WESTMINSTER, Calif. — If there is one thing Little Saigon is known for, it is, well, that it is the closest thing to Saigon you can get outside of Vietnam. That being said, one reason why Vietnamese Americans from all over the United States flock to Westminster is the food.
At Tan Hoang Huong, a sandwich and snack eatery with locations in Tustin, Westminster, Santa Ana and Fountain Valley, ready-to-eat desserts and finger foods line the sandwich shop counters to give customers variety when looking for something quick to munch on.
“Our customers are mostly Vietnamese, so they love anything that is reminiscent of home,” Ngoc Nguyen, 36, manager of Tan Hoang Huong said. “When customers come in for a cup of coffee or bread and they look and see that we have this snack and that snack, they end up buying more than they had intended.”
Tan Hoang Huong‘s first store, at 15972 S Euclid St., in Fountain Valley, is known for baguettes and banh mi sandwiches. However, it’s the ready-to-order snacks on the counter that give people the chance to add on items either for an upcoming road trip, a family picnic or lunch on the go. One such dish is the banh cuon, which translates to rice flour rolls stuffed with a meat filling.
“I’ve been coming here every day for the last 15 years,” said make-up artist Chau Hong. “Everyday. I always pick up something that catches my eye from the counter and some sticky rice. And of course the coffee and banh mi.”
“We go through so much coffee, banh mi and spring rolls that we don’t even keep a count anymore,” Nguyen said. “We just continually bake them and assemble them throughout the day to keep up with the demand.”
Tan Hoang Huong also offers items not typically found in other communities where the Vietnamese population is not as strong, such as steamed yucca in coconut sauce, taro cake and pandan honeycomb cake.
“I think part of it is just the display,” Nguyen said. “A lot of times people only intend to pick up a quick cup of coffee but see all the variety of savory and sweet snacks available and their hand naturally reaches for it. That saying that your eyes are bigger than your stomach is true here.”
Just a few miles down the road, at 8548 Westminster Blvd., is another food-to-go restaurant that specializes in snack items, except it sells only desserts: Thach Che My Linh. This husband-and-wife duo, My Linh, and Tommy Lee has been serving up the sweet snacks known as che for more than 15 years.
The restaurant serves more than 20 types of the Vietnamese sweet-soupy desserts with ingredients most Americans might find strange in a dessert: red beans, black beans, corn and boiled eggs. But for Vietnamese Americans, they are the equivalent of sweet nostalgia in a bowl.
“If you want to be a presence in the Vietnamese community and sell desserts to them, you have to offer the classics that remind them of home,” said owner My Linh. “We offer che xoi nuoc (cane syrup infused with ginger and rice flour balls stuffed with mung bean filling) for the baby christenings and anniversaries. We have the traditional desserts but also quite a few that are our own creation.“
One of these creations that she speaks of is a unique che dessert that is made with a sugar syrup, black beans, dried jujube and boiled egg. It is intense in flavor and also unexpected.
“This is a spinoff of a dessert made in Thailand and China,” My Linh said. “It’s really healthy for you, and we roast the black beans before we cook them to bring out the flavor. That extra step makes all the difference.”
Another popular item, che ba mau, which translates to “three-colored dessert”, consists of red kidney beans, mung bean paste, green jelly and red tapioca pearls embedded with water chestnut and topped with coconut cream. It is a cross between a drink and dessert, and My Linh said these delicacies fly off the shelves. Their durian and avocado smoothies are buttery, rich and pungent and have an addictive quality to them that makes coming back a sure thing.
In addition, the shop also uses the gac fruit, which is an orange-fleshed, spiky fruit high in antioxidants to flavor and color their desserts. These fruits typically are expensive, so finding an establishment that uses the fresh fruit instead of artificial flavorings is rare.
“The good thing about the food here is, not only does it taste good, it lasts,” said Huyen Vo, a customer of three years. “You can put it in the fridge for several days and it won’t spoil.”
“There are a lot of restaurants in Little Saigon but this is by far the cleanest, and their ingredients are always fresh, every time,” said customer Duong Phan. “I drive half an hour from Huntington Beach twice a week to buy their desserts.”
“There’s nothing I don’t eat here, but all in moderation,” Vo said. “I am a little worried about gaining weight from eating all these desserts but it’s worth it. A little extra roundness is OK.”
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