Unique giant crocodile bread in Ho Chi Minh City

The unique and funny bread rolls of Mr. Phan Thanh Phuoc (37 years old) attract many young people in the area of ​​Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City to buy donations.
“Crocodile bread, foal here, please support”, the voice of Mr. Phan Thanh Phuoc, the owner of the bakery, has become a familiar sound to people on Ho Hoc Lam Street (Binh Tan District, City .HCM) at dismissal time.

Every nearly 4:30 pm, Mr. Phuoc pushes his bread cart to the markets and garment companies near his home to prepare to welcome the first guests. Bread of all kinds of shapes of Mr. Phuoc attracts the curiosity of the people around. Thanks to a predestined business relationship, he was bought by many young people for support, and from 7pm he was out of bread. The 37-year-old boss said that he has been in the business for about 20 years, but has only been engaged with animal bread for 6 years. Improving, accumulating many years as a hired man, Mr. Phuoc has opened a small bakery for about 2 years. Mr. Phuoc has worked as a bread maker for about 20 years. The difficulty of making animal bread Taking advantage of the space in front of the ground floor, Mr. Phuoc opened a small bakery. There are no eye-catching advertising signs, inside only an oven and a few baking tools. As a small business, everything from preparation to sales is done by him. After mixing, the owner rolls the dough into even pieces to shape. From the fine round dough, Mr. Phuoc skillfully molded it into many different shapes. “The shaping stage is the longest. At this time, the worker needs to be patient, careful, with many details, it is difficult to invest time in practice. Usually, I squeeze a baby about 7-8 minutes, ”the 37-year-old owner chatted with reporters while meticulously adjusting the cake. Beautiful bread rolls are baked after many different stages. Mr. Phuoc can shape more than 10 animal models such as dragons, spiders, turtles, crabs … However, he only chooses his favorite models for sale. Each one has its own unique features, but the best-selling models are still crocodiles and horses. These are also the two most difficult pictures to do because they have to cut and graft the dough, it takes more effort. When forming, the dough is incubated for one more hour. It takes almost 2 hours from the first step to the finished product and then 15 minutes of baking on high heat. “With baking, baking time is the most thrilling. Because I thought it was beautiful when I did it, but it didn’t look like I wanted it, it took time to correct it, ”added Mr. Phuoc. With animal-shaped bread, the cake will have a soft intestine when it is finished, but other parts such as the legs and beard are always more crispy or easy to be hard if baked over heat. Strange animal-shaped bread Mr. Phuoc’s baking job started from late evening to early morning in order to make it in time to sell. In the morning, Mr. Phuoc made about 1,500 small loaves of bread. Around 2-3 pm, he continued to bake big cakes, priced from 25,000-70,000 VND depending on the model. “My regular customers are mostly workers and students, so I only sell them at affordable prices for everyone to buy. They also love my bread, they buy it every afternoon. Someone bought them as gifts for their children and grandchildren ”, confided the baker’s owner. Mr. Phuoc often sells in areas near his home. Animal-shaped sandwiches received a lot of attention when he joined the show Challenging comedians season 3 (2016). In his skit, Mr. Phuoc impressed two judges Truong Giang and Tran Thanh with the charming and friendly style of selling bread. “That was the first time I brought animal bread on stage. After the show, my bread was known by many people. One day there were people selling them to the market, they asked for a photo together. Although there are no awards at all, it is also the most memorable memory since entering the profession “, Mr. Phuoc shared. His bread is loved by both children and adults. Minh Thu (23 years old, Binh Tan district) often stops to buy bread from Mr. Phuoc on his way home from work. Two of Thu’s most favorite patterns are the crocodile and the turtle image. Thu said that the intestine of the cake was already soft and fragrant, so just dipping it with a little condensed milk was delicious. “Every afternoon I see the owner selling here. Sometimes when we come out late, we run out of cake. People buy a lot, especially around 5am, ”said Thu. Although not a bread fan, every time I visit, Huynh Trang (25 years old, Binh Tan district) still buys at least 5 loaves because he likes the strange and unique shape. “I bought it for a long time. Every time I came over, I saw Mr. Phuoc making more new ones such as spiders, snakes, crickets… I often bought them for my younger siblings at home to eat together. It was strange, so the kids enjoyed it, ”Trang said.