>>> Complete the spring flavor with traditional Bao Minh Tet jams
>>> Banh chung – The cake that cannot be missing during the Lunar New Year
How to decorate for Tet holiday
The use of decorative flowers for Tet is one of the characteristic features of all 3 regions. Moving from the South to the North, we can see that with the warm, sunny climate, yellow apricot blossom branches are the characteristic of Tet in the South and Central regions. The bright yellow flower colors are a symbol of fortune and prosperity, and the five petals of the apricot blossom symbolize the 5 gods of luck, which are Phước, Lộc, Thọ, Khang, and Ninh. Not only that, the apricot blossom is also a symbol of longevity because it has a strong vitality; even though the trunk is gnarled and leafless, the apricot blossoms still bloom brilliantly.
Apricot blossoms are the typical Tet flower of the South and Central regions
If the apricot blossom is characteristic of Tet in the South and Central regions, then the peach blossom is the flower that families prefer to decorate with during the Tet holiday. The peach blossom is a type of flower that can only be grown in the North in a cold climate. If Tet in the North lacks the presence of peach blossoms, it lacks the scent and color of spring. Peach blossoms with their bright pink color bring a joyful atmosphere to Tet, bring luck and fortune, and ward off evil spirits.
Tet in the North cannot be without branches of deep red peach blossoms
Traditional cake
In the South, banh tet is the signature cake for the Tet holiday. Banh tet has a long cylindrical shape, wrapped in green dong leaves, filled with glutinous rice, mung beans, fatty pork, and dried shallots. Banh tet comes in many different flavors and colors. Not just simple glutinous rice, people also mix it with black beans, pandan leaves, magenta leaves... to make the cake more eye-catching, and also add other fillings like banana, mung bean with salted egg... for a novel taste.
Delicious and beautiful banh tet
Besides enjoying banh tet like in the South, people in Central Vietnam also have the famous banh ro during Tet. The main ingredients of banh ro are sticky rice and mung beans, and it is also wrapped in dong leaves.
Central region Tet specialty Banh Ro
For Northerners, banh chung is the traditional cake for Tet. That is why there is a saying:
Fatty meat, pickled onions, red parallel sentences
Neu pole, firecracker string, green banh chung
Banh chung has a square shape symbolizing the Earth, and is the only cake with a long history recorded in historical documents. Placing Banh chung on the altar is a way for descendants to express their respect and gratitude to their ancestors. The image of people and families each Tet holiday gathering to wrap cakes and sit watching the green Banh chung pot over a warm fire has become a beautiful feature in the culture of Northern people in particular and Vietnamese people in general.
I love the feeling of sitting and wrapping banh chung with my parents, then staying up with my little siblings to watch the boiling pot
Five-fruit tray
The five-fruit tray adds more color to the Tet holiday, and each region has a different way of arranging the five-fruit tray.
In the South, people avoid placing bananas on the five-fruit tray because it makes people think of failure in business. Instead, the five-fruit tray of families in the South usually contains a pair of watermelons, custard apples, fresh coconuts, papayas, and mangoes. When these fruits are combined, they represent the hope of everyone for the new year, which is “to have just enough to spend” (cau vua du xai).
Five-fruit tray with the meaning of “wishing for enough to spend”
For the people of Central Vietnam, the five-fruit tray does not have the same taboos as it does for the people of the South. They place importance on each person's sincerity, so they will use whatever fruits they have. They often choose fruits with bright colors and a sweet fragrance in the hope of a lucky and favorable new year.
For Northerners, the five-fruit tray symbolizes the five elements and perfect happiness. The green bunch of bananas symbolizes Wood. Yellow pomelos or Buddha's hand fruits represent Earth. Red fruits like tangerines and persimmons are Fire. White fruits like rose apples are Metal, and dark fruits like grapes and plums are symbols of Water.
The full five-fruit tray of the Northern people
Tet holiday feast
Our country's cuisine is inherently very rich and diverse. Therefore, perhaps many people are curious to see the feast tray on the day of T
What is special about the weather of the 3 regions.
On the Tet holiday tray, people in the South usually enjoy a full range of flavors such as sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and bitter. Therefore, besides the 3 basic dishes which are banh tet, a pot of braised pork, and rice paper, the most special being the delicious and beautiful purple magenta leaf banh tet, there are also some other dishes often used such as stuffed bitter melon, and fermented pork rolls served with pickled bean sprouts. In addition, to change their palate, they can cook porridge.
Thit kho tau (braised pork with eggs) is an indispensable dish on the Tet holiday feast in the South
A plate of banh tet is one of the indispensable dishes on the Tet holiday meal tray of Central Vietnamese people. Besides that, there are other dishes such as chicken, glass noodles, Vietnamese sausage, pickled vegetables... Some provinces like Hue prepare quite elaborate Tet meal trays with a full range of delicacies from land and sea.
Traditional Tet dishes of Central Vietnam
The Tet holiday meal of Northern people is perhaps the most elaborate among the three regions. With cold weather, a typical Northern Tet meal will have banh chung, chicken, Vietnamese sausage, jellied meat, bamboo shoot soup, spring rolls, pickled onions... all displayed fully and beautifully. The Northern Tet meal expresses the fullness and the wish for a prosperous new year.
The elaborate Tet feast of Northern people
In addition, the Tet feast of the North also has desserts. After enjoying the meal, the whole family will gather together, enjoying delicious cups of tea with lotus jam, winter melon jam, and traditional confectionery such as com cake, cha cake, Che Lam…
Traditional sweets and candies are also indispensable during the Tet holiday
Those are the differences in the Tet celebration customs of the 3 regions North – Central – South. It is those very differences that have made the cultural identity of Vietnam increasingly diverse and rich.
