Delicious dishes on the Northwest Tet holiday are rich in traditional culinary flavors
Delicious dishes on the Northwest Tet holiday such as banh chung, five-color sticky rice, buffalo meat, etc. are not only delicious and fragrant specialties, but also carry many cultural and national identity meanings.
Delicious dishes on the Northwest Tet holiday are indispensable in the dinner tray
1. Five-color sticky rice
Five-color sticky rice is one of the most popular Northwest New Year delicacies. This dish is a specialty of the Thai, Tay, Muong,… ethnic groups and is prepared quite elaborately. True to its name, sticky rice comes in 5 vibrant and eye-catching colors. Northwest people use natural ingredients to make sticky rice with beautiful colors and delicious flavors.
Five-color sticky rice. Photo: Collected
In the Tet tray and offering offerings to ancestors, Northwest people always make five-color sticky rice with meticulousness to create a beautiful and delicious plate of sticky rice. The main colors of this sticky rice dish are usually white, yellow, blue, red, orange, black, etc. When presented, the sticky rice will be decorated like a 5-petal flower, very beautiful and outstanding.
People in the Northwest choose delicious upland sticky rice, combined with sticky rice leaves, turmeric, ginkgo tree, gac fruit,… to create natural color for the sticky rice. This five-color sticky rice dish is often eaten with sesame salt or peanut salt. Good sticky rice must have a natural softness, not too dry, not too mushy and not greasy.
2. Black banh chung
One of the delicious dishes on Tet in the Northwest that is very popular is black banh chung. This traditional Tay dish is usually only made during Tet and offered to ancestors. This outstanding black banh chung dish is a harmony between heaven and earth, mountains and forests, and the human heart.
Black banh chung. Photo: Collected
To make delicious and authentic black stew, the Tay people choose the ingredients very carefully. Accordingly, the cake will be wrapped from grilled sticky rice soaked in water leaves, added with wild boar meat and green bean filling. The leaves used to wrap the cake are wild dong leaves, tied with string on the outside. Black banh chung is often wrapped into a cylindrical or folded shape depending on the region.
At first glance it seems simple and rustic, but black banh chung is the culinary quintessence of the Northwest. In particular, wrapping black banh chung is also the “standard” to evaluate a woman’s ingenuity and resourcefulness. Today, black banh chung is not only a specialty of the Tay people, but it is also a cake of the Thai and Muong people in the Northwest.
3. Croissants
When mentioning delicious dishes on Tet holiday in the Northwest, we cannot ignore croissants – a unique cake of the Co Tu ethnic group and many other ethnic minorities of the Northwest. This cake is also known as banh hoe, the method is similar to banh te. However, the difference is that the cake does not have green bean filling.
Nowadays, croissants are flexibly adjusted depending on the region and the culinary needs of the baker. People in the Northwest can make cakes with sweet and salty fillings to suit but still ensure the spirit of traditional croissants. The cake is made from fragrant sticky rice and wrapped in dong or banana leaves.
Croissants can be eaten with sugar or honey to enhance the flavor. In addition to Tet, people in the Northwest also make cakes on other occasions such as weddings, first birthdays, first months, and important holidays. The dish is simple but rich in highland culinary flavors.
4. Buffalo meat is kept in the kitchen
Stove buffalo meat is not only a delicious dish on the Northwest Tet holiday but also a Northwest specialty that attracts tourists. This dish is originally a specialty of the Black Thai people in the northern mountainous provinces of our country. Besides the Thai people, many other ethnic minorities also have this dish, often eating it on important holidays of the year.
Mountain people often kill buffaloes to celebrate the New Year or important festivals. Besides fresh meat processed into many different dishes, people in the Northwest also use tenderloin and thigh meat to process into kitchen buffalo meat. The meat will be marinated with mac khen, doi seeds, chili, etc. Then put it on the stove and put it on the stove.
During the cooking process, the heat of the smoke and fire will cause the buffalo meat to cook and dry out. When cooked, the meat will have an attractive aroma and a very characteristic sweet and chewy taste when eaten. Today, kitchen buffalo meat is not only made using traditional methods but is also mass produced to serve the needs of tourists when they need to buy gifts after a trip to the Northwest.
The delicious dishes on Tet in the Northwest are all highland specialties, rich in traditional culinary flavors, and contain many spiritual and cultural values of the mountain people. When coming to the Northwest in the new year, visitors should remember to enjoy these delicious dishes to have many memorable culinary experiences.
