Around the Tet feast table

From the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, housewives begin preparing for Tet (Lunar New Year): sticky rice, mung beans for making cakes and sweet soups... and then dried goods like bamboo shoots, Chinese vermicelli, pork skin, and shiitake mushrooms. And they don't forget to prepare jars of pickled onions. Every household buys a ripe red gac fruit to make sticky rice for the year-end offering, because the bright red color of gac is considered lucky, bringing good fortune for the whole year.

On the 27th day of the Lunar New Year, many families begin soaking beans and washing banana leaves. Then they rinse the beans, wash the rice, and marinate the meat for making rice cakes. The atmosphere is bustling and lively, filled with the sounds of people calling out to each other. On the night of the 29th, families get busy setting up pots and lighting fires to boil the rice cakes. Siblings gather in groups of five or three, some playing cards, others playing poker, or running around busily doing "errands for the adults." Grandmothers and mothers stir-fry pork head or leg meat, mixing it with wood ear mushrooms to make the rice cakes. Sisters nimbly stir-fry pumpkin seeds to prevent them from burning.

There's one dish that diligent housewives can't forget: braised fish with galangal. A layer of thinly sliced ​​galangal lines the bottom of the pot, then pieces of fried fish are arranged on top. For an even better taste, a little pork belly is added to make the dish sweeter and richer. The braised fish with galangal is fragrant, firm, and flavorful, and when eaten with sticky rice cakes and pickled onions, it's a unique and heartwarming dish, embodying the spirit of Tet. On the morning of the 30th, the sticky rice cakes are taken out of the pot, pressed, and hung in bunches. Women and girls gather in the kitchen to prepare chicken and cook.

A traditional Hanoi New Year's feast would be incomplete without pork sausage (giò lụa) for added elegance. The complete feast consists of four bowls and six plates. The first bowl contains pork offal stew with pork trotters, lean pork, and chicken broth; a more luxurious version might include some shrimp. The "trotters" are thinly sliced ​​vegetables like kohlrabi and carrots, arranged in flower shapes for both flavor and visual appeal. There's also vermicelli soup with chicken offal, and bamboo shoot stew with pork trotters, garnished with a few spring onions. The six plates include: sticky rice, boiled chicken, jellied meat, a stir-fried dish, pork sausage (or stir-fried pork), fish stewed with galangal, and a salad with pickled onions.

In old Hanoi, some wealthy families also had a selection of high-end dishes such as: dragon's beard, asparagus, fins, pig's head, mushrooms, braised birds... Besides boiled chicken, there were also fried chicken or braised pork, stir-fried almonds, sausages, salted eggs, and a salad made with seaweed mixed with meat. Hanoians, who value aesthetics, arranged their Tet (Lunar New Year) feasts skillfully and beautifully. The bright red sticky rice, the cooked dishes sprinkled with green onions and herbs, and the colorful salad with coriander, red chili peppers, golden roasted peanuts, and white kohlrabi were all visually appealing. That was the Tet feast of the Hanoians, not only delicious and nutritious, but, as the elders said, a feast for the eyes.

In Hue, during Tet (Lunar New Year), people make banh tet. Banh tet is wrapped in banana leaves with the same ingredients as banh chung, but it's wrapped in a long, cylindrical shape like a bundle of pork sausage. When eaten, it's sliced ​​into rounds, with the mung bean and pork fat filling in the center resembling flower stamens. Besides banh phu the (susê), banh hoi, banh sen chay, banh mang, and banh dua man (coconut and plum cake) are also characteristic Tet treats in Hue.

The savory dishes in Hue's Tet feast also differ significantly from those in Hanoi. Besides common dishes like chicken and pork, Hue people particularly enjoy light, easily digestible sour dishes such as salads made with green papaya, bean sprouts, sesame seeds, peanuts, pork belly, shrimp, and beef skin mixed with vinegar, sugar, garlic, chili, and cilantro. The Tet feast also features special dishes like beef tendon salad, shrimp patties, and grilled beef skewers – unforgettable culinary experiences.

Tet in Saigon isn't as cold as in Hanoi. Celebrating Tet isn't as elaborate as in Hanoi, nor does it have as many complicated dishes as in Hue. Tet food is simple; "whatever you like is enough." A Tet without banh phong and banh trang is like "only half a Tet celebration." These round, fluffy, fragrant cakes are made from glutinous rice and baked over a straw fire. Unlike the North, the South celebrates Tet with banh tet (sticky rice cake), some places even adding dried shrimp and Chinese sausage to the cake. A Tet feast always includes banh tet, braised pork, pickled vegetables, pickled shallots, and nem bi (pork skin rolls). Saigon's Tet feast has many cold dishes; there are only two main dishes: braised pork trotters with various Chinese herbs, and bitter melon stuffed with meat and braised until tender.

Saigon residents prefer shredded chicken rather than chopped. Boiled chicken is shredded, mixed with vinegar, thinly sliced ​​onions, and various vegetables and spices for a delicious flavor. A Tet feast always includes spring rolls (similar to fried nem in the North), small, thumb-sized rolls fried to a golden brown, a truly eye-catching sight... After the three days of Tet with their heavy eating, Saigon residents enjoy a quick and easy fish porridge in the new year, a comforting treat to savor during the leisurely spring days.

Speaking of the Tet feast in our country, it's truly rich and diverse, impossible to fully describe. Within the common elements, unique and distinctive features shine through. Around the Tet feast table, grandparents, parents, and children gather joyfully, remembering their ancestors, fostering warm family feelings, and spreading human kindness in the spirit of spring.

According to Vitinfo