Jurong East MRT: Hanoi Cuisine

Hanoi-born Nguyen The Tuan works 12-hour days at his hawker stall. The 46-year-old had set up his own stall a year ago at a kopitiam below Jurong East MRT station. Called Hanoi Cuisine, it offers his traditional hometown food at affordable prices, like an excellent charcoal-grilled pork Bun Cha for $6.50.

A Hanoi specialty, bun cha consists of grilled pork served with rice noodles, herbs and a tangy lime and sugar-infused fish sauce called nuoc cham. The underrated dish became famous internationally when former US president Barack Obama visited Hanoi in 2016, and ate bun cha with the late Anthony Bourdain for an episode of the latter’s food travelogue Parts Unknown.

Tuan’s gentle, refined mannerisms also stand out against the gritty chaos of his stall. He tells 8days.sg that he moved to Singapore 13 years ago to pursue a MBA at James Cook University. “Before that, I was a HR manager at a big company in Hanoi,” he shares.

He had decided to seek higher education to broaden his worldview. He notes, “Studying helps us see a bigger picture. In Vietnam, I was doing okay as a HR manager. But coming here, I had to adapt.”

When he first moved here, his command of the English language was “almost zero”. He has since become fluent. “I went through many jobs in Singapore. I was also a property agent for a while,” the Singapore PR recalls.

His wife and kids later joined him in Singapore, and the couple opened a laundromat in Toa Payoh and an education centre, where Tuan’s wife now works as a math teacher.
Read more at https://www.8days.sg/eatanddrink/newsandopening/hanoi-born-hawker-with-mba-now-sells-charcoal-grilled-bun-cha-at-13676292