Around the Tet tray

Since the beginning of December, housewives have been preparing for Tet: sticky rice, green beans to wrap cakes, cook sweet soup... then dried foods such as bamboo shoots, vermicelli, pork skin, shiitake mushrooms. And don't forget to prepare a jar of pickled onions. Every family buys a red ripe gac fruit to cook sticky rice for the New Year's Eve offering, because the bright red color of gac is considered lucky, bringing all good things for the whole year.

On the 27th of Tet, many families began to soak beans and wash dong leaves. Then they cleaned the beans, washed the rice, marinated the meat to wrap the cakes. The atmosphere was busy and bustling, with people calling each other. On the night of the 29th, families were busy preparing pots and lighting fires to boil the cakes. The brothers and sisters gathered in groups of three or five, some playing cards, others playing cards, or running around busily as "errand boys for adults". Grandmother and mother stir-fried pork head or pork leg, mixed with wood ear mushrooms to wrap the cakes. The elder sister quickly stirred the pumpkin seeds to avoid burning.

There is a dish that housewives cannot forget, a pot of fish braised with galangal. A layer of thinly sliced ​​galangal lines the bottom of the pot, pieces of fried fish are placed on top, to make it more delicious, add a little pork belly to make the eggplant sweeter and richer. The fish braised with galangal is fragrant, the meat is firm, rich, eaten with banh chung and pickled onions, a unique taste, full of the flavor of Tet. On the morning of the 30th, banh chung is taken out, compressed and hung in bunches. Women and girls gather in the kitchen to butcher chicken and cook.

The traditional Tet tray of Hanoians cannot lack pork roll to add luxury. The whole tray, with the proper set, consists of four bowls and six plates. A bowl of meatballs cooked with pork leg, lean pork and chicken broth, and a little shrimp to make it more luxurious. Pork leg is made of vegetables such as kohlrabi and carrots, thinly sliced ​​into flower shapes to make it delicious and beautiful. A bowl of vermicelli with chicken gizzards. A bowl of stewed bamboo shoots with pork leg and a few green onions on top. The remaining six plates are: sticky rice, boiled chicken, jellied meat, stir-fried dish, pork roll (or stir-fried pork roll), braised fish with galangal, and a plate of salad and pure white pickled onions.

Some wealthy families in old Hanoi also had some high-class dishes such as: long tu, asparagus, fin, ball, mushroom, stewed bird... In addition to boiled chicken, there was also fried chicken or braised pork, stir-fried almonds, Chinese sausage, salted eggs, and agar salad mixed with meat. Hanoians are fond of formality, so the Tet trays were skillfully and beautifully arranged. The plate of sticky rice with gac fruit was bright red, and the cooked dishes were sprinkled with green onions and herbs. The salad plate had many harmonious colors, green coriander, red chili, roasted peanuts and white kohlrabi, just looking at it was delicious. That was the Tet tray of Hanoians, not only delicious and nutritious, but as the elders said, "Eat with your eyes".

In Hue, Tet is made by wrapping banh tet. Banh tet is wrapped in the leaves of the banh chung with the same ingredients as banh chung, except that it is wrapped into a long piece like a ham. When eaten, it is cut into slices, with the green bean paste and fatty meat filling emerging like flower pistils. In addition, Tet in Hue also has some typical cakes such as phu the cake (suê), banh hoi, banh sen chay, banh mang, banh dua mai.

The salty dishes in the Tet feast in Hue are also different from those in Hanoi. In addition to the usual dishes such as chicken, pork... Hue people especially like light sour dishes that are easy to digest such as salads including: green papaya, bean sprouts, sesame, peanuts, pork belly, shrimp, beef skin mixed with vinegar, sugar, garlic, chili, and coriander. The Tet feast also has special dishes such as beef tendon salad, shrimp rolls, and grilled spring rolls, which are hard to forget after just one bite.

Tet in Saigon is not as cold as Hanoi. Tet is not as elaborate as in Hanoi and does not have as many complicated dishes as in Hue. Tet dishes are simple, "just what you like is enough". Tet without rice paper and rice paper is considered "half Tet". The round, spongy, fragrant cakes are made from sticky rice and baked over straw fire. Unlike the North, the South celebrates Tet with banh tet, some places also mix dried shrimp and Chinese sausage to wrap the cakes. Tet trays always have banh tet, braised pork, pickled cucumbers, pickled onions and nem bi. Saigon people's Tet dishes have a lot of cold food, only two dishes are stewed pig's feet with some Chinese herbs, and bitter melon stuffed with meat, stewed until soft.

Saigonese people do not chop chicken but like to shred it. Boiled chicken is shredded, mixed with vinegar, thinly sliced ​​onions, vegetables, and spices, delicious. Tet trays must always have spring rolls (a dish similar to fried spring rolls in the North) wrapped as small as a thumb, fried until golden brown, very "eye-catching"... After "three days of Tet", eating "heavy" food, Saigonese after Tet enjoy a dish of fish porridge, nutritious and light, to help them enjoy a few days of spring.

Talking about the Tet feast in our country is so rich, it is impossible to say enough. In the most common things, there are unique and special features. Around the Tet feast is the time for grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren to happily meet, gather together, remember their ancestors, and have warm family affection and humanity spread in the colors of spring.

According to Vitinfo