As times change, culinary traditions of Tet carry on, filling stomachs with delicacies and filling hearts with the spirit of the New Year.
Modern life has changed Tet celebrations. Traditions, however, carry on in all regions of the country, especially when it comes to food.
Tet in Southern Vietnam is as sunny as the local people’s disposition. Southerners, famous for their generosity, honor Tet with bountiful delicious and fresh dishes. Besides banh chung and banh tet, which are indispensable Tet delicacies throughout the country, southern Tet means include bitter melon soup and pork braised in coconut juice. Other dishes include dua gia (salted bean sprouts), kieu (salted onions), cha lua (grilled chopped meat), lap xuong (Vietnamese sausage), and nem chua (pork hash wrapped in banana leaf). A medley of colors, the Southern Tet feast is a radiant display.
Tet in central Vietnam has a different flavor. Tet feats in the central region do not include luxurious dishes, but delicately prepared specialties with various spices. Similar to other regions, there is banh tet, nem and cha on the Tet feast tray, but the dishes must come from specific traditional villages. For instance, banh tet must be from Chuon village and is eaten with papaya salad. Mam (a sauce) must be from Nam O or Thuan An, just as nem must be from An Cuu or Mu Ton. These dishes are skillfully prepared and artistically arranged on the New Year feast tray by clever Hue women.
Tet in Hanoi, which appears as the first sunbeams of spring shine through the drizzling cold, has changed. Hanoians no longer spend the night beside the fire, their eyes on boiling banh chung, just as they no longer wake up to the sound of firecrackers. In the past, a Hanoi feast tray typically held six bowls and eight dishes, but nowadays this set Tet feast is rare in Hanoi. Today Hanoian Tet feasts include dishes such as banh chung (square sticky rice cake), bong soup (pig’s skin soup), dua hanh (salted onions), steamed chicken, bamboo shoot stew, papaya salad, fried carp, cha que (lean grilled pork mixed with cinnamon), and dove stewed with lotus seeds. Before devouring the feast, hosts often serve fragrant lotus tea to eager guests.
Although today some elements of Tet have changed, the nation’s spirit and its culinary delights are constant reminders that the Lunar New Year’s celebration lives on as families reunite.
(Adapted from The Heritage by Nguyen Phuoc Bao Dan)