Vietnamese call it "Tet holiday"

I personally find it unnecessary to put up an argument every time with the other half of the world when they mostly call it "Chinese New Year". They probably don't know how much diverse Asian cultures and ethnicities are when the cultural influence of the Chinese Lunar New Year on the world is huge as China is the most populated country. Therefore, instead of feeling irritated, I choose to stay calm and explain it to open-minded people in a contributive attitude.

When people approach me to say "Happy Chinese New Year" due to my Asian look, my response is just simply like this: "Thank you. We celebrate at the same time, but we call it Tet holiday in Vietnam." Then, seal it with a smile. Sometimes we don't need to be too sensitive or show such grumpiness when being biased because people might not know or say it to you on purpose. It's better to explain in a calmly nice tone if you know that person is open-minded. If not, you shouldn't waste your time and energy.

This blog does not aim to educate or teach you about Tet holiday in Vietnam because I think how inappropriate the word "educate" or "teach" is when I am not a teacher, a cultural representative or something like that. I just simply and humbly want to share with you the Tet holiday I grew up with. This blog might not be able to cover everything about Tet as I am not a culture expert to know all the different customs of Tet in the north, central or south of Vietnam. So, if you want to contribute to this blog, please do politely in the comment below.

What is Tet holiday?

Tet Nguyen Dan is also known as Tet Ca (Big Tet), Tet Ta (Vietnamese New Year), Tet Am Lich (Lunar New Year), Tet Co Truyen (Traditional New Year), or simply known as Tet. It's the most important holiday of the year when everything should be prepared well and early. That's why every family starts shopping and decorating 2 weeks before. Every household gathers family members to clean the house together, put on some decorations and buy some flowers. Yellow and red are the most common and chosen colours for Tet because they represent luck, money, prosperity and success.

Besides house cleaning and decoration, preparing traditional foods is also an important activity to worship the ancestors, invite the guests, and share meals with family on the first 3 days of the New Year. Tet holiday has a very special meaning to every Vietnamese living around the world when family members reunite back to Vietnam after a year being away from home to pursue a career, to work or to have a family of your own.

The excitement before Tet is the best feeling and the best time when everyone gets busy with preparation. There are 2 other special days such as the “Kitchen Fairy Festival” or “Tet Tao Quan” in Vietnamese (23rd December according to the lunar calendar) and “New Year’s Eve” or “Giao Thua” in Vietnamese (December 30 according to the lunar calendar).

My family celebrated New Year's Eve

Vietnamese New Year foods

There are quite big differences in traditional Tet foods according to the cultures of 3 regions in Vietnam, North - Central - South. As I grew up in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city), my memories of Tet foods could be slightly different from friends in Hanoi or Danang. However, I'm excited to go through them because they're all traditional homemade foods that my mum cooks every year. I still remember the taste and smell of the foods from my mum's kitchen bringing Tet to our house.

Cu Kieu Tom Kho - Pickled small leeks served with dried shrimp

Every year my mum prepares a few jars of pickled small leeks for my family and relatives. Although it seems a simple dish, it's quite a fiddly process to go through. To make it, my mum has to go and choose the best small leeks at the market very early before Tet. Those small leeks will be soaked in water, the roots will be washed, and the leaves will be dried in the sun until they become wilted. Then, my mum will put them into clean jars mixing with sugars and fish sauce. In about 10 days, the small leeks will ferment themselves and there we have pickles. My mum often serves it with dried shrimps to enhance the flavour.

Banh Tet - Sticky rice cake

Banh Tet of the south is quite the same as Banh Chung of the north. Many Saigonese love Banh Chung, as well as many households have both Banh Chung and Banh Tet in their house. But if you wonder about their origins, Banh Tet is from the south with a cylinder shape and Banh Chung is from the north with a square shape.

Banh Tet is also made from glutinous rice, but Banh Tet can be sweet or salted. The sweet one is stuffed with banana and green beans while the salted one is stuffed with pork and green beans. My mum usually doesn't make Banh Tet or Banh Chung and neither other families living in Saigon. As Saigon is the busiest and most economic city in Vietnam, the consumer industry in Saigon is big and various. Therefore, people can easily buy Banh Tet and Banh Chung from the markets or supermarkets. The taste is also very delicious.

However, many households are living a bit further away from the centre of Saigon where their houses are bigger and have more spaces, they normally make Banh Tet and Banh Chung themselves every year.

Thit Kho Trung - Pork braised with eggs in coconut water

My mum is the master of this dish. Every year, she makes quite a big pot for the whole family to have in 3 days or even more. This dish is not difficult but it takes time to cook the pork meat until tender on low heat. I find it pretty like a stew. We have it with rice and pickles.

Canh Kho Qua Don Thit - Bittermelon stuffed with meat

My dad loves this dish, but I can't eat it due to the bitter taste of the bittermelon. The name of this dish means letting go of all the unlucky things from last year to welcome a peaceful and happy new year.

Tet is a time to show love and gratitude

It’s when the whole country stops working or doing business for a week to enjoy family time. Every family will gather together, give each other new year wishes, and the elder will give lucky money to the younger in a red envelope. That's the most exciting part of Tet, especially to the kids because they can earn a bit of pocket money depending on how good their wishes are. Therefore, they have to think about and practice their wishes beforehand.

Then, everyone will have a family meal together with all the traditional New Year foods on the table. People will share stories after years of being away; there are many stories to catch up on. After the meal, family members will stay in the living room playing some traditional games or going to the flower market to take nice photos and keep them as a good memory every new year.

Tet is also the time to visit relatives that you haven't seen for a year. It's a good time to catch up and give some gifts. To younger people, it's time to meet some old friends and visit some teachers, too.

All those activities become customs of Tet. They make Tet extremely special and meaningful when everyone has got to share and show love as well as gratitude towards each other.

Conclusion

My blog about Tet is quite simple, but I hope I have covered most of the picture of Tet in Saigon where I grew up.

I'm not able to go home this year due to Covid-19 when Vietnam hasn't opened the border yet. I miss home, my family and Tet in Saigon, but I try to stay positive and keep my faith for a better future ahead. I'm doing some Tet decoration and I’ll do video calling with my family on the first day of Tet to send new year wishes.

To all Vietnamese living abroad, hopefully, we’ll all be able to celebrate Tet in Vietnam next year...