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The Tet feast in each province has its own distinctive dishes. Among them, the Tet feast of Northern Vietnamese people cannot lack banh chung, pickled onions, red sticky rice, gio lua,... Below is a compilation of traditional Tet dishes from Northern Vietnam for your reference.
1. Banh Chung
Banh chung is an indispensable dish in Northern Vietnamese Tet cuisine. Banh chung is considered the soul of Tet, harmonizing fragrant glutinous rice, sweet mung beans, and rich fatty meat filling with a slight spicy taste of pepper.
Banh chung has a square shape and the green color of dong leaves. The cake symbolizes gratitude to heaven and earth for protection and care, as well as the wish for prosperity and abundance in the new year.
2. Dong Meat
Dong Meat is also an essential traditional dish during Tet in northern Vietnam. It mainly consists of pork leg (can be replaced with chicken), sautéed pork skin with wood ear mushrooms, and black pepper. This unique dish is typically enjoyed when it's cold, often during the chilly winter days or at the onset of spring.
3. Pickled Onions
During Tet, pickled onions are commonly used as a condiment, accompanying banh chung or fatty meats like Dong Meat, sausage, or chicken, to alleviate greasiness. The sweet and mildly spicy taste of pickled onions enhances the flavor and aids digestion.
4. Boiled Chicken
Boiled chicken is offered as an offering on New Year's Eve and the first day of the new year. It is believed that offering this dish to the heavens and earth on the first day of spring will bring about a smooth start and abundant blessings. When eating the tender chicken pieces, garnished with finely chopped lime leaves and dipped in a mixture of salt, pepper, lime juice, and chili, it creates a distinctive flavor.
5. Silk Sausage
Silk Sausage is an indispensable dish in the traditional Tet feast of Northern Vietnamese people. The main ingredient of silk sausage is finely ground pork combined with seasonings such as fish sauce, pepper,... wrapped in banana leaves and then meticulously steamed or boiled. When cooked, the sausage has a pale pink or white color, and when served with pickled shallots, it's just perfect.
6. Sauteed Pork Ear, Tongue, and Snout (Giò xào or Giò thủ)
Sauteed pork ear, tongue, and snout, also known as giò xào or giò thủ, is another indispensable dish in the traditional Tet cuisine of Northern Vietnam. Ingredients for this dish include pig ears, tongue, snout, wood ear mushrooms, garlic, and shallots. Not only is this dish rich in flavor, but it also carries the hope for a prosperous and fortunate new year.
7. Red Sticky Rice (Xôi gấc)
Alongside traditional Tet dishes like banh chung, boiled chicken, silk sausage, sauteed pork ear, tongue, and snout, and dong meat, red sticky rice is an essential component of the Tet feast. In Vietnamese culture, red symbolizes happiness and the vibrant red color of the gac fruit represents luck and prosperity. Moreover, the natural red hue of gac fruit signifies harmony, promising a favorable start to the new year.
Therefore, whether it's at the reunion dinner or on the ancestral altar on the first day of the new year, Vietnamese people often prepare an additional plate of red sticky rice as a symbol of belief in abundance and good fortune throughout the year.
8. Fried Spring Rolls
Fried spring rolls are not just a familiar dish in daily family meals but also an indispensable delicacy on the traditional Tet feast table in the northern region. These spring rolls are fried to a golden crisp with a crunchy outer layer and a filling inside consisting of meat, eggs, wood ear mushrooms, and fragrant soft vermicelli. The dipping sauce for spring rolls must be prepared deliciously, skillfully harmonizing salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors to create a rich and well-rounded taste.
9. Dried Bamboo Shoot and Pork Knuckle Soup
Tender and flavorful pork knuckle combined with crunchy bamboo shoots make up the traditional dish for every Tet holiday in northern Vietnamese families. The main ingredients for dried bamboo shoot and pork knuckle soup are: dried bamboo shoots, pork knuckle, scallions, dried shallots, fish sauce, salt, and pepper.
There are many types of bamboo shoots commonly chosen to be dried for this dish. However, the two best types of bamboo shoots are pig tongue bamboo shoots and fragrant bamboo shoots. Northern Vietnamese families often cook bamboo shoot soup with pork knuckle or duck/chicken. But the most characteristic dish of the Lunar New Year is dried bamboo shoot and pork knuckle soup.
Dried bamboo shoots neutralize the fatty taste of pork, creating a sweet and refreshing flavor without being overwhelming for this traditional dish.
Here is a compilation of traditional Northern Vietnamese Tet dishes for your reference. We hope that the information shared by Mytour will assist you in selecting suitable dishes to prepare a plentiful ancestral altar and a fully stocked Tet feast.
