With a space of more than one meter wide, Mr. Khanh’s donut shop sells more than 5,000 donuts every day, up to more than 7,000 on weekends. Although the premises are about a meter wide on Thai Thinh street, the heirloom donut shop of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh (29 years old) still attracts many customers.

The shop is open from 7am to 6pm every day. After 3 years of opening, the shop currently sells an average of more than 5,000 units a day. From Friday to Sunday, the amount of cakes sold per day can reach more than 7,000 pieces, Mr. Khanh said. The shop has two types of donuts: honey donuts (above) and sugar donuts (below). Basic ingredients include rice, green beans, molasses and white sugar. Hanoi free street food tour will bring you to charming culinary spots in Hanoi Old Town to explore these typical dishes.

From the cake recipe passed down by his grandparents, Mr. Khanh has made a number of changes and improvements to both maintain the family’s traditional flavor and suit the taste of the majority of diners. The biggest change is that instead of making sweet fillings like the tradition, Mr. Khanh switched to making salty fillings to neutralize the taste and reduce the feeling of being sick when eating.

Every day, the shop prepares more than 100 kg of rice to make cake crust. Glutinous rice and non-glutinous rice are pureed with water into a powder, then pressed dry and add some separate spices, kneaded until the dough is firm, flexible, and has good adhesion. The filling is made from green beans, going through the steps of soaking, pureeing, cooking, and shaping into balls. Take a certain amount of rice flour, put the filling in the middle and carefully wrap it, gently pressing it into a flat circle. The amount of green beans the shop prepares every day is about 30 – 40 kg. After forming the cake, put it in the first pan of oil to soak, until the cake floats, then transfer it to the frying pan. Frying is the most difficult step because it is necessary to adjust the appropriate temperature for each stage. Hanoi Free Street Food tour would introduce to you the beauty of each dishes and indelible taste of local delights.

When first transferred to the frying pan, the oil must not be too hot, causing the cake to dry out and the shell to explode because the inside has not fully expanded. You need to increase the heat slowly so that the cake cooks gradually. Each batch of cakes takes about 30 – 35 minutes to make. Once the donuts are cooked, drain the oil and then move on to the final step. White sugar and molasses are cooked in two separate pans until melted, turning into liquid, viscous, and thick. Add the cooked cake and quickly stir continuously so that the crust is evenly covered with molasses and sugar.
In contrast to the hard, crunchy and sweet crust is the pureed, smooth green bean filling, salty and fleshy. The amount of filling is adjusted just right so that when bitten, the green beans spread evenly across the entire cake but do not overflow.

Sugar donuts are popular with diners in the summer, while honey donuts are often popular in the winter, Mr. Khanh said. Hoang Huy (20 years old, Thai Binh), a student at a university near the shop, said he often buys cakes for himself and his friends. According to Huy, donuts are usually filled with sweet green beans, so after eating the second one, you are already sick of it. “The shop’s cakes have moderate saltiness and reduced sweetness, so I can eat about 3-4 cakes at a time as an afternoon snack,” Huy said. Hanoi free street food tour would recommend some well-renowned dishes like donuts in your amazing one trip here.
Huy commented that the shop’s selling price is cheap, honey and sugar donuts are both 6,000 VND each. However, the restaurant has no seating and only sells takeout and delivery via food ordering applications.
Most cake buyers are middle-aged and young. Many tourists from far away provinces come to buy directly. The cake does not use preservatives so it cannot be stored for a long time and cannot be transported to other provinces and cities, Mr. Khanh added. 

During peak hours from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Mr. Khanh’s wife comes to the shop to help sell. Because the premises are small and there is no parking space, customers often park their cars on the street, close to the sidewalk and line up to buy cakes.
Around 5:00 p.m. is also rush hour, with a large number of vehicles passing back and forth on Thai Thinh street. To ensure safety, customers should come to the donut restaurant in the early afternoon or order delivery via the app, according to the owner. If you are in Vietnam and interested in discovering more about Hanoi – the capital and its significance, we invite you to join us at Free Walking Tours Hanoi. We’ll take you across the building, and provide you with a unique perspective of the city. Book now and don’t miss out on this amazing experience. (Source: VNexpress)