The village gate.

Restaurants mushroom thanks to the slaughtered village

Although cow and buffalo slaughter began in Phuc Lam village in the 1970s, the first buffalo restaurant was not opened until 1998. It was called “Xuan Lai”, located beside the old National Highway 1A. Do Thi Hoi, a native of Phuc Lam village is the owner of the restaurant.

Hoi said that Xuan Lai is the name of her late husband. Her son, Do Xuan Quang, continued to manage the restaurant. During its serving hours from 6p.m to 9a.m the next day, the restaurant sells an average 30 kilogrammes of buffalo meat each day, and even 50 kilogrammes some days.

Do Xuan Quang, owner of Xuan Lai buffalo restaurant.

At its peak, there were nearly 20 buffalo meat restaurants on the 200m long Phuc Lam street which served an array of dishes like grilled and boiled meat, stir-fry, Pho (rice noodle with buffalo meat), stew, blood pudding, to hotpot. However, the number was cut to eight restaurants at present.

Xuan Lai restaurant is famous for stir-fried buffalo with garlic, stir-fried buffalo with bean sprout, celery and leak, and blanched meat, along with Pho.

Phuc Lam village slaughters nearly 100 buffalos every day. Nearby restaurants choose the best meat from young buffalos at the slaughterhouses, which is sold at higher price than in the market.

Unforgettable delicious taste

Buffalo meat stir-fried with water dropwort.

Than Thi Ha, a well-known trader at the village, said the freshness of buffalo meat is the most attractive thing. If the meat is left uncooked for several hours, its quality will be different and tasteless. Therefore, from 12:00 pm at night, customers are willing to wait at the restaurants to enjoy the dishes immediately after the meat is brought back from the abattoir.

With the same buffalo, the cook knows which cut is the most delicious, and which cut is the best for each specific dish. Do Xuan Quang, owner of Xuan Lai restaurant, said he often buys the skirt steak – which is one of the most flavorful cuts of buffalo meat and beef due to its softness and sweet taste.

Following the meat selection is processing. To have a good broth, the fresh leg bones will be chopped into two parts then boiled to reduce the smell. The bones are then brushed clean and put in cold water. When boiled, the bones are taken out and stripped off the attached meat and marrow. Then the bones are washed once more and put in water to simmer for around four hours.

Phuc Lam street at night.

The cook only needs to smell the fragrance of bones to know if the broth is salty or not. Froth and fat must be removed from the broth to ensure it is entirely clear. Ginger, onion, and garlic must be grilled on charcoal before they are added to the broth along with traditional medicinal herbs.

The living standards of locals have been improving in recent time. Many can now afford several hundred dong to buy some buffalo meat or invite friends to restaurants. That is why buffalo meat restaurants in Phuc Lam are flourishing. Not only locals but many people from other districts and provinces come to Phuc Lam to enjoy the fresh buffalo meat.

Thu Phong