The entire nation of Vietnam is awash with peach blossom and Ochna integerrima, and the Tet festival, which is particularly significant to the Vietnamese people since it is a time when they spend time together and reflect on the year, is also in full bloom. The ability to prepare meals for one's family must constantly be present. Therefore, Tet foods are the most distinctive and diversified Vietnamese foods that best depict and express traditional cuisine. With regard to the Tet celebration in Vietnamese culture, Saigonwalks exposes you to the meals that are traditionally served at the dinner table.
Tet cakes
Southern Vietnam celebrates the Tet celebration with Tet cake, a traditional cake. It is made of sticky rice and packed with beans, pork fat, and shallots and black pepper. Because it is covered in banana leaves, the sticky rice acquires a light green hue and a faintly grassy flavor. The cake is regarded as a New Year's treat even though it is offered all year.
Tet cake is filled with sentiment and joy, and Banh Tet has several creative methods to present it. Enhancing human labor, yin and yang harmony, heaven and earth, people and nature, and serving as a perpetual reminder to our ancestors are all prominent themes on the cake's interior.
Vietnamese braised pork with eggs
The term "Thịt kho hột vịt," which refers to a traditional Tet dish, means Vietnamese braised pork with eggs. It is served at dinner in every family, regardless of wealth. When the tender meat melts in your mouth, it's hard to ignore the sensation, yet the salty, fatty, and sweet flavor still clings on the tip of your tongue. Vietnamese Pickled Mustard Greens, pickled little leeks, and Vietnamese Braised Pork Belly and Eggs in Coconut Juice all enhance the dish's exceptional flavor and make you fall in love with it.
Additionally, it symbolizes the complete significance of money and health in Tet. Meat and eggs stand for harmony, fullness, and getting together with family.
Vietnamese stuffed bitter melon soup
And because Vietnamese stuffed bitter melon soup is always served for supper on New Year's Eve, there is never a shortage of it. Vietnamese means overcoming obstacles while waiting for possibilities in both work and life. Shredded mushrooms and scallions are also included in the straightforward soup with bitter melon that is packed with either pig or fish. The bitter fruit makes a delightful contrast with the generally sweet broth.
Spring roll
Aside from the items listed above, expect to see fried spring rolls as part of the traditional menu.The golden fried wraps, which contain pork, jelly-ear mushrooms, and bean sprouts, add to the holiday with their mesmerizing crusty and fatty taste, bringing a unique appetite to all.
They believe spring rolls could bring about luck, health, and happiness.
Pickled small leeks
Pickles may be made by fermenting a variety of root vegetables and leeks and are wonderful when paired with braised pork and eggs in a mild fish sauce. Particularly, the housewives frequently make the pickled little leeks even weeks before the Tet holiday. Additionally, some families choose purchasing the pickled onions in plastic jars from the neighborhood market. In any event, pickles are so widely available that practically every household wishes to have at least one jar in their kitchens. After the other meat-rich dishes of the Tet festival, this type of traditional Vietnamese food is helpful for digestion.
They can tell the Lunar New Year is approaching when my mother purchases pickled tiny leeks.
Vegetable pickles
Tet is one of the most significant holidays for Vietnamese people and lasts for roughly a week. Vietnamese folks typically don't sell or buy anything on this holiday. Since we didn't have refrigerators or other devices to store food for a very long time, Vietnamese people had been pickling vegetables to have enough food for Tet.
Tet is also a time when meat and sticky rice cakes are frequently provided, so this is an excellent opportunity to consume something fresh, low in calories, and good for digestion, like pickles.
Plain boiled chicken
The traditional Tet colors are green banh chung cake, red peach branches, yellow apricot branches, and yellow boiled chicken. I'm not sure when boiled chicken started to be considered a must-have dish for special events, especially Tet. Perhaps yellow is associated with luck and advantages by the majority of Asian people.
The start of a new year is a time for wishing one another happiness and success. Boiling chicken represents a comfortable and prosperous existence. Start the new year with golden boiled chicken to give your family a wonderful start and all they need..
Boiling chicken is a common main course at parties, weddings, wedding receptions, and anniversaries in addition to on the customary New Year's Day. As can be seen, Vietnamese people fully depend on their yellow chicken, which is cooked with a few chopped green lemon leaves.
Vietnamese sausage
Visitors simply need to grab a piece of the spring roll that is hanging in the kitchen corner, cut it to their liking, and arrange it on a plate with the dish to serve as a popular dish for the hectic New Year's Day.
Spring rolls, beef rolls, and stir-fried spring rolls are the three most common and well-liked varieties. Although each variety of spring roll has its own distinct flavor, the aroma of the banana leaves and the delectable flavor of the fish sauce put into the meal are what actually make the dish appealing.
Delicious, fresh, lean meat that is warm to the touch is repeatedly pounded into fine meat for spring rolls. A flavorful fish sauce is required for the seasoning. The pork belly is ivory white when chopped, with a few holes on the surface, and produces a superb spring roll.
Tet is a special occasion for Vietnamese people, and the beauty of cultural traditions has been preserved for a long time. On the occasion of the coming New Year, Saigonwalks sends you stories about the country's Tet dishes, which include many special things. Try the dishes on New Year's Day; you will definitely be surprised. Follow Saigonwalks to receive interesting culinary stories waiting for you to discover.