While growing up, Tết in our family was quite different compared to other families; we don’t celebrate Tết. Like most families, we still cooked different dishes that are traditional to have during Tết, such as Chưng or Tét cake, braised pork belly and eggs, bitter melon soup, and a variety of pickled vegetables. But different from other families is that we don’t actually celebrate it like others. Our Tết used to pass by quietly and dully. We used to just stay at home and watch TV for days, or some years, my mom would take us on a trip somewhere abroad.
Although we still have all the kinds of traditional foods, we have them in the house because everything is closed during Lunar New Year; there is no wet market, and no stores or restaurants are open; Lunar New Year is considered a National Holiday so everything is closed for at least 3 days.
This year, I got to experience Tết truly. About a week before Tết, I went to make Chưng cakes with my sister-in-law's family. I came over around 9 A.M. and was ready to work. I started by helping the elders cut the dong leaves, then we organized them by small leaves and big leaves. Then about an hour later, I started helping with the process of packing it. There are eight layers inside the Chưng cake, including the leaves:
First, we put down several layers of leaves to proof the cake from leaking through while cooking.
Then put down a layer of sweet rice, and even it out so it can cook evenly in the pot.
Next would be a layer of mungbean paste. Again, even it out.
Pick out a piece of pork belly that has both meat and fat so the meat would be juicy after the cake is cooked.
Then repeat the process of another layer of mungbean paste and then a layer of sweet rice.
Lastly, we would put several layers of dong leaves on top of the cake, wrapped and tied it up with the bamboo strings.
The process of cooking Chưng cakes takes about 12 hours of constantly cooking in a large pot filled with water on medium to high heat. After 12 hours, they would be divided into small batches and delivered to all the families.
On the night of Tết, after all the traditional rituals, I waited for my friend to pick me up, and we went to different temples for luck. It was common for people to go to temples on Tết, it was a way to ask blessings from the Above to have a new year of luck and favorable. Since it was common to do this, everywhere we went was crowded, and hard to get inside. We finished and got home around 3 A.M. We were tired but happy.
The next day, my sister and I went to our families' houses to wish them a happy new year, and they gave us blessings and lucky money. Then all my siblings gathered at my dad’s house and had lunch with him. My dad was happy to have all his kids in one country this year; we sat, talked, and ate together. After that, we played a little innocent poker and bầu cua for fun, and hours after that we all went home when it was too late and my dad needed to rest.
Tết this year was meaningful and fun, and both my sister and I for the first time got to experience Tết the right way, the traditional way. I want to make this a tradition of mine, spend Tết the right way, with family and the traditions; with laughter and joy, and with a heart full of love.