Each bowl of cake has enough meat, tofu and the cake made from rice flour is very cheap. This crispy, sticky and sweet cake is only 15,000 VND. The owner said, thanks to the “delicious – nutritious – cheap” feature that her restaurant has been “hot” for 30 years.
Duc cake – the rustic food of Vietnamese
Duc cake – Hanoi traditional food – is the rustic and familiar food of Vietnamese people. There are two types of cakes: cold cake and hot cake and each type has a different flavor. While the cold duc cake has plasticity of rice flour and crunchiness of peanut and the sweet flavor when it is dipped in Vietnamese fermented soybean sauce, hot duc cake has a different color and flavor.
This hot cake is very sticky and smooth, with the fragrance of herbs, the light sweetness of bone broth and minced meat, the crunchiness of fungus and limpness of tofu. It is a rustic food but a perfect combination of many ingredients, full of five flavors. This dish is not enough to make you full, so to Hanoians, this is a gift made from rice considered as a snack.
A restaurant of duc cake “super cheap” always crowded for 30 years
The most famous place selling hot duc cake in Hanoi is a restaurant hidden in a lane on Le Ngoc Han street (Hai Ba Trung district). The restaurant is as ancient as its age. The way to reach this restaurant is small, thus, if you go there by motorbike with the guide of Hanoi food tasting tours, you must park the motorbike at the head of the lane.
Inside the restaurant is a quiet space. Only the aesthetic factor looks like not be focused by the seller, so the arrangement, as well as the decoration here, is very old and simple. However, the customers never complain about this. according to Mrs. Pham Thi Noi, the owner of this restaurant, this place is always crowded whether it is sunny or rainy. Opening at 8 am, but every day, she is always busy to serve until 8 pm.
The attraction of this restaurant has been maintained for 30 years. During 30 years, many restaurants had to be “bankrupt”, however, this restaurant still exists with selling duc cake. After 30 years, it is still “hot”.
Duc cake here is quite cheap. A bowl of duc cake is only 15000 VND, including duc cake, broth, tofu and minced meat stir-fried with fungus. Visitors of Hanoi cooking class always appreciate the deliciousness of the food here. The piece of duc cake is soft and sticky. Before preparing to serve customers, the owner usually takes the duc cake into the bowl and then add meat. Thus, when the guests enjoy it, the duc cake, meat, and the broth are mixed with each other.
Although the price of everything in Hanoi is escalating, the price of a bowl of duc cake here is not changed. Therefore, the duc cake in this restaurant is considered as a “delicious-nutritious-cheap” food.
The traditional recipes
According to Mrs. Noi, the owner of this restaurant, she learned the way to make duc cake from her grandmother. Since then, she created many recipes to make duc cake to meet the taste of Hanoians.
Nowadays, this restaurant serves not only duc cake but also many other dishes such as bun ca (vermicelli with fish), bun oc chuoi dau (vermicelli with snails, bananas and tofu), etc.
Other programs for reference: Vietnam food tours, food walking tour.