"Eat much, pay much" in Phan Rang

The first time I ordered a chicken rice dish at Hai Nam Restaurant (Le Hong Phong Street) in Phan Rang, I was taken aback by the humongous plate of food the waitress before me. The platter contained seven large pieces of boiled chicken, which was an impossible amount for me to finish alone.

As I began eating my chicken, I remembered how a friend once told me about his trip to Phan Rang and how he was brought a large dish of chicken as well. At first he thought the entire plate of chicken was his to consume, but he later realized that he would only be paying for the pieces that he ate. This style of paying by the portion is called an nhieu tinh nhieu by the Vietnamese. The phrase roughly translates to “eat much, pay much.”

The “an nhieu tinh nhieu” expression is a rural custom for billing diners. The cook will generally present guests with an ample amount of food, but diners will only be required to pay for the portion they consume. In the case of the chicken and rice restaurants, two dishes of rice and seven pieces of chicken (leg, breast, and wing) are generally brought to diners.

Since uneaten chicken is passed on to other diners, guests may question the sanitation of the food. To assure proper hygiene, guests should order a fresh chicken and request the cook cut it into pieces.

The chicken and rice served in Phan Rang is thought to have originated from Hainan, China, while the “an nhieu tinh nhieu” billing method is completely original and has been present for 50 years.

A classic example of the chicken  rice genre of restaurants is Duc Restaurant on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. They charge VND3,000 for the rice dish and VND13,000 for each piece of chicken.

The secret to making really great rice is using fresh chicken broth made from young hens and adding in spices such as ginger, garlic and salt. Another important element is cooking the rice using coals rather than electricity. 

The chicken used for this dish are called ga chay bo or free-range. Chickens that are able to run about are thought to have tougher muscles and more delicious meat.

The chicken rice dish is garnished with fresh cucumbers, fraknotweed and three types of sauces. Guests can choose either a pepper, salt and lemon juice sauce, a ground red chili with sugar and garlic sauce or a milky green sauce consisting of brewer’s grains, ground green chili, fish sauce and sugar.

While chicken rice dishes are popular throughout Vietnam, presenting the chicken in this fashion is a Phan Rang specialty. In Nha Trang, chicken is quartered, fried and served with rice, while in Daklak, rice is served with boiled or shredded chicken.

Source VietNamNet