At 108 Phan Văn Khỏe Street, Hủ Tiếu Sa Tế Trưng Trắc has run as a single, unbranched shop for more than 35 years. A pot of thick golden broth simmers away, its aroma filling the air, with wide flat noodles soaking inside — a spicy flavor profile completely different from the pork-bone noodle soup covered elsewhere in this guide.
Cross-confirmed by the official archive of the Vietnam News Agency and the Vietnamese Wikipedia, a recipe passed down solely within the Teochew community
The Vietnam News Agency's (TTXVN) official photo archive vnanet.vn ran a feature, "Độc đáo hương vị hủ tíu sa tế ở Mỹ Tho," also carried by its online outlet VietnamPlus. The Vietnamese Wikipedia entry "Hủ tiếu sa tế" records that the recipe was passed down solely within the Teochew (Tiều) community, and several independent travel outlets cross-confirm the Trưng Trắc shop's history and its address at 108 Phan Văn Khỏe. The broth is simmered from nearly 20 spices — garlic, shallot, ginger, lemongrass, star anise, cumin, cinnamon, dried chili, chili powder, toasted sesame, peanuts, and more — giving it a thick golden color, with noodles wider than usual, closer to northern-style phở.
Honest clarification: accounts of its origin disagree, and it developed in parallel with the Saigon-Cholon version rather than one being passed down from the other
It has to be said honestly that sa te noodle soup wasn't invented in My Tho — the Vietnamese Wikipedia explicitly states the exact origin is unknown, with one account tracing it to Teochew roots and another to a fusion of Chinese and Chà Và (ethnic Javanese) cuisine. In the 1960s the dish became popular simultaneously in both Saigon-Cholon (District 5) and My Tho, developing in parallel in the two places rather than one passing it to the other — this entry honestly draws no conclusion. This dish and the pork-bone-broth My Tho hu tieu covered elsewhere in this guide are two parallel noodle lineages within My Tho, not variants of the same one — the golden, thick broth and wider noodles are the clear visual difference and shouldn't be confused with the pork-bone version.
How to Eat It Like a Local
- The wide, flat noodles are noticeably different from the thinner noodles in the pork-bone version covered elsewhere in this guide.
- The broth has layered spice notes — try a sip on its own first before mixing everything together.
- The shop has never opened a branch, so make sure you're at 108 Phan Văn Khỏe Street, the original.
An Honest Look at This Bowl's Origins
- Even the Vietnamese Wikipedia admits the exact origin is unknown; this entry honestly draws no firm conclusion.
- It developed in parallel with the Saigon-Cholon version, not passed from one city to the other.
- It's a separate lineage from the My Tho hu tieu covered elsewhere in this guide — the broth color and noodle width are clearly different, so don't mix them up.
The golden broth of a bowl of sa te noodle soup is simmered from a recipe of nearly 20 spices that Teochew immigrants carried across the sea. Accounts of its origin may vary, but 35 years of an unbroken stove on Phan Văn Khỏe Street have long since simmered that uncertainty into a flavor My Tho locals know as their own.