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Mr. Huynh Tai Phuc (left) checks the moisture content of rice noodles before cutting them into strands - Photo: V.Tr.
In recent years, both domestic and international tourists visiting My Tho City (Tien Giang province) have wanted to try this famous delicacy.
A lot of effort
My Tho noodle-making village
Mr. Truong Van Thuan, head of the My Tho rice noodle making cooperative in My Phong commune, said that his cooperative has 10 rice noodle production facilities, mainly using machinery rather than manual labor. Each day, the village supplies 6-7 tons of rice noodles to the markets of Tien Giang, Long An, and Ho Chi Minh City. Because rice noodles can only be preserved for two or three days, they can only be transported over short distances and not over long distances. The high demand is due to these facilities selling to both rice noodle and pho restaurants. Most people in the South prefer pho made with rice noodles, rather than fresh pho noodles like in the North.
One of the oldest artisanal rice noodle makers in My Tho City, Mr. Huynh Tai Phuc (64 years old), said that his parents had been making rice noodles at home since he was born. His family has been making rice noodles for over 70 years, and the tradition is now passed down to the third generation, his children. The people of My Tho still commonly refer to this as the "Chin Xe" rice noodle factory. At Mr. Phuc's house, there is a traditional rice noodle production facility (except for the flour grinding and cutting of the rice paper into noodles, which are done by machine) built decades ago. It consists of a brick-built stove that burns rice husks, four molds for spreading the batter and steaming it before drying, and hundreds of bamboo drying racks. Mr. Phuc's children directly make the rice noodles and deliver them to rice noodle and pho restaurants from 4 am to 4 pm daily, without hiring any laborers.
“My parents used to make rice noodles the same way my children and I make them now. The only difference is that in the past, we cut the rice paper into noodle strands with a knife, but now we cut them with a machine, which is faster, and the strands are thinner and more uniform,” Mr. Phuc said. When asked why he doesn't produce rice noodles using machines like other places, Mr. Phuc explained that My Tho rice noodles were famous in the past because they were made by hand, with unique secrets, and machine-made noodles wouldn't necessarily taste as good. “It's not that I don't have the capital to invest in machines, but I still make them by hand because I want to preserve what is considered the essence of My Tho rice noodles for people to enjoy,” Mr. Phuc affirmed.
According to Mr. Phuc, the reason My Tho rice noodle soup is famous throughout Asia is because the noodles are made from rice flour, not wheat flour or tapioca starch; the noodles are translucent, chewy, not salty, not sour, and have a fragrant rice aroma. In addition, the broth must be delicious. When the broth is poured into the bowl, the noodles expand, the broth is absorbed, but the noodles remain chewy – that's what makes it delicious. "If the broth separates from the noodles, or if the noodles fall apart when they come into contact with the broth, or if they taste salty or sour, then it's a failure," Mr. Phuc said. Many famous rice noodle shops in My Tho, such as Quan Ky (Ngo Quyen Street) and Pho Dong Thanh (Ly Thuong Kiet Street), say that the noodles produced by the Chin Xe factory always meet the criteria of being "translucent, naturally chewy, fragrant, not sour, and not salty."
To produce delicious rice noodles, the first step is selecting good quality rice, which, according to Mr. Phuc, is rice with high starch content that expands when cooked but remains firm. Furthermore, the most important step is spreading the batter onto the molds, determining whether the noodles will be chewy and translucent. No other flour should be added to the rice flour to make the noodles chewy; instead, the temperature must be controlled using heat. The oven temperature when spreading the batter onto the molds for steaming must reach 120°C.OAt least C (30°C) or higher. If the temperature is too low, the rice paper will not be chewy, and the noodles will be opaque, rendering the dish a failure. Once the rice paper is steamed, it is rolled up in bamboo tubes, then spread on a bamboo rack and dried in the sun for about three hours. After that, the rice paper is unrolled and cut into strands using a machine.
Delicious thanks to the skillful broth-making technique.
In My Tho City today, there are hundreds of noodle shops, but locals would find it difficult to answer the question: "Which shop sells My Tho-style noodle soup as delicious as it used to be?" Long-time noodle makers and even the elderly here all say that only one or two noodle shops have preserved the essence of the broth, a recipe passed down through generations. Among them is Quan Ky on Ngo Quyen Street, Ward 1. This noodle shop has been around for over 50 years and is very famous in Southern Vietnam. Many travel companies in Ho Chi Minh City bring tourists here to enjoy this My Tho specialty.
An elderly noodle maker in My Tho recounted that when a provincial tourism company put up a sign advertising My Tho noodles, they were unimpressed after trying them. The broth was bland, and the noodles, having been blanched in boiling water and left in the bowl for too long, had become soggy and clumped together. It wasn't the My Tho noodles of the past.
Ms. Dang My Huong (49 years old), the fourth-generation "successor" of Quan Ky noodle shop, also affirmed that besides the fragrant, translucent, and naturally chewy noodles, My Tho noodles are highly appreciated by many diners thanks to the broth. "For over 50 years, my family has been cooking the broth according to a recipe passed down from our ancestors. A good broth must be simmered with bones for 2-3 hours, along with meat, pork offal, dried shrimp, and dried squid. After simmering, the broth will have the color of meat, bones, and marrow dissolving into the broth. If the broth is too clear, it won't be delicious because there's too little bone and meat simmered," Ms. Huong said.
According to Ms. Huong, the sweetness of the broth comes from the bones and meat, not from sugar or MSG, so these seasonings should not be overused. “Every day I use more than 20kg of bones to make enough sweet broth. Throughout the simmering process, I have to constantly skim off the foam to keep the broth clear. This amount of broth is only enough for about 100 bowls of noodle soup. If you overuse sugar and MSG, the broth will have a harsh taste in your throat, and customers will react immediately,” Ms. Huong said.
Preserving the essence of My Tho noodle soup, a local specialty.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tien Giang province, said: “Although My Tho noodle soup has been famous for a long time, the recognition of My Tho noodle soup as a new Asian delicacy is good news for the locality. Therefore, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tien Giang will organize events to inform and promote this honor so that everyone can appreciate, preserve, and develop the values of this specialty. The department will also plan to organize training courses to share experiences in producing noodle soup and preparing a delicious bowl of noodle soup to serve local people and domestic and international tourists.”
