Culture
Thit ga( boiled or steamed chicken) plays an important role in Tet holiday cuisine because all the tribute meals to the ancestors must contain a boiled chicken, whole or chopped. Chicken meat in Tet meals are various in forms: usually chicken are boiled and sliced, but sometimes people can place the whole chicken in a plate, or nowadays some families use roasted or fired chicken to replace the original boiled ones. Chicken meat is served with Xoi( sticky rice) and Banh Chung, and become one of the most popular main dishes in Tet holidays.
Banh Chung( steamed square cake) and its Southern variety called Banh Tet- is unique to Vietnam ' s Tet holiday, though many other countries( China, Japan, Korean, Singapore, Taiwan) celebrate this holiday as well. Banh Chung is a food made from glutinous rice, mung bean and pork, added with many other ingredients. Banh Chung is covered by green leaves( usually banana leaves) and symbolizes the Earth, invented by the prince Lang Lieu from Hung King dynasty. Besides traditional reason, Banh Chung is chosen as the main food for Tet holiday because of it can last long for days in the severe weather of Vietnam( Banh Chung can survive at room temperature for nearly 1 month).
Mut Tet( Tet Jam) is not a food to serve in a meal during Tet holiday, but more like a snack to welcome guests in this special period. Mut is always kept in beautiful boxes and placed at the table in the living room, and it is the main food for the owners and guests to taste when they’ re talking, enjoyed over a cup of tea. Unlike Western jam, which is usually in liquid form and served with bread, " Vietnamese jam " is mainly in dry form, usually dried fruits and some kind of seeds( pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds). This once-in-year mix of snack is very large in variety, with so many tastes: ginger, carrot, coconut, pineapple, pumpkin, lotus seed, star fruit, sweet potato.
Củ Kiệu( Pickled Scallion) One of stunning Vietnamese food that cannot be miss on Tet holiday in Vietnam is pickled vegetables. When Southern people usually eat Pickled Vegetables and Chinese Scallion( Dưa Món Củ Kiệu) on Tet holiday, the northern people has another option. It is called Pickled White Radish and Carrot( Củ Cải Muối) for this special holiday. However, all these food are all used with Bánh Tét( Southern) and Bánh Chưng & Bánh Dày( Northern).
New Year’ s Eve— Tat Nien
The meal finishing the entire year— should be well served, in which everyone involved remembers all the happy moments and talks about the good things only. On the New Year’ s Eve( Giao Thua), Vietnamese people have a spectacular celebration which involves the whole nation— some may gather around TV and watch the Tao Quan show, some may go out for fireworks observation. When the bell of the twelfth hour rings, everybody gathers, at exciting parties or at the comfort of their homes, saying Happy New Year to one another in warm hugs, forgetting all problems as well as hoping for a better start.
Xông đất
In this crucial event, Xông đất( first visit to a home in a year) appears to be one of the indispensable rites. People in Vietnam have appreciated more and more the importance of this culture. It has been modified a lot with a considerable number of rules and requirements, which both preserve the essence of Xong Dat tradition while adapting to the modern life of a Vietnamese.
If one does a survey asking Vietnamese about the origin of“ Xông Đất”, a majority of asked people might not be able to answer. Only a few elderlies and experts on Vietnamese culture have adequate knowledge to tell the stories about the origin of this traditional rite, but these stories are also different and sometimes confusing.
Vietnamese always keep in mind a desire of long last living and fortune for everything they do and seek ways to satisfy their demand. And with the doctrine of Taoism of the harmony of 5 nature elements( fire, water, earth, metal and wood), Vietnamese began to invite people who are suitable for them, expecting luck and success for the new year. For example, Vietnamese believe that water nurtures trees, so that people with“ Water” clause are suitable for the first visiting( xông đất) people with“ Tree” clause. The truth is that this harmony belief is also applied to many other affairs of Vietnamese such as building houses or purchasing cars and apartment.
The MAG Vung Tau 21