Top 20 Delicious Tet Dishes in Vietnam

When it comes to traditional Vietnamese cuisine, Chung cake and Tet cake are iconic dishes, particularly cherished during Tet. Chung cake, a square-shaped delicacy wrapped in dong or banana leaves, consists of glutinous rice, mung beans, and seasoned pork. It requires a long cooking process to achieve its distinctive flavor. Similarly, Tet cake, also known as cylindrical or 'banh don,' is essential in southern Vietnam during Tet. With its cylindrical shape, typically 20 - 25cm in height, Tet cake is wrapped in fresh, intact, and vibrant banana leaves. It shares similarities with Chung cake in terms of ingredients but differs in its outer layer of banana leaves. Both cakes symbolize abundance and prosperity, lovingly prepared by mothers and grandmothers during the festive season. Each layer of rice envelops the filling, creating a harmonious blend of flavors, reminiscent of the tender care of a mother for her children. While these cakes can be enjoyed year-round, their significance during Tet is unparalleled, evoking feelings of warmth and nostalgia.

Vietnamese sausage - a popular delicacy during Tet. In the days leading up to the new year, more and more people intend to learn how to make Vietnamese sausage at home rather than buying it from stores to prepare delicious dishes for the Tet altar. Making Vietnamese sausage by hand not only tastes delicious but also eliminates concerns about food safety, excluding colored Vietnamese sausage products, preservatives... If on normal days, Vietnamese sausage we often eat is bought outside the market, then during Tet, most Vietnamese sausage is wrapped by families themselves, alongside wrapping Tet cakes. Each meal slices Vietnamese sausage to eat, not only saving money, but also safer in terms of hygiene than buying at the market. Especially it makes us more appetizing.

Along with Vietnamese sausage, the Tet feast of the Vietnamese people also has stir-fried gio. Stir-fried gio is one of the traditional gio dishes of the Vietnamese people with the main ingredient being stir-fried pork with some other ingredients and then wrapped and compressed. Originating from northern Vietnam and now popular nationwide, but similar processing methods exist in many other culinary cultures around the world. The processing process is relatively easy, ingredients are easy to find, the finished product is fragrant and slightly crispy, making stir-fried gio a familiar dish of people from all regions. Gio is often made by families during traditional Tet holidays and sold at gio stores in most markets nationwide.

In line with our ancestors' poem: 'Pork fat, pickled onions, red couplets,' pickled onions are an indispensable part of Tet celebrations. Pickled onions not only carry rich traditional values but also, on the Tet table, having a plate of pickled onions, occasionally eating a piece will help us feel less nauseous when eating too many other nutritious dishes. Pickled onions, also known as salted onions, are a type of pickled vegetable made from the main ingredient of salted onion bulbs fermented by lactic acid bacteria. Along with fatty meat and Tet cakes, pickled onions are as popular as a must-have food on the traditional Tet day of Vietnamese people nationwide. Not only that, pickled onions also have a role in regulating our digestive system, reducing the risk of digestive disorders in case we eat indiscriminately. So, prepare a jar of pickled onions for the whole family on this Tet occasion!

The ingredients for pickling onions are very simple, including: bulbs of a type of onion (scientific name: Allium chinense - commonly known as 'củ kiệu' in Vietnam) that have been sun-dried without peeling off the outer skin, small bulbs about the size of an adult's fingertip or slightly larger, and table salt. Choose uniform, firm bulbs, not rotten, peel off the old outer skin to reveal the white or slightly purple inner bulb. However, the experience of many housewives suggests that using white onions or shallots tastes better and more fragrant than purple onions. Purple onions are spicier, which makes the pickled onions take longer to mature. Some other ingredients may be added: mustard greens (used to layer to supplement the salted onion jar); sugarcane lining the bottom of the jar, sugar, white wine, vinegar (makes the pickled onions sour faster, may not be necessary). Stove ash, sour orange peel, or rice water as a form of auxiliary additive to soak onions before pickling. Pickled onions are often used as a side dish with Tet cakes or with fatty meats to prevent nausea during Tet days.

According to the legend of Chung Cake and Giay Cake, Giay Cake is also a traditional dish of Tet holidays. Giay cake is a traditional cake of Vietnamese people to express gratitude of descendants to ancestors and the land of the country. The cake is usually made from finely ground glutinous rice, can have mung bean and coconut fiber filling with sweet or savory taste. The cake is often made on the occasion of Lunar New Year Tet and on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month (Hung King Commemoration Day). Along with Chung cake, Giay cake symbolizes the Vietnamese people's concept of the universe. It is white, round, considered characteristic of the sky in the Vietnamese belief. Giay cake is associated with the legend of Prince Lang Lieu, traditionally said to occur during the reign of the 6th Hung king of Van Lang country. Accordingly, Lang Lieu was instructed in a dream to make a round Giay cake, symbolizing the sky, while Chung cake is square, symbolizing the earth; these two were used to offer to the king on the first day of spring. Besides explaining the origin of Chung cake and Giay cake, the legend reminds descendants of the nation's traditions and the importance of rice and nature in the rice civilization.

Some ethnic minorities in Northern Vietnam, such as Tay, Muong also make Giay cake but do not wrap Chung cake. Historian Tran Quoc Vuong suggests that Chung cake and Giay cake symbolize the male and female genitalia in the Vietnamese prosperity belief. Some regions wrap cylindrical cakes or Tet cakes, a type of long round cake, instead of Chung cake, which according to Tran Quoc Vuong's explanation is suitable for the prosperity belief. People often choose good glutinous rice, well-done (can be double-done), then grind it in a mortar until it forms a sticky, chewy dough. This is a physically demanding task, usually done by young men because the glutinous rice dough is particularly sticky and dense, even lifting the pestle is not simple. If not ground thoroughly, the rice grains will not taste good, easily causing the cake to be 'stuck again'. Usually, people can use a little lard to wipe on the head of the mortar to prevent sticking, but pig brains boiled until cooked are used for this purpose more often. Giay cake is not only available on Tet days but also very easy to buy on normal days.

Rolled pork sausage, also known as fried spring rolls, is one of the savory dishes on Tet days, which surely no household misses making. Not only easy to make, but rolled pork sausage is also extremely delicious and easy to eat. The ingredients for the filling vary depending on each family's taste but typically include finely ground pork, shredded wood ear mushrooms, eggs, soaked glass noodles, and various aromatic herbs. Rolled pork sausage has a crispy texture, an irresistibly enticing aroma, and when paired with sweet and sour fish sauce, it becomes a wonderful dish.

The most common meat used for rolled pork sausage is pork, but people can also use crab, shrimp, chicken, and sometimes snails (in Northern Vietnam) and tofu (for vegetarian spring rolls - 'vegetarian rolled pork sausage'). If using carrots and jicama cut into tiny cubes, the filling will be crunchy, perfect with crispy fried rice paper, but the moisture from these vegetables may soften the rice paper after a short time. To preserve rolled pork sausage for a long time, mashed sweet potatoes or mashed green beans can be used to maintain its crispiness. People may also include bean sprouts and rice vermicelli. Eggs and various spices can be added according to personal preference.

The traditional Tet feast of the Vietnamese people cannot lack dried bamboo shoot soup. Bamboo shoots are a fibrous food, good for digestion, not causing excess weight if eaten in large quantities, and have the effect of preventing boredom on Tet days. Dried bamboo shoots typically use tender bamboo shoots or bamboo shoots. However, dried bamboo shoots are the most common and delicious. Dried bamboo shoots are often combined with pork ribs, pork knuckles to cook soup, and dried bamboo shoot soup with pork ribs has become a traditional dish on Tet days of the Vietnamese people. Dried bamboo shoots cooked with pork knuckles is a popular soup on the traditional Tet days in the North. When eating bamboo shoots, which are crispy, together with tender pork knuckles, deliciously fatty and fragrant, it is very appetizing. It is advisable to choose bamboo shoots with a slightly brownish yellow color, cut into small pieces and not salted. If buying large pieces of bamboo shoots, the soaking and boiling time will be longer. Pure bamboo shoots must retain the characteristic aroma of fresh bamboo shoots.

Dried bamboo shoots are cleaned with water and then soaked overnight until the bamboo shoots are fully expanded. They can be soaked for 2 - 3 nights, changing the water daily. On the first day of soaking, rice washing water can be used to help the bamboo shoots become whiter and tastier, and on the remaining days, regular water is used. After soaking, put the bamboo shoots in a pot of boiling water and boil them a few times until the bamboo shoots are completely tender and the boiling water turns white, then stop. It is best to let the pot of bamboo shoots boil for at least an hour over medium heat. After boiling the bamboo shoots, remove them and soak them in cold water to increase their crispness. Then tear or cut the bamboo shoots into small pieces according to your preference. Quickly stir-fry the bamboo shoots with a little salt and fish sauce for the bamboo shoots to absorb the seasoning. Pork knuckles, bones need to be washed with salt and then rinsed clean. Pour the knuckles and bones into a pot, add cold water and simmer for about 30 minutes, if there is foam, skim off all the foam so that the broth is clear. Continue to add the stir-fried bamboo shoots to the simmering bones, then boil until the bamboo shoots are tender and the bones are tender. Taste again to see if the broth is flavorful enough. Add the spring onions to the pot, then turn off the heat and ladle the soup into bowls and enjoy with your family on Tet days.

Fermented pork roll (Nem Chua) is a traditional Tet dish and very popular in the Northern region of Vietnam. The Northern region has a mild climate, and the weather is cool when spring arrives, so nem chua can be made without worrying about spoilage or decay. Meanwhile, the weather in the Southern region is somewhat hot, so nem chua is not as common because it is difficult to preserve. Nem chua is a dish made from pork, using fermentation of banana leaves (or guava leaves, fig leaves, or wild betel leaves) and rice flakes to ripen, resulting in a sour and crispy taste. It is famous in Vietnam as a common product in many localities, although it is unclear which region first produced nem chua. The preparation of nem chua can be divided into two types: Northern-style Nem Chua can be prepared to eat raw with special leaves, while Central Vietnam-style Nem Chua (especially in Thanh Hoa and Hue) is wrapped and fermented in some types of leaves, including banana leaves and guava leaves.

Today, in some areas of Hanoi such as Hang Bong Street (Tam Thuong Alley), Hang Bo, people also make fermented pork rolls (nem chua) into a new snack called fried or grilled nem chua. This dish is particularly appealing because of its distinctive aroma. Passing by, even without looking at the signboard or seeing people enjoying it, you can already smell it. The aroma of this dish has a very strong stimulating effect on the taste buds. All types of nem currently sold in the Hanoi market are supplied by the most famous nem shops in Hanoi such as Hong Chien (Le Dai Hanh Street), Cong Chau (Tran Xuan Soan Street), Dinh Dung (Doi Cung Street), among which Hong Chien store has its origins from the famous traditional sausage-making village formerly known as Uoc Le Village in Ha Dong prefecture, and these nem chua dishes are also one of the delicious dishes on Tet days of the Vietnamese people.

Chicken dishes are quite popular in the daily meals of every family. Chicken is a nutritious food, providing protein similar to that of red meat but with minimal fat, thus minimizing cholesterol intake. Chicken meat can be prepared into various dishes with different flavors, enriching the family's meals. Among them, boiled chicken is the simplest dish, but not every homemaker knows how to boil chicken perfectly. The requirement for well-boiled chicken is that the skin should be shiny, golden, smooth, and not dry. The meat inside should be cooked but still retain its natural tenderness.

Boiled chicken is an indispensable dish on festive occasions like Tet. Throughout history, people have always believed that chicken brings luck, a favorable start to a new year. People choose fresh, clean chickens, then boil them with spices such as black pepper, cloves, and ginger. When fully cooked, boiled chicken will have a golden color, intact skin, and is served with a dipping sauce made of salt, lime, and chili. The sweet aroma of the chicken meat, accompanied by lime leaves and the tangy dipping sauce, creates a unique flavor that is unforgettable. In every feast, whether it's a wedding, engagement, birthday, or housewarming party, boiled chicken is always present. And during Tet, it's no exception. A simple dish yet essential in the Tet feast of Northern Vietnamese people.

Winter Stew is also a traditional dish in the Tet menu of every Vietnamese family. Winter stew is a familiar dish, characteristic of Northern Vietnam during the winter days. The main ingredient of winter stew is pork, mainly using leg meat, with essential spices being cinnamon and pepper, besides pork skin, and sometimes agar. This is a cold dish, eaten with hot rice, giving a refreshing sensation on the tongue. The pork skin affects the chewiness of the agar. Depending on taste, the amount of pork skin added to the meat varies. The gelatin must be firm, not liquid at room temperature. The chewiness of the gelatin depends on the amount of skin added to the broth, the more skin, the easier the dish will set, and the firmer the gelatin.

When serving, the cook will invert the mold onto a plate, with the agar layer at the bottom becoming the surface. Winter stew tastes better when served cold. It can be enjoyed with pickled vegetables. Winter stew has a slightly pink color, with tender, fatty meat, a characteristic aroma of meat, cinnamon, crunchy agar, and the refreshing taste of agar. To prepare winter stew, you need pork leg meat, pork skin, and spices such as cinnamon, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and a little dried bamboo shoots, along with salt, fish sauce, pepper... simmer for about two hours, ensuring the meat, mushrooms, and dried bamboo shoots are tender, the broth is clear, seasoned to taste, garnished with herbs and sliced chili, ensuring everyone will enjoy this dish on Tet's feast.

Floating Ball Soup is a frequent presence in the traditional Tet feast of Northern Vietnam. This dish is both refreshing and nutritious, suitable for the cold Tet weather. Pork skin helps nourish the blood and smoothen the skin, hence, the traditional Northern feast has created this unique floating ball soup. In the cold season of Northern Vietnam, the skin tends to dry and crack, so dishes like winter stew or floating ball soup often use pork skin as a natural balancing measure. The soup is particularly delicious when served hot, with the floating balls absorbing the flavorful broth. When served, the soup is adorned with beautiful vegetables, with the floating balls placed on top to distinguish it from other soups on a table with multiple dishes.

Not only is floating ball soup a delicious Tet dish, but it also contributes to skin beauty for women. Pork skin provides abundant collagen, which helps beautify the skin, strengthen bones, supply vitamins, and improve immunity. Pork skin encourages skin cells to absorb and retain water, preventing wrinkles and dryness. Consuming a moderate amount will help maintain smooth and shiny skin. Thus, floating ball soup provides many collagen-building components, promoting smooth and firm skin. The soup also contains lean pork, shrimp, and quail eggs, supplementing proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates, making it a nutritious meal for the whole family, serving both as a beauty regimen and longevity enhancer.

In the old days, every time Tet arrived, every family had a pot of braised pork in soy sauce. This is also one of the traditional dishes of the Vietnamese people. From the fresh and delicious pork and the quail eggs through skilled cooking hands, a pot of braised pork in soy sauce was created, fragrant and attractive for everyone to eat on Tet day. Especially in the Tet meal of the Southern people, the dish of braised pork and quail eggs is indispensable. With the meaning of harmony, prosperity, and wealth, if this interesting meat dish is missing, the Tet meal of the Southern people will lose its flavor. The broth for stewing pork and duck eggs is coconut water. The pork is usually pork belly or pork with both lean and fat. The meat is cut into square pieces, big, and the duck eggs are boiled, peeled, and put together in the stew with the meat. The spices used include: pepper, fish sauce, chili, sugar, caramel, and some other spices. This mixture of meat, eggs, and coconut water is stewed over a small fire until the meat is tender. The dish of braised pork and duck eggs can be served with white rice and pickles. Instead of duck eggs, chicken eggs, or quail eggs can also be used for stewing. This dish is also often seen in popular eateries because of its easy preparation, low cost, and delicious taste.

The delicious braised pork in soy sauce must meet the standard of being eye-catching yellow, the meat is tender, rich, fragrant, and flavorful... It is excellent to eat with white rice. Choose thin-skinned pork for a delicious, tender dish that is not greasy. To remove the pork's odor, when you buy it, you need to soak it in diluted salt water, then rinse it with clean water and slice it. Put 500g of meat in a bowl, then add 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots, 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/3 teaspoon of seasoning powder, and 1 teaspoon of pepper and mix well. Then, use food wrap to wrap the bowl of meat tightly, marinate for about 15 - 20 minutes. While waiting for the meat to marinate with spices, put the eggs in a pot to boil. To make the eggs rich and easy to peel, add a little salt to the boiling water. Keep the stove temperature at a moderate level, not too high to prevent the eggs from cracking. After the water boils, reduce the heat, let it simmer for 7 - 8 minutes until the eggs are cooked. Then, add sugar to the pot, cook until the sugar boils and changes color, then add enough water. Put the marinated meat in the pan, stir-fry until the meat is firm, then pour in 400 ml of coconut water. Cover the pot, then reduce the heat and simmer the meat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, when the water has evaporated, add more water, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes, then turn off the heat.

12. Marinated Fish Sauce Meat

Every Tet holiday, the dish of marinated fish sauce meat is the most common way to salt meat in many provinces in Central Vietnam. The ingredients can be pork or beef, both are fine, after being prepared, they are soaked in a mixture of fish sauce and sugar brewed according to a certain ratio. This meat dish has a salty, sweet taste and is often served with pickled vegetables, sweet and sour pickles, and fresh herbs, which tastes absolutely delicious. To make marinated fish sauce meat, you need to prepare pork belly, clean it, and cut it into pieces. Depending on the size of the glass jar you prepare, estimate the size of the pieces to fit. Put the pot on the stove, add the meat, a little pepper, and 3 sliced shallots, then add water to cook the meat until it is cooked. During the cooking process, remember to skim off the foam in the pot. When the meat is cooked, take it out, rinse it with clean water, and drain. Put 300g of brown sugar in a pot with 500ml of fish sauce, cook and stir until the fish sauce boils. Remember to skim off the foam during cooking.

After that, let the fish sauce cool completely before pouring it over the meat. Rinse the glass jar with boiling water and dry it thoroughly. Then, put the cooked meat in. Add a little garlic, chili, then pour fish sauce into the jar, you should use a few bamboo sticks to keep the meat from floating on the surface of the fish sauce, which may cause it to spoil. Place in a cool place for about 3 days. After 3 days, take out the meat and cut it into bite-sized pieces. The marinated fish sauce meat is delicious and can be eaten with hot rice or rolled in rice paper with fresh herbs, which is incredibly wonderful. Pork meat marinated in fish sauce will firm up and absorb the slightly salty taste of the fish sauce, very delicious when eaten with hot rice. This marinated fish sauce pork dish will be an irresistible delicacy in every Vietnamese family's Tet meal.

13. Simmered Sweet Soup

Simmered sweet soup is a traditional dish commonly seen during Tet in Northern Vietnam. Simmered sweet soup has a sweet, fragrant, and nutritious taste, suitable for enjoying with hot tea on the cold days of Tet. The dish's rich aroma, gentle sweetness, and distinctive flavor make it irresistible to eat. Many people believe that simmered sweet soup brings luck and prosperity for the new year. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, people often cook simmered sweet soup to enjoy on Tet days, hoping for a year full of luck, prosperity, and everything going as desired.

Simmered sweet soup is a familiar dish that cannot be missing from the Tet meal of people in the northern region. With only 2 simple main ingredients, mung beans and sugar, but to cook a perfect simmered sweet soup requires the cook to have patience and meticulousness in each step. With its rich aroma, gentle sweetness, and the harmony of mung beans and sugar, simmered sweet soup has a distinctive feature that makes it irresistible to eat. The soft, smooth mung beans dissolve in the mouth, bringing along the sweet and fatty taste of the soup and the faint fragrance of vanilla that will make you unable to resist. Simmered sweet soup with mung beans is even more delicious when paired with a fragrant cup of hot tea, balancing out the sweetness of the mung beans.

14. Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup

For every family in the South, bitter melon stuffed with meat soup is a familiar daily dish. This dish is a specialty of the people in Southern Vietnam but is still widely enjoyed in the other two regions of the country. It's an indispensable dish during the Tet holiday in the South, symbolizing that the hardships of the old year will pass and the good luck of the new year will come. Bitter melon has many benefits thanks to its abundant vitamins and minerals. Among them, its abundant vitamin C and protein help boost the immune system, thereby enhancing the body's resistance. Not only that, bitter melon also has antiviral properties, inhibiting the spread and development of viruses in the body, which can help destroy cancer-causing cells. Bitter melon is also used for people with diabetes due to its ability to reduce blood glucose levels and prevent the absorption of glucose into cells.

Bitter melon soup is a delicious, refreshing dish with many health benefits such as weight loss, improved vision, and skin beauty. According to Southern beliefs, when eating this soup, all the 'bitterness' of the old year will 'pass away', which is why it often appears on the Tet dinner table. When serving on the table, use scissors or a knife to cut the circles to eat. It's best served with soy sauce or chili fish sauce. Bitter melon soup with rich broth and delicious meat filling from pork and wood ear mushrooms, while the bitter melon is soft and slightly bitter, is delicious when eaten with white rice. Additionally, bitter melon has cooling properties, is non-toxic, so it helps cool the liver, nourish the intestines, promote urination, stimulate appetite, support digestion, and beautify the skin...

One of the popular dishes in the South that everyone knows is Chinese sausage. Every Tet holiday, the demand for Chinese sausage is indispensable in the meals of Southern people. Chinese sausage is a dish originating from China. The main ingredients of this dish are lean pork and pork fat. To make Chinese sausage, people grind pork and fat, then mix with wine and sugar. After that, stuff this mixture into dried pork intestines to cook naturally by fermentation. There are two types of Chinese sausages on the market, dry Chinese sausage (exposed to the sun) and fresh Chinese sausage (not exposed). Chinese sausage has a pink or dark brown color, with a naturally sweet taste mixed with a little richness from pork fat. This dish is often served with white rice, sticky rice, bread, or rice paper.

When mentioning fragrant and delicious Chinese sausages, people immediately think of meticulously processed pork sausages from selecting ingredients to finished products. The ingredients are pieces of shoulder meat, ham or loin of freshly slaughtered pigs. The meat must be red, with a bright layer of fat, fresh to make delicious Chinese sausages. After selecting the meat, people clean it, then chop it finely, marinate it with spices. Each place has its own marinating formula to create a distinctive flavor. Many places also add a little white wine or mai que lo to help the meat ferment naturally. Then, they stuff the mixture into pig intestines and dry them in the sun for about 3 times. After drying, hang them in the kitchen rafters for gradual use. Pork sausage is a specialty of Western provinces or a gift of the Northwestern region with the kitchen rafters version of pork sausage.

Traditional Rice Cakes are among the types of cakes commonly seen during festivals according to Chinese culture, including the culture of Vietnamese people living in the Central region. Traditional Rice Cakes are made from glutinous rice flour, which is a type of cake often used for ceremonial purposes in Chinese culture and can be served as a dessert or snack. It is an indispensable dish for entertaining guests during the Lunar New Year.

The significance of the name Traditional Rice Cakes symbolizes luck and prosperity for the whole year. Moreover, this type of cake is very sticky, so it is also considered a dish for the Kitchen Gods to prevent this deity from speaking ill of the family in front of the Jade Emperor. Instead, it represents good things for the Jade Emperor to bestow more luck upon the family.

Before the ancestral grave visit, picking mai leaves, harvesting watermelons... the earliest Tet image for every Vietnamese family is the bundles of radishes, onions, and turnips brought back from the market by mothers and sisters to make into the dishes collectively called pickles. One of the most beloved dishes of Southern Vietnamese families must be pickled radish in fish sauce, dried shrimp pickle. The pickled radish - onion pickle is a dish that complements meat, square cakes, and the “mountain” of other delicious dishes during the three Tet meals.

Unlike people in the North who eat pickles with square cakes, people in the South eat pickled radish with cylindrical glutinous rice cakes. A plate of dried shrimp pickles is sprinkled with a layer of white sugar, sometimes adding a few slices of dried duck eggs. It's difficult to fully describe the mouth-watering taste of dried shrimp pickles. It's strange that pickled radish, originally a sour dish, has a rich sweet taste when eaten, especially with a few dried shrimp, especially earthworm shrimp, adding a sweet and savory taste from the shrimp meat. If soaked a bit longer in vinegar mixed with sugar, it adds an indescribable sweet taste, then dipping it in a little chili soy sauce adds a salty, sweet, and spicy taste. Adding to that sweetness, if you can't perceive the unique and incomparable blend of fragrances of dried shrimp pickles.

Beef pickled in fish sauce is a dish loved by many, not only for drinking but also as a snack or with rice, it's delicious either way. However, it's considered difficult to make and most mothers have to buy it from stores instead of making it themselves. In fact, the recipe for this dish is not as difficult as people think. The key to a delicious beef pickled in fish sauce lies in selecting the ingredients, while the cooking method is quite simple.

This is one of the delicious dishes easy to make on Tet days. You prepare the beef, boil it until cooked, then put it in a glass jar to marinate with pre-prepared sweet and salty fish sauce, cover the jar tightly. After about 5 – 7 days (depending on the size of the beef), the dish is ready to serve. Beef pickled in fish sauce is a delicious dish often used on festive occasions and served to guests. This dish is not too elaborate but very tasty, loved by many.

Lychee cake is one of the famous Tet treats in Nam Dinh. You can prepare this dish by mixing glutinous rice flour with water and chicken eggs, forming small balls smaller than lychee fruit. Then, the cake balls are fried golden in a pan full of oil, then removed to drain excess oil and coated with a sufficient amount of sugar. After the cakes are evenly cooked, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with just the right amount of sweetness.

It's unclear when this cake appeared, but it seems that the famous lychee cake in Nam Dinh has always been a sweet gift for visitors to this place. Each small, beautifully shaped cake is kneaded round, fried in hot oil emitting a fragrant aroma, crispy. The reason why people here call this cake with such a simple name is because the cake is shaped like a lychee fruit. In addition, this sweet cake is also known as tea cake or rice cake.

Thung Cake (also known as airy cake) is a type of Tet cake in the Central region with a flavor similar to sponge cake. Thung cake is a distinctive dish that cannot be missed on the Tet feast. Nowadays, many families no longer adhere to the tradition of making thung cakes on Tet days. However, it remains a popular dish for many people in the Central region.

Thung cakes are made from flour (wheat flour, tapioca flour...) mixed with eggs. They are baked on a mold specifically designed for thung cakes and baked over charcoal using a small round mold. When cooked, the cakes emit an incredibly enticing aroma. They are presented on a plate and serve as the main dish in the Tet feast in the Central region.