What do you need to prepare for the first day of Lunar New Year?
To pray for a healthy, peaceful and happy new year for the family, all families pay great attention to the worship on the morning of the first day of Lunar New Year. In that worship, the offering tray is always carefully prepared by every family.
According to the book Vietnamese Beliefs by author Luu Anh (published and circulated by Tre Publishing House), offerings on the first day of Tet include: a tray of five fruits, incense, flowers, votive paper money, lamps, candles, betel and areca nuts, wine, tea, and banh chung (or banh tet). Salty or vegetarian dishes are deliciously prepared and solemnly presented Tet dishes.
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| Tet holiday tray |
In Hanoi, a traditional feast usually has "four bowls and six plates", while in wealthy families it has more (eight bowls and eight plates).
The bowls on the tray include:
+ A bowl of meatballs cooked with pork leg and chicken broth (chicken leg includes kohlrabi and carrots sliced into flower shapes).
+ A bowl of vermicelli with chicken gizzards.
+ A bowl of braised pork with dried bamboo shoots.
The discs include:
+ Boiled chicken dish (usually a castrated rooster but prepared from the afternoon of the 30th of Tet because people abstain from killing on the first day of the year).
+ Spring roll dish
+ Sausage and pork roll dish
+ Sticky rice with gac fruit
+ Salad plate
For the remaining meals during the three days of Tet, you only need to offer Chung cake, ham, and various cakes, jams, and candies. On the altar, the lamp (candle or candle) will be lit continuously during the three days of Tet along with the fragrant scent of flowers, creating a warm and cozy Tet atmosphere...
However, according to feng shui experts, during Tet people should not burn a lot of incense, only when performing rituals before meals.