Lunar New Year is arriving too fast this year! Next Wednesday, January 29, we’ll say farewell to the Year of the Dragon. If you live near a Little Saigon, it’ll be crowded this weekend. Go soon to check out the festivities or wait till things die down a bit. Here’s what I recently saw, in case you don’t get to Little Saigon yourself!
What to eat for Lunar New Year?
Go ahead and let loose. It’s a carb-laden holiday. Some ideas for you from this website and my newsletter, Pass the Fish Sauce:
- Panfried Noodles (master recipe) — top it with your favorite stir-fry with lots of sauce, or make this Cantonese Beef Tomato Chow Mein
- Ginger scallion noodles
- Viet garlic noodles with shiitake
- Garlic noodles with crab and asparagus
- Wontons in chile oil
- Wontons in broth (omit the noodles!)
- Chile Crisp Yuba Noodles (to be noodley but not carby!)
🧧 Want a Viet Tet celebration?
You need to include banh chung on your menu. Don’t know what it is? Here’s a primer on how to source and enjoy banh chung!
🐷 If you’re a meat eater . . .
It's traditional to sacrifice a pig for the holiday so pork plays a big role on Vietnamese Tet menus (unless you're a vegetarian). Easy options for you to consider
- Pork riblets in caramel sauce (a Viet braise from my family to yours)
- Air-fried sweet and sour ribs (there’s a theme here. This is more Chinese, obviously!)
- Easy Chinese ribs (a Joyce Chen recipe)
🍃 Vegetables to balance the New Year menu
Include a vegetable-centric starter, main, or side dishe to keep things healthy and vibrant tasting. Pickles are terrific because you just pull them from the fridge and they’re ready to go. Plus they cut the richness. Ideas include:
- Vietnamese imperial rolls (cha gio) with lettuce, herbs and nuoc cham (my current favorite recipe is the oven-fried/air-fried versions in Ever-Green Vietnamese; it’s the recipe I taught folks in the 2024 online class).
- Green beans with homemade black bean sauce by Hetty Lui McKinnon
- Vietnamese pickled shallots
- Vegan fish fragrance eggplant by the Leung family of the Woks of Life
- Tofu and egg in coconut and caramel sauce (dau hu kho trung), also in my latest book, is the vegetarian version of the pork belly and egg kho (thit heo kho trung) that southern Viets enjoy for Tet.
🥹 You need sweet things
What is Lunar New Year without candy, cookies, cakes and sweetmeats? You want little treats to share with others.
- Candied orange peels — This is not traditional but basically, Viet people candy what’s in season and local. Buy ones with thick, pithy skins to make meaty sweetmeats from this recipe.
- Candied kumquats — Here’s the recipe from my mom. Kumquat trees are harbingers of good luck so eat your luck. Get the recipe.
- Almond cookies — I adore almond cookies. Aside from my favorite in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, you can make this almond cookie by San Francisco Chef Belinda Wong. For stress-free, flourless baking, bake this macaroon-like almond cookie.
- Peanut cookies — I return to this delicate cookie annually. Swap cashew or sunflower seed butter in the recipe
- Black sesame peanut mochi — Get a box of Mochiko rice flour by Koda Farms for this not-too-sweet mochi cake recipe here.
Happy New Year | Chúc Mừng Măm Mới
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