at Tan Dinh Market in District 1, according to Nhu Hoai, Hoa’s daughter, who now runs the eatery. They’ve been in the new location a few years now, and despite the move, the eatery continues to draw a large number of customers thanks to the fact that the buns’ unique flavor has not changed. Hoa’s sells more than 2,000 pork buns each day.

Some 50 to 70 pork buns are fried per batch at Hoa’s eatery in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Khanh Thien

A variety of cakes are displayed in a food cart placed in front of the eatery, while Hoai, along with her mother Hoa and a few staff members, make the buns in a room behind the eatery.

The vendor consumes between 50 and 70 kilos of flour each day. The dough is kneaded by a machine to save time and effort. The stuffing consists of cooked quail eggs, wood ear mushrooms, grated cassava root, spice-stirred minced meat, and steamed salted egg yolks.

Pork buns have to be made in large quantities in advance due to such high demand. The whole family has to wake up at 3 in the morning to prepare the buns before opening.

A pork pun is stuffed with two quail eggs and a steamed salted egg yolk. Photo by VnExpress/Khanh Thien

Every step of creating a bun, in Hoai’s opinion, requires ingenuity. After the fillings have been added, all of the buns must be made into equal round shapes in order for them to hold their shape when fried.

As they continue to sell out, new buns are continuously being fried. Hoai said that her family uses about 30 liters of oil a day just to fry the buns. To protect the health of their clients, they use fresh oil rather than reusing it the next day.

“Although we sell different types of cakes, our fried pork buns with salted egg are the most popular among customers thanks to their thin crust, and the filling of savory meat and salted eggs. Freshly fried is when it tastes the best,” Hoai said. Hoa’s also sells buns with quail egg and pate, and cadé (custard) buns.

The inside of a fried pork bun filled with meat, spices and egg. Photo by VnExpress/Khanh Thien

“The fragrant bun has a crispy crust. It’s not oily, and is a delicious snack. It’s cheap and full of flavor,” said Hong Linh, a customer.

The eatery is open from 7 in the morning till 8 in the evening. A fried pork bun with two quail eggs and steamed egg yolk costs VND10,000 (42 cents), while a bun with only one quail egg costs VND6,000 (25 cents).