Chúc mừng năm mới! Happy lunar new year!
A big part of new years (Tết) is of course the food, so I’d like to share some of my favorite Vietnamese dishes my family and I have for the holiday. Just a disclaimer that some of these dishes aren’t exclusively reserved for Tết, but they’re things I love having around this time!
1. Bánh tét (Sticky rice and mung bean cakes)
Food Stylist: Emily Nebors Hall
A staple food that I’m pretty sure almost every Vietnamese household has for Tết. There are so many ways to eat this dish and that’s what I love about it. Fried, plain, or even with sugar, you could never get sick of bánh tét.
2. Mứt dừa (Candied coconut ribbons)
(image via: https://bunbobae.com/vietnamese-candied-coconut-ribbons-mut-dua/)
I remember whenever my mom used to make these she’d ask me and my sister to help her choose which food colorings she should add to the ribbons. We’d always request a wide range of colors from plain white, to blue, to pink and it ends up looking (and tasting) amazing.
3. Mứt gừng (Candied ginger)
(image via: https://hafoodtours.com/diy-vietnamese-foods/how-to-make-traditional-candired-ginger/)
When I was younger I used to think the ginger was so unbearably “spicy” that I just sucked the sugar off of these candies and threw the leftover ginger away. Luckily, I’ve grown to love the taste of ginger and I’m obsessed with these candies. My mom even made sure to pack some for me to eat in my dorm!
4. Thịt bò ngâm nước mắm (Cured beef in fish sauce)
(image via: https://songkhoe.medplus.vn/mach-me-cong-thuc-lam-bap-bo-ngam-nuoc-mam-chua-ngot-ngon-bat-bai/)
If you love fish sauce, you’ll love this dish. If not, though, I’d honestly say you’d have to grow accustomed to the taste. But once you’re familiar with it I guarantee you won’t stop eating it. I usually eat this cold and with rice, but you can definitely eat it hot!
5. Bánh nậm (Flat steamed rice dumpling)
(image via https://www.bakespace.com/recipes/detail/BANH-NAM–NAM-CAKE/88158/)
One of my absolute favorite Vietnamese foods. Bánh nậm is a staple food of central Vietnam, which includes the city Huế, where both my parents are from. It’s so soft and easy to eat that it’s often fed to newborns. You can actually eat it anytime of the year, but I just love it so much I had to include it. My parents always make it for me for my birthday because they know how much I love it.
