Some delicious dishes for the Cold Food Festival on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month.
The Cold Food Festival is a day for eating cold or chilled food. Nghe An Newspaper introduces to readers some delicious dishes for the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month.
The Cold Food Festival (Tết Hàn Thực) is a special occasion of the year, celebrated on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month. Traditionally, this is the day when people eat cold or chilled food to commemorate their ancestors. In Vietnamese culture, the offering tray for the Cold Food Festival usually includes vegetarian glutinous rice balls (bánh trôi chay) and glutinous rice balls in a Chinese style.
Besides those two traditional dishes, many families nowadays also prepare light and easy-to-eat dishes to enrich their holiday meals.
1. Five-Colored Vegetarian Dumplings
One of the standout dishes is the five-colored glutinous rice dumpling. Made from glutinous rice flour, the dumplings are dyed with natural ingredients such as pandan leaves, turmeric, and gac fruit, creating an eye-catching appearance and a delicate flavor.
Prepare glutinous rice flour and divide it into 5 parts. Use natural ingredients to create colors: gac fruit for red, turmeric for yellow, pandan leaves for green, perilla leaves for purple, and bamboo charcoal powder for black. Mix each color into the flour, knead well, then shape into small balls, placing a piece of brown sugar in the center.
Boil the dumplings in boiling water until they float to the surface, indicating they are cooked. Remove them from the water, place them in a bowl of cold water, then transfer them to a plate and sprinkle with roasted white sesame seeds if desired.
2. Glutinous Rice Balls (Bánh trôi tàu)
Sticky rice balls in ginger syrup are also a popular dish thanks to their soft, chewy outer layer and rich, creamy mung bean filling, served with warm ginger syrup to balance the coolness of other dishes.
This dish is typically served hot, in contrast to the usual "cold" eating style, but it still maintains the simple, light spirit and spiritual significance of the holiday.
The glutinous rice flour is kneaded until soft, shaped into larger balls than vegetarian glutinous rice balls, filled with mashed mung bean paste, and rolled into balls. A sugar syrup is made with crushed ginger for aroma. The balls are boiled until they float to the surface, then added to the ginger syrup and cooked for a few more minutes. To serve, sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and grated coconut for added flavor.
3. Rice rolls, steamed rice rolls, and wet rice rolls
In addition, rice rolls, steamed rice cakes, or wet rice cakes are also very suitable for the Cold Food Festival. These dishes, made from thinly spread rice flour batter, are eaten cold with Vietnamese pork sausage and diluted fish sauce, providing a light and refreshing feeling in the stomach.
Mix rice flour with water according to the instructions. Use a non-stick pan or a specialized steamer to make thin pancakes. When cooked, remove with chopsticks, roll with the minced meat and wood ear mushroom filling (if desired), or eat plain like steamed rice rolls. Serve with Vietnamese pork sausage and sweet and sour fish sauce.
3. Types of tea
Sweet soups such as mung bean sweet soup, sweet potato sweet soup, lotus seed sweet soup, etc., are also commonly served during this time. The refreshing sweetness and cooling properties of these sweet soups help the body feel more comfortable in the early days of summer.
Depending on the type of sweet soup, choose main ingredients such as mung beans, red beans, sweet potatoes, lotus seeds, etc. Simmer the ingredients until soft, then add rock sugar to taste. Coconut milk can be added for extra richness.
Tea is usually served cold or lukewarm on the Cold Food Festival to maintain the spirit of "eating cool food".
4. Do Cake
Another interesting treat is bánh do – a traditional cake in some regions, made from glutinous rice flour with a sweet filling, small and pretty in shape, symbolizing good luck and peace.
Mix glutinous rice flour with warm water, knead thoroughly, then wrap the sweet mung bean filling inside. Shape the cakes into round or elongated shapes as desired. Steam the cakes until cooked. When cool, the cakes are soft, fragrant, easy to eat, and can be stored for a long time in cool weather.
Dishes served during the Cold Food Festival are not only delicious but also deeply rooted in national culture, helping to preserve precious traditional values of the Vietnamese people.