Vegetarian dishes are rarely seen during Tet because of the belief that Tet meals must have boiled chicken, banh chung (sticky rice cake) filled with meat and beans, and a bowl of bone soup cooked with bamboo shoots and delicious meatball soup. However, with modern life, the first meal of spring is also somewhat neat and sometimes less concerned with ham and chicken like in the past. To meet the need to eat less, eat something new and reduce nutrients, the trend of eating vegetarian meals on Tet is gradually blooming and receiving the attention of many families.
Try making the 5 vegetarian dishes below and experience how delicious vegetarian dishes can be during Tet.
Vegetarian dishes are more elaborate and expensive than meat dishes.
Vegetable soup
Tet meal trays in all regions cannot lack a bowl of soup. If bamboo shoot soup with pig's feet, fragrant pork skin soup, delicate vegetable soup or bitter melon soup stuffed with meat are too familiar with the first meal of spring, a bowl of vegetable soup is a very reasonable choice for those who want a light, less fatty meal.
Vegetable soup to change the menu and help reduce the boredom of Tet rice
Vegetable soup is usually cooked the day before. Housewives buy radishes, carrots, onions, kohlrabi, pears, and apples to simmer in a pot of broth to extract all the sweetness. When the vegetables are soft, the cook takes the clear broth to simmer and discards the residue.
When the vegetarian broth is almost boiling, add shiitake mushrooms or straw mushrooms, carrots, kohlrabi, and potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces. You can also add peas, green beans, corn, and cauliflower to make the soup more appealing.
Mushroom rolled green beans
The famous Thai Binh bean dish is often made into bean rolls with meat or bean rolls with tomato sauce. But with the mushroom roll version, the cook will be able to show off his or her ingenuity. Beans are a food that is often present on the dinner table of “vegetarians”.
Easy to make and unique mushroom rolled beans
Wash the green beans, cut the enoki mushrooms or king oyster mushrooms into strips, prepare and wash them. Prepare a portion of finely chopped shiitake mushrooms mixed with egg yolk, soy sauce, seasoning powder, pepper, minced shallots and spread this puree on the bean pieces, place the enoki mushrooms or king oyster mushrooms on top and use a blanched onion to wrap it tightly. Steam or fry these beans, they are very delicious with rice.
Vegetarian mixed rice
Bibimbap is a famous Korean dish. Many families who want to refresh their Tet meal often cook new dishes from around the world instead of the traditional meal.
Mixed rice without beef and eggs will become vegetarian mixed rice because of the diverse ingredients of vegetables.
The normal version of mixed rice will have beef, fried eggs along with many vegetables such as shiitake mushrooms, greens, shredded carrots, kimchi, cucumbers and bean sprouts. With the vegetarian version, just add meat and eggs and we have a complete bowl of mixed rice. This rice dish will be more delicious if you try frying some pieces of tofu until crispy and mix it with the rice. Before serving, mix the hot rice with Korean chili sauce, sesame oil and roasted sesame seeds to make the rice fragrant.
Vegetarian spring rolls
Traditional spring rolls are the pride of many housewives. This is a familiar dish on the Vietnamese dinner table and an indispensable dish when celebrating Tet.
Crispy vegetarian spring rolls are still as delicious as regular spring rolls.
Crispy, shiny spring rolls with a fragrant minced meat filling. But if you want to change the traditional meal, try making vegetarian spring rolls with a meatless filling. This time, the spring roll filling will include minced jicama, chopped vermicelli, minced shiitake mushrooms, shredded tofu, minced onion, carrots, diced kohlrabi, pepper, salt, a little chopped shallot, a little minced garlic and don't forget the egg yolk.
Fry this mixture in hot oil and turn quickly to make the spring rolls crispy. Since there is no meat, vegetarian spring rolls will cook faster than regular spring rolls. Served with sweet and sour sauce and herbs.
Vegan version of stir-fried almonds
Stir-fried almonds is a clever “anti-nausea” dish that our ancestors invented during Tet. Moreover, this is also a famous snack that any family in the past had on the dinner table during the first days of the year with a glass of wine to celebrate. Usually, people eat stir-fried almonds on the 4th day of the lunar calendar every year. Stir-fried almonds is a savory dish that takes advantage of Tet food.
Stir-fried almonds is one of many traditional dishes for Tet. This dish is in danger of being lost.
The vegetarian version of almonds will not have chicken gizzards or pork loin like the regular version, but will have some changes. Almonds are stir-fried with mushrooms, vegetarian ham, kohlrabi, carrots, jicama and peas. Instead of using lard, stir-fried vegetarian almonds are stir-fried with cold-pressed peanut oil or sesame oil for fragrance. This is a precious drinking dish of the past with the harmony between vegetables and meat. With the vegetarian version, the dish will have a fresher and lighter taste. The dish has a light, pleasant taste and is a delicious appetizer for both young and old in the family.
The vegetarian dishes mentioned above are all extremely easy to make with easy-to-find ingredients and quick preparation time. Tet meals are usually lavish and elaborate, so try changing the menu with vegetarian dishes to free up time and energy that is already limited during the busy Tet season. Let the Tet meals always be new, attractive and no longer a pressure every spring.
