Vietnamese Tet - Lunar New Year

         

           Tet is an exceptional holiday for Vietnamese. It is the biggest event of the year as everyone gathers together to welcome the New Year with their neighbors and family members. Loved ones come back home from far away for this special occasion. 

           The Vietnamese people will begin their preparations well in advance for the upcoming New Year. It starts with an event called "Chụp mã" where people will spend a few days cleaning their homes, the gravestones of ancestors, the ancestral altar, polishing every utensil and then inviting nearby friends and families to celebrate with a feast and religious rituals. From there, people begin to shop for things such as kumquat trees, branches of peach blossoms, and many other colorful flowers such as hoa Mai to decorate the house. The marketplace is especially a fun and exciting place to visit during this holiday because fresh and luscious fruits and gifts are on beautiful displays to attract customers from near and far. Children who have left home for jobs send money home for their parents as a way to show gratitude for their blessings. Every household buys votive paper clothing and accessories for the ancestors along with many other purchases such as new clothes like áo dài and shoes to wear on the first day of New Year. Workers are given end of the year money in red envelopes as they try to pay off debts and resolve all arguments among their colleagues, friends or family members. Children get red envelopes with money inside from family members and close family friends.  

          New Year's Eve when I was growing up included firecrackers and fireworks. Now it is celebrated with just fireworks as families gather around eating Banh Chung/ Banh Tet (sticky rice cakes in a square shape). Weeks before the New year you could see scallions and carrots being dried in the heat on the streets as people get ready to make pickled onions and pickled carrots, a very popular dish eaten with Bánh Chưng. Xôi Gấc - Red Sticky Rice, is also commonly used as red means good luck. Among the savory dishes are the sweet treats such as Mức (colorful roasted sweetened coconuts), mức gừng (sweetened roasted ginger), bánh thuẫn (steamed cake). Most popular finger snacks are roasted nuts and watermelon seeds. 

           In the agricultural perspective, the Lunar New Year is held between the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the next ones. Tet has a very special attached meaning to all Vietnamese. It is the time of year that family members come back to their hometown, visiting relatives, sing karaoke, and relaxing after a hard-working year. If you have the opportunity to visit Vietnam during the Tet holiday, this is a festive holiday you don't want to miss! It was our very favorite time of the year and our children loved getting red envelopes as we serve up big meals over a 2 weeks period. Tet is not a day, but several days of celebrations and festivities.  The streets are vibrant with colorful flowers and decorations. Businesses shut down for days so that everyone could be outside enjoying the gorgeous scenery, playing games like Tôm cua bầu cá gà nai with their Tet money, and relaxing. 

Recipe for sweetened coconut ribbons

• 1 mature (brown) coconut, 1¾ to 2 pounds
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• Fill a 5-quart Dutch oven or other large pot half full with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the coconut ribbons and parboil for 1 minute to remove some of the oil. Drain in a colander and rinse under lots of cold running water.
  
  Wash the pot and add the sugar and water to it. Place over medium-high heat and heat, stirring, until the sugar melts, forming a thick syrup. Add the ribbons and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently with a metal spoon to expose the ribbons evenly to the syrup. They will gradually become silvery After about 30 minutes, when the sugar syrup is as thick as corn syrup, lower the heat further to slow the cooking and start stirring constantly with the spoon. The ribbons will soon turn white, become dry looking, and stiffen. To dry the ribbons thoroughly without browning them, keep stirring. The sugar will first cling to the ribbons and then flake off in white, sandy bits. When the ribbons are opaque and covered by a dry, sandy sugar film, they are done. This second cooking stage, which began when you lowered the heat, should take about 2 minutes
  
  Pour the ribbons onto a baking sheet and spread them into a single layer to cool completely. Transfer the cooled ribbons to an airtight container, discarding the powdery sugar. They will keep at room temperature for about 2 weeks.