Inside the restaurant, every 4-5 am, Mr. Hien and his companion, Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen Anh (who lives in Go Vap district) and a few associates are busy preparing “restaurant-standard” meals to send. donated to the anti-epidemic forces of the district. Mr. Hien confided that the restaurant had just opened for about a month, when the COVID-19 epidemic developed complicatedly, Go Vap district alone had to implement social distancing according to Directive 16. He had to give most of his staff a break. No longer accepting visitors, difficult situation surrounds. Mr. Pham Minh Hien (right cover) takes care of the rice portions sent to the anti-epidemic force. However, during the difficult time that seemed to be deadlocked, Yen Anh – his companion offered to support him with a part of the funding, contributing money to help him keep the restaurant fire, instead of selling as before. will cook rice to send to anti-epidemic forces, instead of words of encouragement for them to focus on their work. The idea just came up, everyone started working right away. From May 29 until now, every day, Mr. Hien and his friends cook more than 100 servings of rice with gratitude. Initially, the money for cooking rice was paid by Mr. Hien and Ms. Yen Anh. Many of his business partners see that, they support rice, meat and fish… Many friends also started sending money to support. “They want to come with me. They told me to go for a long distance, not every day, sometimes 16 to 21 days, with a daily budget of more than 3 million, one person will not be able to bear it. So the friends decided to accompany and contribute a little heart to him to maintain this meaningful work “- Mr. Hien said. The daily meal prepared by Mr. Hien and his friends is as delicious as the restaurant meals. Each set of rice has stir-fried dishes, savory dishes, soups, and desserts. Salty dishes always change from fish to meat to chicken, eggs, and soup are also changed every day so that the eater does not get bored. Because more than 100 meals are prepared every day, all dishes are planned by Mr. Hien in advance to order ingredients or so that sponsors can support the ingredients through that plan. Just like that, every morning from 4 to 5, everyone started working. Working until about 10:30, the policemen in the district will drive to the restaurant to receive and transfer to the anti-epidemic force in Go Vap. When asked about the difficult situation of the epidemic, it is impossible to do business as before, why did he and his friends choose this volunteer work, Mr. Hien just smiled and said: “Hien thinks that everyone is having a hard time now, but there is a common difficulty, not his own, if I have the strength, I try to help everyone a little, each person contributes a little effort, agrees with him. If you are on the front line against the epidemic, the epidemic will pass faster, and from then on, we hope to return to trading soon.” Along with Mr. Hien for the past year, Mr. Nguyen Cong Vinh said that every day when moving through the epidemic prevention checkpoint, the brothers and sisters at the checkpoint were too hard, had to endure the sun and rain, while the strength of the family. The restaurant is cooking, so everyone wants to contribute the most practical things to the brothers and sisters through rice portions. “Brothers and sisters, please be confident, behind you, we will always support you” – Mr. Vinh messaged. Hien’s group of friends each have a job, everyone is busy preparing 120 meals to send to the anti-epidemic force. Today, the main course of the meal is fried eggs, fried vegetables, soup and indispensable fruit dessert. The meals are carefully cared for according to “restaurant” standards. Starting early in the morning until about 9 o’clock, everyone divides the food into each tray. The daily cost to cook more than 100 meals is about 3 million VND. Each bag contains 5 servings, the staff of the restaurant check that each serving has enough chopsticks, spoons or fruit for dessert. “Why does this portion of rice have so few eggs, why is everyone full?” – Hien said to the group. After a while, fragrant steamed eggs are added immediately. Gratitude portions to encourage the Go Vap anti-epidemic force. At about 10 o’clock, the police car of Go Vap district ran to the restaurant to receive the rice portions, then divided among the gatekeepers at the entrance to the district. Mr. Hien said he will maintain this job with friends until the end of social distance, when the epidemic situation subsides, the brothers and sisters will no longer be on duty to work as stressful as now.

Mr. Bui Van Tuong’s family, Doan Ket hamlet, Hop Tien commune (Dong Hy) pack freshly made rice noodles (photo taken before April 27, 2021). Perhaps when it comes to rice noodles products of Hop Tien commune, many people think that there are many households in the commune doing this job or that Hop Tien is an area specializing in producing rice noodles. However, when we found out information about rice noodles products in the commune, we were completely surprised that there were only 2 households in Hop Tien commune. In particular, Mr. Tuong’s family is known for the famous noodle product here. Telling us about the opportunity to come to the profession, Mr. Tuong said: My wife’s parents (in Phu Binh district) are households specializing in producing rice noodles since decades ago. Realizing that this is an easy-to-consume product, since 2006, my husband and I also started the profession. With the “craft” of the family, more careful work in the selection of ingredients and production, so the noodle products made by the family are all consumed by agents and people inside and outside the commune. On average, each month, my family sells about 6 tons of rice noodles, with the price of 22,000 VND/kg, earning about 130 million VND. Excluding expenses, my family earns from 18-20 million VND/month from making rice noodles. Not hiding his profession, Mr. Tuong freely shared with us about the stages of making standard rice noodles. Accordingly, to make the final noodle product, it has to go through many stages: Soaking rice, grinding flour, brewing flour, rolling noodles, washing, drying… At each stage, there must be separate attention to get the desired product. For example, when soaking rice, you have to wash the rice clean and then soak it. Soaking time must be enough 4 hours before grinding. Tuong added: Adjusting the temperature and putting the right amount of dough into the yarn rolling machine is extremely important. Because, if the temperature is too hot, but the amount of flour put into the machine is small, the noodles are easily broken. If you add a lot of flour but the temperature is not hot enough, the noodles will be raw, the noodles will not be clear. After being rolled, the flour is incubated overnight and then washed with cold water to separate the fibers, avoid sticking and finally dry in the sun. According to Mr. Tuong, the choice of rice to make noodles is equally important. The best rice is usually the Bao Thai variety, but the price is quite high, and the noodles are a bit sticky when cooked, so he and his wife use Khang Dan rice. Mr. Tuong shared: My family often buys Khang rice from people in the commune to grind to make rice noodles. Like Khang, local people are not hybridized like many other places, so the cooked noodles are not crushed. On average, each year, the family buys about 50 tons of rice for people in the commune. In addition, to make the color of white noodles beautiful, Mr. Tuong’s family focuses on drying in the sun. Noodles that are exposed to the sun for 1 day will be white. If it rains, your family has to dry the noodles with the heat of the industrial air conditioner, in the winter you can dry them in the sun and wind, so the noodles are still guaranteed in terms of design and quality. Thanks to the enthusiasm in each stage, the noodle product of Mr. Tuong’s family is always appreciated for its good quality and reasonable price, so it is supported by many people. Ms. Trieu Thi Vinh, from Bai Bong hamlet, Hop Tien commune confided: For more than 10 years, my family has regularly used rice noodles products of Mr. Tuong’s family. Noodles here are not mushy or crushed, fragrant with rice. Moreover, knowing well about your noodle making process, I feel secure when using it, not worrying about the use of harmful chemicals in the noodle product. Talking about his future plans, Mr. Tuong said: Currently, on average, my wife and I can make about 2 quintals of noodles per day, but we cannot supply enough for the market. The family also intends to expand the scale but still has trouble hiring workers, because the time to start making noodles is usually very early, from about 3-4 am, so it is difficult to hire people to do it. In addition, when the family wants to increase productivity, the family needs to invest in more machines and factories with high costs. However, in the long run, my wife and I will also consider investing in expanding production. Along with that, a trademark will be registered so that the product is known, trusted and used by more people.