Pre-prepared offerings for the Kitchen God are in high demand.

Many business owners prepare the ingredients in advance to serve customers who order offerings for the Kitchen God. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Working as an accountant at a confectionery company in Vinh Tan ward (Vinh City), the end of the year is a busy time for Ms. Luong Tuyet Nhi, who has to settle accounts, consolidate orders, and complete ledgers and documents, leaving her with almost no free time. Ms. Nhi said: “I only have time to finalize the books and finish work on the 28th of Tet (Lunar New Year). Therefore, I only have time to go shopping for Tet offerings at the market. As for the offerings to the Kitchen God and the Stove God, I can't cook them myself, so I choose to order them from a restaurant and have them delivered. It saves time and I have a beautiful feast.”

Tet Ong Cong Ong Tao (Kitchen God Festival)This year, it coincides with a busy administrative period at the end of the year, so everyone is occupied with work. Therefore, many people choose to prepare ready-made offerings for the Kitchen God and Stove God.

Each offering tray of savory dishes costs between 700,000 and 1,200 VND. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Nguyen Tra Giang, owner of a restaurant on Phan Dinh Phung Street (Vinh City), said: “The pandemic is developing complicatedly, and the number of customers dining in the restaurant has decreased sharply compared to previous years. Therefore, while maintaining dine-in service, our restaurant has also implemented a cleaning service.”Offering tray for the Kitchen God FestivalWe offer home delivery for customers who need it. To date, the restaurant has received 100 orders for sticky rice and chicken sets and 30 orders for full savory meal sets. We expect to close orders by the 20th day of the 12th lunar month because accepting too many orders would overload us and we wouldn't be able to serve everyone properly. Accordingly, the price of each sticky rice and chicken set ranges from 350,000 VND to 500,000 VND; and the savory meal sets from 700,000 VND to 1,200,000 VND.”

Many elaborately prepared and beautifully presented vegetarian dishes are being ordered by people to prepare offerings for the Kitchen God during Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Photo: Thanh Phuc

Besides meat dishes, many families choose to order vegetarian offerings to bid farewell to the Kitchen God and the Stove God. Therefore, vegetarian restaurants have also promptly prepared menus for customers to choose from. Vegetarian offerings range from 300,000 to 500,000 VND per set, with a variety of dishes. Vegetarian restaurants report that the number of customers ordering vegetarian offerings for the Kitchen God festival is not as high as on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, and prices have not fluctuated significantly.

One of the dishes that many people choose to order to cook for offerings on this day.December 23rd"It's glutinous rice balls in syrup." Nguyen Thi Kim Dung (Con Cuong Town), who specializes in homemade food products, said: "Currently, we have received 1,000 orders from districts and Vinh City for 1,000 sets of glutinous rice balls, each containing 18 colorful balls, pandan leaves, and rock sugar. Therefore, since the 19th of the lunar month, we have had to prepare the ingredients, knead the dough, make the cakes, and vacuum-pack and freeze them to ensure timely delivery to customers."

Ms. Kim Dung said that this year, for the Kitchen God Festival, she received 1,000 orders for ready-made glutinous rice dumplings. Photo: Thanh Phuc

For many years now, besides live carp, carp made of fruit jelly have been quite popular. A set of three jelly carp usually costs between 150,000 and 200,000 VND. In addition, other desserts such as areca flower sweet soup, longan and lotus seed sweet soup, and sticky rice molded into carp shapes are also available on the menu for customers to choose from.

For busy women who don't have enough time to go to the market and prepare food but still want to personally prepare a meal that suits their family's taste, organic food stores offer pre-prepared and pre-cut ingredients for each dish. After purchasing, they only need to spend 30-40 minutes cooking to have a complete meal. According to surveys, the price of these pre-prepared meals ranges from 400,000 to 600,000 VND per set.

In addition, offerings such as betel nuts, incense, and votive paper for worshipping the Kitchen God are also prepared in combos by fruit and vegetable shops at various price points for customers to easily choose from.

Thanh Phuc