Memories of the past - Traditional Vietnamese Tet

Inside the house, hearing the sound of a cub 50 exploding, the son guessed that Mr. Hoa - A neighbor was coming home. Just waiting for that, he ran to the front of the gate, greeted him loudly, and then ran after him. Mr. Hiep is a farmer, has a large garden right in front of his house. Every day, the son expects him to come back to hoe the land to plant vegetables, chop noodles, and cut grass for cows.

This afternoon, returning from the field, Mr. Hiep also pulled another vehicle full of large wood stubs. "Prepare to cook that tacit. Look, don't let Tet arrive" – setting up the car, he struggled to bring each stump of wood into the corner of the garden, working and chatting.

The family is vegan, so on the occasion of Tet, he often cooks vegetarian tacos to offer to the ancestral altar. He said, if there is no taco cake in the house, banh chung will lack the flavor of Tet. Therefore, every Tet, he wraps up to 20 dozen tacos, both to offer to the ancestors, to his children, as gifts to family members and acquaintances.

Last year, I enjoyed Mr. Hiep's vegetarian tacos and remembered the delicious taste. Each slice of green cake, the mung bean filling is in the middle of the round with a salty pepper taste, dipped with a cup of wavy soy sauce, eating without getting bored. Green beans and glutinous rice, he grows them himself and then saves them. Banana leaves he picks in the garden. When it comes to the stalks, he also splits himself from the bamboo bushes next to the house. At the beginning of December, listening to the story of cooking banh chung, banh tet, remembering the delicious taste, I saw Tet as if I had arrived in the alley.

Hearing that Mr. Hiep prepared firewood to cook cakes, the whole village also gathered together to consult, planning to cook cakes to welcome Tet. The village was full of young people. Last year, the knower wrapped the instructions for the uninitiated. On the night of 28 Tet, under the flickering lights from 2 trees at the end of the alley, the fire to cook banh chung burst with the joy of the whole village.

This year, as usual, each house contributes a few dozen to buy glutinous rice, buy leaves and then invite each other to do it. It is estimated that around 27-28 Tet, it will be cooked. Hearing that, the children were excited, running and dancing happily throughout the village.

Not finished discussing banh chung, banh têt, the smell of ginger jam in the wind from Uncle Hanh's kitchen has spread throughout the village, fragrant. Taking it out to the whole village to try the unsuccessful batch of ginger jam, Uncle Hanh shook his head: "The ginger candy is gone. For tomorrow, make another batch of ginger jam."

Although it is not as beautiful as ginger jam sold in the market, the sweet smell of sugar and the aroma of ginger are hard to mix. Eating a bite, the spicy, sweet taste warms the body in the bitter cold.

Eating ginger jam, sipping thick green tea water, indeed, indescribably delicious. In the story around the round table, the sisters invited each other to pour rice cakes, make roller cakes, printed cakes, salt palanquins, salt pork ears...

The men discussed buying ginseng to soak in wine; prepare to prune leaves and branches for bonsai trees in front of the house to bloom flowers on the occasion of Tet. Actually, today, just "alo" or go to the market, there is no shortage of fruit cakes, fruits, ornamental plants of all kinds, but people still like to make their own hands and take care of them by themselves. Because of that, there is a bustling atmosphere and a rich traditional Tet flavor.

Tet has not yet arrived, but people's hearts are already excited. The children ran around the village, around the house happily preparing the best wishes to storm the land and celebrate the new year. Then they whispered, whispered, and showed each other each of the pants, shirts, shoes, and sandals that their mother had just bought. In their eyes full of joy, they raised their hands again to count down: there are 2 weeks left until Tet.

Going around the market, I saw a lot of jam cakes of all kinds for sale. The old year is gradually running out of days, along with that, a warm Tet will return all over the streets and villages of the hometown. This Tet, it is more modern, but next to the family rice tray with banh chung, cu cu ki; welcoming guests with colorful cakes and printed cakes have found it cozy. Simple but meaningful and promising Tet ceremonies in small villages will still be bold with the taste of the old Tet!. /.