4 'super nutritious' dishes for Tet

The following dishes during Tet help regulate yin and yang, nourish blood and help the body stay healthy.

These dishes are uniquely combined, contributing to the Tet holiday tray with many other dishes, bringing deliciousness and nutrition, improving everyone's health during the Spring.

Bamboo shoots stewed with pig's feet

Bamboo shoots are also known as "bamboo duan", sweet, slightly bitter, cold, non-toxic, have the effect of regulating the spleen and stomach; clearing heat, reducing fire, reducing phlegm; treating adverse qi symptoms, causing vomiting, coughing with phlegm, bamboo shoots have a lot of fiber which reduces cholesterol absorption into the blood, helps lose weight, is good for the heart and is a laxative.

Pig's feet, also known as "pig feet", are very nutritious, contain calcium, iron and many vitamins that help nourish the blood, stimulate lactation, nourish the kidneys, strengthen the spleen and stomach, and cool the body.

Eating pig's feet beautifies the skin thanks to the collagen in the pig's feet, which helps the skin to be shiny and smooth, and reduces dryness and wrinkles; restores health after surgery and serious illness. Pig's feet also have the effect of treating nervous breakdown and depression. Both of these dishes, when simmered, are nutritious, delicious, easy to digest, and eliminate phlegm.

Pickled onions

Onions are also known as “thong bach”, spicy and hot, clear yang energy, expel foul air, detoxify, circulate blood and meridians, warm the spleen and stomach. Onions are effective in reducing joint pain when the weather turns cold.

Onions contain “herbal insulin” which is very good for lowering blood sugar. It also helps digest fat, hence the saying “fatty meat, pickled onions, red parallel sentences” from our ancestors when talking about Tet.

Duck stewed with Chinese herbs

People in Saigon and the Southwest and Southeast regions often eat this dish weekly, even daily. Many localities in the South Central region cannot lack this dish during Tet.

Duck meat is cold, sweet, and slightly salty. It has the effect of regulating the five internal organs, promoting urination, eliminating heat, replenishing deficiency, nourishing yin, nourishing the stomach, generating body fluids, and calming the mind. It supports the treatment of cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, and cancer. It is beneficial for people with weak constitution, loss of appetite, fever, edema, people with weak constitution after illness, night sweats, hot palms and soles, women with scanty menstruation, vaginal discharge, and postpartum women with insufficient milk.

Duck is stewed with 6 traditional Chinese herbs including: codonopsis (tonifies qi), wolfberry (tonifies the kidneys), lotus seed and Chinese yam (tonifies the kidneys and spleen), coix seed and jujube (tonifies the spleen and stomach). This is a very nutritious dish, and is also meant to bring good luck to the homeowner at the beginning of the year.

Green Chung Cake

In banh chung there is sticky rice, also known as “dao me” or “nhu me”, sweet in taste, warm in nature, soft and sticky, fragrant. It has the effect of benefiting kidney qi, nourishing the liver, making the liver and gallbladder circulate, strengthening the spleen and stomach to nourish the whole body and strengthen the tendons and bones. Green beans have a sweet taste, cool in nature, have the effect of strengthening the spleen, stomach, heart and liver, and detoxifying food.

Pork, also known as “pig meat”, is sweet, warm, and has the effect of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening yang. The fat has the effect of absorbing and eliminating alcohol. Pepper is spicy and warm, warming the spleen and stomach, stimulating digestion, reducing gas and eliminating phlegm, and treating abdominal pain caused by cold accumulation in the digestive tract. All are wrapped in green dong leaves.

According to SK&DS