A national feast

NORTHERN NEW YEAR FEAST

Northern cuisine, particularly centered on Ha Noi, has for long been famously refined and meticulous, spanning thousands of year. Usually, a New Year feast is presented in even numbers and depends on preparations in each family. A wealthy family may present 8 bowls and 8 plates, accordingly the 8 bowls host chicken glizzard vermicelli, fish fins, steamed bamboo shoots with pork legs, steamed bird, steamed chicken, spongy pork skin and squid. 8 plates host boiled chicken, chưng cake, pork terrine, cinnamon pork terrine, fermented cabbage, pork head terrine and frozen meat. Families of more modest means opt for a feast of 4 bowls and 4 plates, 6 bowls and 6 plates or 6 bowls and 8 plates… to represent wealth and prosperity. Foods are also required to adhere to specific conditions. For instance, chưng cake is sliced into 8 even pieces and served with fermented cabbage. Boiled chicken must be rooster in whole, which is laid out craning upwards. Pork and cinnamon pork terrine is also typically cut into 6 pieces and laid out as a flower. Besides, a feast may feature other dishes such as lotus jam, ginger jam or ginger compote… to diversify and enhance the overall taste. In particular, kitchenwares deployed for the feast must also be consistent.

CENTRAL NEW YEAR FEAST

New Year feast of the locals is as a whole simpler, but still fully features traditional local delicacies. Any variation of the New Year feast in a municipality essentially hosts its accordingly specialty. For instance, Binh Dinh has fermented terrine or Bau Da liquor while Hue prides itself in fermented prawn pate and Minh Mang liquor. Besides, staple foods include tet cake stuffed with minced mung beans and pork, boiled chicken, scrambled egg, stir fried savories, prawn terine, steamed white rice, fish sauce soaked pork… and a plate of sweet and sour fermented carrot, Chinese scallion and papaya. In particular, Central cuisine is famed for dipped and soaked Vietnamese crackers, so New Year feast also features boiled pork, a wide array of terrine and fresh corianders. In addition, the Central New Year feast can be seen with local snacks such as it cake, thuẫn cake, tổ cake or imprinted cake… These treats are presented altogether in a round to symbolize parsimony and sharing. All contribute to such a sumptuous and locally culturally rich New Year feast.

SOUTHERN NEW YEAR FEAST

Southerners are famed for their generous and easy going nature; hence, a Southern New Year feast is simpler than that in the North. Some integral dishes presented in the New Year feast of the South include tet cake, meat stuffed bitter melon soup and braised pork, fully known as braised pork and duck egg. In contrast to tet cakes in the Central region, which typically have mung beans or with pork, the southern variation varies more in stuffing, from stuffed meat to banana or even red beans… up to personal tastes. Southerners also presume that meat stuffed bitter melon soup is meant to carry away odds and sorrows of the last year and celebrate good luck and fortune of a new one. Southerners love fermented cabbage and bean sprouts. In the run-up to the Lunar New Year, every family hosts a big chunk of fermented bean sprouts to serve with other dishes, which both stimulate their palate and work wonder on their tiredness of meaty and fatty lumps.

Besides, some families also prepare other treats such as pork skin rolls, Chinese sausage, shredded boiled chicken or vegan terrine… or jams, including coconut, soursop, squash or tamarind… to fulfill the overall harmony of the New Year feast.

Thao Lan

(Source: Vietnam Today 1.2022)