Top 6 Popular Dishes During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam

The month of August marks the harvest season for ripe, golden pomelos, which become an essential fruit in the Northern Vietnamese family's festive fruit trays. If you're looking for a refreshing change from the starchy dishes typically found in a Mid-Autumn Festival feast, pomelo salad will be a delightful treat for the whole family.

Pomelo is a long-standing favorite for many households because it is packed with fiber and vitamins, making it a healthy choice with a distinctive flavor. Its naturally tangy and sweet taste pairs wonderfully with seafood and cooked meats, creating a flavorful and zesty salad. Variations of pomelo salad include vegetarian, pork ear, or pomelo with meat, all symbolizing family unity and togetherness.

Sweet Sticky Rice Balls, also known as the reunion dessert, is a cherished dish in Vietnamese culinary tradition and an essential part of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. This dish carries deep cultural significance, symbolizing family unity and togetherness during the holiday. After dinner, there’s nothing more heartwarming than gathering with loved ones around a tea table to enjoy a bowl of sweet sticky rice balls and welcome a meaningful Mid-Autumn season together.

Each round and soft rice ball is filled with the rich flavor of coconut milk or jasmine syrup, offering a true taste of traditional Vietnamese cuisine. The vibrant colors of the rice balls, often enhanced with natural vegetable dyes, add an extra touch of beauty to the dish. The ingredients are simple yet delicious: glutinous rice flour, mung beans, coconut, ginger, sugar, and peanuts...

Lotus stems are a common ingredient in Vietnamese home-cooked meals. Few people know that lotus stems also hold special significance during the Mid-Autumn Festival, symbolizing happiness and family reunion. In addition, lotus stems represent purity. According to traditional Eastern medicine, lotus stems have a warm, sweet taste and are believed to detoxify the body, cool down heat, and cleanse the blood and intestines. As such, they are widely used both as food and medicine.

During this festive season, lotus stems are often used to prepare a variety of dishes served during the full moon, such as being mixed with sticky rice or fried. However, the most unique and cherished preparation is the sweet and sour lotus stem salad, known for its crunchy texture and distinct flavor, as well as its health benefits. Today, the lotus stem salad comes in many variations and has become a beloved dish for breaking away from the starchy traditional meals.

One of the most iconic dishes of the Mid-Autumn Festival is undoubtedly the mooncake. On the full moon night of the eighth lunar month, people exchange and enjoy these delicious treats, hoping for a year filled with prosperity, abundance, and peace. The mooncake has become a cultural symbol of the festival, representing family unity and good fortune.

Mooncakes also evoke nostalgic memories of childhood, with their delightful taste serving as a reminder of family reunions. In Vietnam, the two most popular types of mooncakes are the soft (or sticky) variety and the baked variety. The fillings for mooncakes have become increasingly diverse and creative over time, with options ranging from lotus seeds, chicken, salted egg yolks, bird's nest, and abalone, catering to a wide variety of tastes. In Vietnam, well-known mooncake brands include Kinh Đô, Bảo Ngọc, Maison, and many more.

Next on the list is a dish that’s quite popular in many Vietnamese homes – taro soup. This dish is a favorite during the Mid-Autumn Festival because it is delicious and easy to prepare. Taro is also a crop harvested during the festival season. The tradition of eating taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival dates back to the Qing Dynasty in China, and has been embraced by the Vietnamese over time.

Eating taro is believed to ward off evil, with many people saying that consuming it during the full moon brings good fortune, a bountiful harvest, and prosperity for the year ahead. Although this belief may be a bit outdated, many families still uphold the tradition of serving taro soup on the 15th day of the lunar month, as it is rich in fiber and vitamins that are beneficial for health.

Green sticky rice is a seasonal treat that is less common in the southern regions, but in the north, it is a beloved delicacy during the Mid-Autumn Festival, as famous as mooncakes. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunions, perfect for gathering around and sharing cherished memories. During these days, families often have plates of fragrant green sticky rice cakes on their tea tables.

Since green sticky rice is harvested at its peak in the fall, it is considered a 'gift from nature' to the people of Vietnam during this time. The Hanoi-style green sticky rice cake is soft, fragrant, and green in color. Green sticky rice can also be transformed into delicious dishes like green sticky rice meatballs or green sticky rice with coconut, adding variety to the family feast and bringing joy and good health to loved ones during the festival.