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Vietnamese people always meticulously prepare the Tet feast, paying respects to their ancestors before gathering with family to enjoy the festive meals during the spring days. In Hung Yen, the Tet table is never complete without these specialty dishes.
Traditional Tet Delicacies in Hung Yen
Luscious Pork Sausage
The name 'pork sausage' originates from the delicious ingredient in Hung Yen – 'pork belly'. To make this dish, additional ingredients such as fish sauce, pepper, soup powder, seasoning powder, and monosodium glutamate are required. The pork belly is spread onto square pieces of banana leaves, with banana leaf linings, and seasoned with spices and pepper on top.
Next, with strength and skillful hands, roll the meat into a round shape to resemble sausage. Once rolled, tie it tightly and boil for 3 to 3.5 hours. When cooked, remove and let it cool. This pork sausage boasts a rich, flavorful taste enhanced by the spices, emitting a fragrant aroma. It is best enjoyed with pickled onions, which cleanse the palate perfectly during Tet festivities.
Phố Xuôi Pork Delight
Crafting aromatic Phố Xuôi pork sausages requires meticulous attention. Pork shoulder must be impeccably clean, fragrant, and tender. Boiled pork skin is thinly sliced like threads. The pork shoulder is pounded in a mortar, mixed with sliced pork skin, and seasoned with fish sauce.
Banana leaves used to wrap the sausages must be large, clean, and briefly heated over a flame for easier wrapping. When cooked, these fragrant sausages are allowed to cool, resulting in a crispy and chewy texture when eaten. In Phố Xuôi, Hưng Yên, Tet celebrations are incomplete without enjoying the traditional Phố Xuôi pork sausages.
Rice Cake
Rice cakes in Hưng Yên are made from ingredients such as dong leaves, rice, pork, wood ear mushrooms, and fragrant leaves. Rice for rice cakes is soaked in lime water. Rice flour is evenly cooked over a fire until soft, smooth, non-lumpy, and not overcooked or burnt; this step is called 'drying the flour'.
The filling for rice cakes consists of fragrant dried shallots, wood ear mushrooms, and minced pork sautéed with delicious fish sauce for a rich flavor. Careful selection of soft, fresh dong leaves is essential for the rice cakes to meet the standard of the finished product.
Tiny Quan Chicken Sausage
Crafting chicken sausage is a delicate process, requiring the selection of lean chicken meat, the removal of all skin and bones, and having the strength to finely grind the meat. The grinder must estimate the grinding time accurately. During grinding, eggs and spices are added. Additionally, dried tangerine peel is used to impart a fragrant aroma to the dish.
After grinding, the sausage mixture is spread onto banana leaves placed on bamboo grills. Tiny Quan chicken sausage is grilled using charcoal from branches or dried longan wood for the most flavorful aroma. During grilling, oil is often brushed on to prevent the sausage from becoming too dry.
Dong Tao Chicken
When it comes to exotic delicacies of Hung Yen, one cannot overlook the specialty of Dong Tao chicken with its notably large feet. This is also a popular gift during Tet as tradition dictates that having a chicken to offer during the New Year's Eve signifies prosperity and warmth in the year ahead.
With one Dong Tao chicken, people in Hung Yen can prepare dozens of dishes for the Tet feast, such as medicinal herb stewed chicken feet, steamed chicken thighs with lime leaves, chicken offal, mixed chicken skin, grilled sausage, chicken spring rolls, fan-shaped minced chicken patties, chicken offal stir-fry with chili, chicken heart stir-fry with beans, chicken sticky rice, egg wine, fake hare, chicken bone soup with vegetables, and more.
The dishes above serve not only as specialties but also play a crucial role during the traditional Tet celebration. Cooking delicious dishes not only enhances the festive table but also provides an opportunity for family bonding over a hearty meal.
As per Mytour
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Reference: Travel guide from Mytour
MytourDecember 20, 2022
