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After the bustling Lunar New Year celebrations of the Year of the Horse 2026, what remains in the kitchens of most Vietnamese families is often a vast "treasure trove" of food. From slices of pork sausage and green sticky rice cakes to the golden-brown boiled chicken on the offering tray, all of these, once the essence of Tet, now become a mild "obsession" due to a feeling of satiety and weariness.
Storing food for too long in the refrigerator not only reduces its nutritional value but also makes family meals monotonous. Instead of repeating the same routine of "reheating and serving," repurposing ingredients after Tet requires a bit of finesse in combining spices and cooking techniques. New dishes are the key to "rescuing" an overloaded refrigerator.
The tables are always overflowing with food during Tet.
Transforming banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake) into kimbap and Japanese savory pancakes.
Sticky rice cake (Bánh chưng) is the soul of Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), but it's also a dish that can easily become tiresome. To refresh this traditional dish, you can try making kimbap with sticky rice cake – an interesting fusion of Vietnamese and Korean cuisine. Instead of using regular white rice, the outer layer of the sticky rice cake is thinly sliced, mashed, and lightly fried in water on a hot pan to create a chewy, sticky texture without being too greasy.
Kimbap, with its rice replaced by rice cake wrappers and a filling of leftover vegetables and eggs from the refrigerator, offers a unique, chewy, and crunchy dish.
When the rice cake has just started to firm up, carefully spread it on a sheet of seaweed, add the filling of shredded pork sausage, fried egg, and especially the pickled vegetables to balance the flavors. The combination of the crispy and chewy outer layer of the rice cake and the light and refreshing filling inside, dipped in mayonnaise and chili sauce, will create an explosive taste experience, dispelling the preconceived notion of traditional fried rice cakes being greasy.
But that's not all; the "leftover" version of Japanese okonomiyaki is also a groundbreaking option. By using glutinous rice cake as the base, simmering it until golden brown and crispy with a little water, then topping it with egg, cabbage, and green onions, you have an irresistible snack or side dish. This method not only utilizes leftover starch but also adds essential fiber from vegetables, helping to ease digestion after lavish feasts.
This dish can help you use up leftover sticky rice cakes and vegetables in your refrigerator.
Make use of boiled chicken and pork sausage.
Chicken and pork sausage are often abundant during Tet (Lunar New Year), and nothing surpasses bun thang (a type of Vietnamese noodle soup) to handle these ingredients in the most refined way. Leftover pork sausage and beef sausage are finely shredded and combined with shredded chicken and thinly sliced omelet. The broth is skillfully prepared with shiitake mushrooms and shallots, creating a delicate sweetness that leaves diners feeling light and refreshed.
You can make use of leftover pork sausage by slicing it into strips and combining it with shredded chicken to make bun thang (a type of Vietnamese noodle soup) for breakfast.
Chicken salad with Vietnamese coriander, or shredded chicken salad, is the perfect suggestion for a quick and direct way to "relieve" a feeling of satiety. The combination of readily available boiled chicken with fresh vegetables like cabbage, onions, carrots, and Vietnamese coriander creates a harmonious blend of sour, spicy, salty, and sweet flavors. The key to this dish lies in the rich salad dressing made from delicious fish sauce, lime, and chili garlic, which awakens the taste buds and cleanses the lingering greasy feeling from the jellied meat or bamboo shoot soup of Tet.
Mixed rice
Bibimbap (mixed rice) is a versatile solution for any leftover ingredients in the refrigerator, from boiled vegetables and braised meat to dried goods like sausages and hot dogs. No fixed recipe is needed; you just need a bowl of hot rice as a base, then arrange the chopped ingredients evenly on top, add a runny fried egg in the middle, and mix in the characteristic Korean chili sauce. This dish is not only visually appealing but also provides a complete range of nutrients, making it a great choice for a quick yet energizing lunch.
For families who still prefer traditional rice dishes, braised sausage and pork sausage in soy sauce is an extremely effective way to enjoy rice. Simmering the sausage until firm, then braising it with pork sausage and quail eggs in a soy sauce and oyster sauce mixture creates a rich, savory, and unique dish. The low-heat braising method allows the spices to penetrate deep into the meat, transforming the otherwise dry pieces of sausage into tender and appealing dishes when served with hot white rice.
Fruit salad
Finally, don't forget the fruit basket on the offering tray. Fruits like oranges, tangerines, mangoes, pomelos, and watermelons may have slightly wilted outer skins after a few days of Tet, but they still retain a wealth of vitamins inside. Instead of letting them spoil, make a refreshing fruit salad. Combining diced fruit with unsweetened yogurt dressing, a little olive oil, and lemon juice creates an ideal dessert. This salad supports metabolism, provides hydration and minerals, helping your skin and figure recover quickly after a Tet holiday of excessive eating.
