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January 31, 2011The Lazy Person’s Guide to Celebrating Tet
One of my resolutions for 2011 is to take things a little easier. Many of us were exhausted by the events of last year. I have been recovering from the wicked virus that’s been going around. Hopefully by this coming Thursday – the first day of the Lunar New Year – I will have vanquished that cough to start anew. I’m physically tired from all the coughing and light wheezing. I am also behind on many projects and need to catch up. I neither have the energy nor time to do my usual Lunar New Year blow out. Nevertheless, I want to ring in the year with some kind of fanfare.
That’s the genesis for this post. It is for people who, like me, are interested in accomplishing more by doing less. Feel free to add your ideas!
Ponder the animal: Cat or Rabbit?
To prepare yourself for the New Year, think about the animal that’s coming up. It’s a nice thematic approach to framing the months ahead. Say goodbye to the Year of the Tiger. For 2011, you can choose between the rabbit or cat.
Don’t believe the Viet people who say that rabbits are for food and cats are not. Sometimes cats are served up as “little tigers.” Whoever believes that hasn’t thought enough about how dog is eaten in Vietnam yet it remains a sign in the Chinese zodiac.
Cats are also perceived as clean, sociable and smart animal companions. They are harbingers of harmony. Cat people are patient, smooth talkers who wait for just the right moment before pouncing!
Btw, the 1976 hit, "The Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart was titled after the feline symbol from Vietnamese astrology. Take a listen... the references in the lyrics are to the movie Casablanca but the title was Vietnam inspired.
The Chinese ascribe similar qualities to rabbits as people born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, ambitious yet generally kind. They seldom lose their temper. Rabbit people have the ability to choose the right time to hop into action. Rabbits sound somewhat like cats, don't you think?Talk a friend into hosting a party
So think like a cunning cat and act like a tactful rabbit to plot your Tet festivities. Consider having a small shindig but at someone else’s home! It’s enough to clean your house before Tet arrives. Don't dirty it up.
Instead, buy a new outfit, get a haircut, and ‘invite’ yourself to someone else’s abode for a pot luck party. My friend Jeff volunteered to host this year since we hosted him last year.
“Brilliant!” I responded. “I’ll bring a couple of dishes.” We’re keeping it casual with a small group. It’s really an excuse to get together to eat, drink, and laugh.
Raid your -- or better yet -- Mom’s freezer
Leading up to Thursday, I’ve gone through my freezer to cull a few goodies that I stashed in there over the months gone by. Lunar New Year is a time for relaxation. You are not supposed to slave in the kitchen. In the past, people spent weeks preparing food in advance so that during the holiday, they would set the stuff out for a wonderful repast.
They banked their prior cooking efforts. My modern answer to that is: the freezer. I found the following in my deep freezer leftover from Asian dumpling making sessions:Shanghai radish cakesSteamed char siu baoSteamed curry chicken baoNepalese lamb momos
During Christmas, my mom gave me two Tet sticky rice cakes (banh chung); the above photo is of a cut up one. The square-shaped, adobe brick like savory cakes are a must-have for the holiday. My industrious mother made about two dozen last summer.She froze them and when the time was right, offered them up to each of her kids. What a loving mother! She basically saved my butt. In years past, I’d spend 1 1/2 days prepping and cooking banh chung rice cakes. It was really fun but I am glad to thaw and refresh (read: reboil) the ones that mom made.
Make a few easy things
Over the weekend, I made a batch of Vietnamese pickles. They’re a family favorite called dua gop and combine cauliflower, carrot and red bell pepper. It’s a recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen that’s easy to put together, and within 24 hours, the tangy crunchy vegetables are ready to eat. For Tet, Vietnamese people love to have pickles to cut the flavors of hearty foods such as the sticky rice cake.
I’ll be caving in to simmering pork in caramel sauce for a kho (claypot dishes). It’s another Vietnamese Tet tradition. If you’re southern Viet, it’s thit heo kho trung, pork and boiled eggs in a savory sweet caramel sauce with coconut juice. My parent’s northern Vietnamese inclination is to simmer pork riblets in caramel sauce (suon kho) until they’re nearly falling off the bone. I’m a sucker for the pork riblets for Tet. They keep for days and improve with flavor!
Tet Supertitions
There are so many things that people think they must do to guarantee a good year ahead. I try to keep things fun and easy. I was raised on Tet superstitions such as making sure that the first person to enter your front door will offer you good luck for the year. (I'm getting my husband to knock on the door first thing on Thursday!) I decorate with some blossoms or pots of chrysanthemums. Then I take the first day of the new year off for relaxation and positive thinking.
Simon below asked about taboo Tet foods. He asked, "Does anyone personally object to serving or eating duck, squid, or shrimp at Tet?" Some people think that ducks are stupid (really?) and the dark ink from squid is seen as dirty. I don't know about the shrimp.
Many Viet people cooking whole chickens and slaughtering a pig for Tet. Such sacrifices seem like a joyous one for people who traditionally have labored so hard for the rest of the year. All of these things are up to the believer.
Any thoughts or food superstitions for the new year? Have you heard of any? Do you practice some superstition or avoid certain taboos?
Make it a group activity
Gold is the preferred color for this holiday. If I get up the gumption, I’ll deep-fry something into a luscious, prosperity-laden golden crisp. It will be something simple, like a shrimp and pork wonton or the Trader Vic campy classic, crab Rangoon. I’ve taught my husband to fill and fold wontons quite well so I can get him to pitch in.
Or, maybe I’ll make dumpling dough and filling and take them to Jeff’s house for a group activity. We can roll wrappers and make boiled jiaozi dumplings. Then we'll tumble them in a lots of soy sauce, vinegar, and chile oil.
Whether it’s the Year of the Cat or the Year of the Rabbit, I hope these tips help you to have a less stressful and restorative celebration.
Related posts:
FoodSpecial Foods for Tet Celebrations: What is typically eaten during this holiday? Great for menu planning. Banh Chung and Banh Tet: What are they and how do you eat these sticky rice cakesChicken and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup Recipe (Bun Mang Ga)Download step-by-step photos of how to form and wrap banh chung Tet sticky rice cakes . The mold is my preferred method because it's much easier to get the square shape, a hallmark of the sticky rice cakes. The photos correspond to my detailed recipe for banh chung in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2006).Banh Chung Tet Sticky Rice Cake RecipeCandied Lotus Seeds RecipePosted in Asian Food Culture, Tet | PermalinkDigg This | Save to del.icio.us | Comments
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Would it be too much trouble to post the pickle recipe please?
Posted by:Steven |February 01, 2011 at 02:37 AMEating healthy is a critical component that must be included in your daily life. For one to be able to enjoy his youth and have a long and fulfilling life. We need a plan to maintain and sustain our health by eating fruits and vegetables which are being neglected in our meals. learn more:
Posted by:Rey Abisan |February 01, 2011 at 03:45 AMWonderful tips! Have a wonderful, wonderful New Year!!
Posted by:Belinda @zomppa |February 01, 2011 at 05:07 AMAndrea, I think planning and prepping and hosting a Tet New Year's Day dinner is equivalent to a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. There are not many ways to simplify it and still keep it a feast worthy of the holiday.
BUT the Tet parties can be made easier. Everyone is familiar with BYOB, a big Tet party can be a BYODF, "bring your own damn food." Guests all stepping up and offering to cook a dish, or if your friends are like mine, offering to persuade a spouse or sister or mom or mother-in-law to cook it (i.e., a pot of Sup Mang Cua Tay, a pan of Com Chien Thap Cam), or some Cha Gio to be fried at the party. Others can always order some foods from Little Saigon shops (i.e. a big pan of Be Thui, or some Banh Bot Loc).
Non-Viets who are foodies and true cooks can always be provided reliable recipes for dishes that are within their grasp, like Banh Pate So or Goi Ga, or your own Coconut Pineapple cake.
And those non-foodie friends who one doesn't rely on for food can bring the Heineken, the ice, the coconut rum, the Absolut Citron, extra limes, the cans and bottles of tropical fruit nectars for the cocktails. The nearly useless and utterly unreliable ones can be asked to drop off red and yellow flowers 1-2 days in advance, and maybe this year they'll get it right.
Posted by:Simon Bao |February 01, 2011 at 05:59 AMAndrea, I'm interested in knowing how your Vietnamese visitors to this page feel about serving foods that are thought of as "TABOO FOR TET."
Does anyone personally object to serving or eating duck, squid, or shrimp at Tet?
Does anyone have a family or circle of friends for whom that taboo is still very much in effect, and those foods never show up at Tet?
Personally, I'm not aware of a superstitious cast to my character, and I would have liked to serve a Sup Nam Trang with shrimp at dinner on Thursday, I would have liked to serve a warm duck salad at dinner, and everyone else at table is non-Viet, so it shouldn't matter. And yet, I hesitate.
Posted by:Simon Bao |February 01, 2011 at 06:07 AMUnlike my mother, I don't do a lot of cooking for Lunar New Year. Since it usually falls on a school night, we usually end up having "regular" food for dinner.
But on a weekend day after New Year, my husband's family gets together, and everyone brings something (BYODF!). The relatives who live in Orange County usually purchase something in Little Saigon.
I was thinking of making dumplings, and your group activity idea is a good one.
Posted by:Sandy |February 01, 2011 at 08:23 AMSteve: For the dua gop pickle recipe, do check out Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, which your library or bookstore may have. There are several pickle recipes in there. I typically don't post recipes from the book as it may confuse people who have and cook from the work.
Simon: I just added your question about Tet taboos to the original post. As you can tell, I hedge my bets and pick and choose. What's the deal with the shrimp?
Posted by:Andrea Nguyen |February 01, 2011 at 09:53 AMAndrea, you've never heard about the shrimp? I recall no food taboos from childhood, and we didn't have enough food for any taboos to even apply - but in adulthood I've been told not to eat shrimp during Tet (and not serve them to elderly venerables), or I risk moving backwards in the coming year, just as shrimp swim backwards.
But that sheds no light on taboos on squid, or why it's bad luck to eat duck.
I've never picked any fights with elders by pointing out there's probably shrimp in the Cha Gio and the Banh Bot Loc - but I'm always tempted.
Posted by:Simon Bao |February 01, 2011 at 10:35 AMAndrea, about cooking and serving whole animals for Tet, I'm vague on the details but I have been told it's less auspicious to be cooking just PARTS of animals, and more auspicious to cook and serve WHOLE animals. Some notion of thereby ensuring greater abundance in the year to come. I've also been told it's an insult to the ancestors to offer them only some parts of an animal, rather than the whole creature - and during the New Year we always invite the ancestors to "an Tet" with us, to "eat Tet" or to join in the feast with us.
Well, I can appreciate at least the intention and the aspiration represented by cooking and serving whole animals, and I always like to serve both a whole fish and one or more whole birds for dinner on New Year's Day. And few things put me in a such a happy mood as seeing some buddies walk in carrying a whole roast pig for Tet.
Posted by:Simon Bao |February 01, 2011 at 12:00 PMAndrea,
What is that flowering branch you have at the top of the article? It's flowers are really a beautiful shade of green. Happy New Year!
Steve
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