Around 3:30 p.m., the traditional donut shop on Thai Thinh Street (Dong Da District, Hanoi) starts to draw in crowds. Khanh, 30, and his staff work quickly, shaping, frying, stirring, and packing the donuts.

“This shop is tiny, but the crowd is huge - dozens of people waiting for the latest batch of fresh, hot donuts,” says Huong, a long-time customer from Cau Giay District, as she waits in line.

The shop offers only two types of donuts: honey-coated and sugar-coated. After frying, each donut is tossed in sugar or honey to give it a sweet coating.

The sugar-coated donuts use regular granulated sugar, while the honey-coated donuts are flavored with cane honey.

According to Khanh, while his shop has been open for just over four years, his family has been in the donut-making business since his grandparents' time.

"My parents didn’t continue the business, but I decided to bring back the family recipe, hoping to offer customers a taste of traditional Vietnamese donuts,” Khanh shares.

Based on his grandparents' recipe, Khanh has modified the donuts to retain traditional flavors while also catering to modern tastes. The biggest change has been switching from sweet fillings to savory ones, making the donuts less heavy and more balanced in flavor.

Khanh explains, “Every day, we prepare about 200 kilograms of rice to make the dough. The rice is finely ground, then dried and kneaded until the dough is smooth and elastic.”

Each donut is fried in a series of three large pans, each with increasing temperatures until the dough turns golden and crispy. According to Khanh, frying is the most challenging part, requiring precise temperature control.

“First, the donuts are placed in a low-heat pan to gradually puff up. When they start to float, we move them to a second pan with higher heat to continue expanding. Finally, they’re transferred to the hottest pan to achieve a crispy outer layer while keeping the inside soft,” Khanh explains.

Once the donuts are done and drained of oil, they are either dipped in sugar or honey as a final step. Granulated sugar and cane honey are heated separately in two pans until they become thick and syrupy.

The fried donuts are quickly tossed in the liquid mixture, allowing the sugar or honey to coat each donut evenly.

Khanh says that a quality donut should have a “crispy outside and soft inside.” The honey-coated donuts are sweet without being overly hard or burnt. Biting into one, customers can enjoy the crunch of the outer layer, the mild sweetness of cane honey, and the soft texture of the savory mung bean filling inside.

The sugar-coated donuts are equally appealing, with a layer of white sugar on the outside. Like the honey-coated variety, the mung bean filling is lightly salted, adding balance to the sweetness.

Huong, a regular customer from Cau Giay, shares, “The donuts here are so fragrant and delicious with just the right level of sweetness - not overly sugary like some other places. The lightly salted filling balances the sweetness, and the crispy exterior has no burnt taste.”

Khanh estimates that his shop sells 4,000 to 6,000 donuts each day. During the winter season, this number can go up to 10,000.

“These small donuts take a lot of effort and time to make. To ensure quality, we have to choose our ingredients carefully-no cheap or low-quality ingredients,” Khanh says.

The shop’s space is small, nestled among other businesses, with no seating or dedicated parking area. Customers usually park on the sidewalk and wait in line.

During peak hours from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., the shop gets very crowded, leading to longer wait times and inconvenience due to heavy traffic.