Tet

Happy Lunar New Year! It is the year of the rat. In Vietnamese, the Lunar New Year is called Tết. It takes place the first day of the first month of the Lunar calendar.

I grew up with a superstitious mother, who checks the lunar calendar before booking important life events or makes sure I never receive a knife as a gift without giving back a few dollars. I find myself continuing many of her traditions, including celebrating Tết.

There are many customs practiced during Tết such as visiting people’s homes on the first day of the new year, cleaning the home, ancestral worship, and giving lucky money to children and elderly. The colours red and yellow will bring good fortune.

People consider what they do on the dawn of Tet will determine their fate for the whole year.

So every year, I have friends and family over to enjoy a meal. I always try to make something wrapped or stuffed, as it is believed this brings good luck and fortune. This year, I had a bit more time and some special ingredients to help me make my feast.

I used some extra large maple leaves I found last fall that were blanched and frozen in my freezer, to wrap sticky rice cooked in a rich duck broth, filled it with black oyster mushrooms, caramelized onions, fried tofu, duck, and quail egg, topped with roe. Steamed to perfection.

Traditionally, the maple leaves would have been a lotus or banana leaf, so I was very pleased to find that this worked well as a local substitute!

I hope this year brings everyone a year filled with adventure, good health, and joy. Chúc mừng năm mới!

Dr. Cristina Allen ND