Traditional dishes of regions on Tet holiday

Lunar New Year is an occasion for everyone to reunite, a time when every child far from home eagerly counts down the days to return home to gather around the dinner table and welcome the new year in a warm and happy atmosphere with their family and loved ones.

Traditional Tet cuisine is always a very diverse and rich cultural feature with a strong Vietnamese imprint. Besides banh chung, pickled onions, fruit trays... each region has its own specialties with very unique flavors. Depending on the region, customs will have different sumptuous Tet trays, suitable to the traditions of that place with many special and more attractive dishes.

North

The traditional Tet meal in the North always focuses on form and shows the delicate, skillful, and harmonious combination between wet and dry dishes, between meat and vegetables, especially nutritious dishes.

To enrich the menu in the first days of spring, many dishes are chosen by people such as: Sa Pa forest mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, upland rice (Tuyen Quang), braised fish from Vu Dai village (Nam Dinh), Quang Ninh squid rolls, Thanh Hoa sour sausage, Uoc Le ham (Hanoi), Dong Tao chicken (Hung Yen)... Tet trays are increasingly filled with abundance.

First, we must mention Banh Chung. This is an indispensable cake during Tet because it has a long history in traditional Vietnamese cuisine. Banh Chung is a harmonious combination of sticky rice, green beans, mildly spicy pepper and fatty pork fat, creating a very special flavor. For skillful people, people will wrap it directly, but usually they will put it in a square wooden mold to make the cake have a beautiful shape. Banh Chung will be boiled continuously for about 8 to 10 hours so that the ingredients are most delicious and flavorful.

Next is sticky rice with gac fruit. This is also an indispensable Tet dish on the family tray in the North. Sticky rice with gac fruit is cooked from delicious sticky rice, mixed with fresh gac fruit, coconut milk and then put in a pot to steam. The cooking process is complete, the sticky rice when cooked will have a beautiful and attractive bright red color. Eating sticky rice with gac fruit, you will feel the sticky taste of sticky rice, the fatty taste of coconut milk and a little sweetness of sugar. The meaning of sticky rice with gac fruit is understood by its color. Because it is red, it is the color symbolizing Tet, the color of happiness, the color of a lucky and prosperous new year.

Boiled chicken is also a familiar dish, people can enjoy it anytime they like. But on Tet holiday, it cannot be absent because it is worshiped by ancestors, worshiped on New Year's Eve in the Tet holidays of the Northern people with the meaning of praying for a year of warmth and prosperity. According to the concept of the ancients, chicken is a symbol of integrity and strength. Therefore, they are always present in most parties, not only because of the folk meaning but simply because of its deliciousness and ease of eating. The pieces of chicken have a bright yellow color, chewy, fragrant meat dipped in salt, lemon and chili, creating a familiar, close flavor.

When talking about Tet dishes of the Northern people, it would be a mistake to omit ham. The meaning of this dish is “warm inside, peaceful outside, full of happiness and prosperity”, so it is often placed in the middle of the dining table. The ingredients of ham are made from pork, pounded in a stone mortar and then wrapped in a plastic bag wrapped in banana leaves, then steamed. The crispy, chewy and sweet ham pieces are certainly not only a favorite dish of Tet but also a gift for friends and relatives.

It is still a very familiar dish in daily life, but for the people of the North, especially the old Hanoians, their Tet meal tray is never without fried spring rolls with golden, crispy outside, and filled with meat, wood ear mushrooms and bean sprouts inside.

Northerners have many delicious dishes ranging from extremely delicious and unique delicacies to rustic dishes, among which pickled onions occupy an extremely important position, are loved by many people, and are always present on the Tet tray. Therefore, our ancestors used to say: "Fatty meat, pickled onions, red parallel sentences". Pickled onions are crispy, have a slightly sour taste, not only bring a delicious feeling to the user but also contribute to speeding up the digestion process.

Besides, jellied meat is a traditional, unique and quintessential dish of Vietnamese people, especially for people in the North. Jellied meat served in cold weather becomes even more impressive. Jellied meat is delicious, soft, cool but not greasy. When eaten, it is often served with a little pickled onion, pickled shallot. Jellied meat is usually made from pig's feet, ears, pig skin and kept in the refrigerator until the meat is frozen, then there will be a layer of smooth white fat on the surface. Before eating, take out the jellied meat, cut into thin slices or use a sharp knife to go around the mold and turn it onto a plate to enjoy.

Central region

In the Central region, familiar dishes for Tet are banh tet, sour shrimp, beef sausage, pickled vegetables, fish sauce, banh to, banh in, nem chua... Among them, sour shrimp is a famous specialty of Hue people.

In addition to banh chung, banh tet is also an indispensable specialty during Tet holiday of people in the Central region. Banh tet is wrapped in banana leaves instead of dong leaves like banh chung. The cake has two types of fillings: salty and sweet, the sweet cake only has mung beans while the salty cake has pork. The cake is wrapped in a cylindrical shape, not square like banh chung in the North.

Pickled vegetables are an indispensable side dish in the cuisine of the Central region during Tet. Pickled vegetables are also an effective "anti-boredom" dish, often eaten with banh chung, banh tet or rice. Pickled vegetables can be made from vegetables such as kohlrabi, carrots, etc. Making pickled vegetables is not difficult, but requires careful and meticulous preparation to have a perfect finished product from flavor, color to crispiness.

In addition, beef ham is also indispensable in the list of Tet dishes of the Central region. Beef ham in the Central region is different from the two regions of the South and North in that it has a lot of black pepper so it is very fragrant. Beef ham in the Central region is made entirely from beef, without adding any other ingredients to enhance the flavor, so it has a very strong beef flavor. A special point is that the beef used to make ham must usually have less fat to make the finished product softer.

Next is pork soaked in fish sauce. This is considered a specialty food in the delicious dishes of Tet holiday in the Central region. For people in the Central region, on Tet holiday, besides a pair of banh tet, banh chung, and pickled vegetables, there must be a jar of pork soaked in fish sauce. Without the sweet and salty taste of this dish, the Tet meal seems incomplete and incomplete. Pork soaked in fish sauce has a sweet and salty taste, very easy to combine with many different dishes.

It can be said that people in the Central region really like to use their specialties to make Tet dishes. Sour shrimp is one such dish. This dish is mainly concentrated in Hue. The sweet taste of shrimp, the fatty taste of meat, the spicy taste of galangal, garlic and chili... create an attractive dish that anyone who eats it once will remember forever.

Southern

On Tet holiday, on the offering tray or dining table of Southern people, there are many delicious dishes prepared such as banh tet, braised pork, spring rolls, stuffed bitter melon, roasted pork, Chinese sausage...

The Southern banh tet dish is extremely rich. Banh tet is not only filled with pork and green beans, but also has many variations such as vegetarian banh tet (with only black beans, shredded coconut mixed with sticky rice); sweet banh tet (with green beans or banana filling); banh tet with mixed fillings (dried shrimp, salted eggs, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, etc.), especially banh tet with purple leaves, gac leaves, and five-color banh tet.

Tet in the South cannot be without a pot of braised pork. The meat must be a soft, shiny piece of pork belly braised with duck eggs and coconut milk. With the meaning of everything being square and round, sweet happiness and wealth, if this rich, fatty and interesting dish is missing, the Tet meal of the people in the South will lose its flavor.

Bitter melon stew with meat is also a typical dish these days. According to folk belief, bitter melon soup helps to overcome the hardships of the past year and welcome a good future.

Or sausage is also a popular dish of the people of the South. The red color of fresh sausage means bringing luck. Therefore, every time Tet comes, the demand for sausage increases significantly. There are many types of sausage: from fresh, dried, lean to shrimp, fish... and can be processed in many ways such as boiling, frying, grilling before eating.

If the North has pickled onions, the Central has pickled vegetables, the South also has pickled shallots to prevent boredom during Tet. The shallots are white, small and a little longer than onions, often used in Tet trays with the meaning of prosperity and business development in the new year.

Phuong Thao is the Editor of Travellive Magazine. She is passionate about traveling and loves to capture moments with her camera in every land she visits. Travel, art, and lifestyle are her favorite writing topics.

Phuong Thao