Tết and the Game of Symbols in Cuisine
For Vietnamese people, Tết is a colourful festival full of joy and hope. Hope for a new year filled with good things, good fortune, peace for loved ones, and abundant prosperity. These hopes are not only expressed through congratulatory wishes and Tết greeting cards, but are also conveyed elegantly and subtly through the way families decorate their homes, arrange fruit trays, and prepare traditional Tết dishes. It is no coincidence that people cook bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), thịt kho tàu (braised pork with eggs), and so on to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one. Everything carries symbolic meaning representing the desire for good things, abundance, and good fortune.
When Tết arrives, watermelon is one of the indispensable fruits for decorating homes or making offerings at ancestral altars. The watermelon’s round shape makes it a perfect symbol for completeness and fulfillment in the coming year. The bright red flesh symbolizes good luck and prosperity, while the green skin represents spring and vitality. In the past, watermelon was a precious fruit offered to kings, and today, placing watermelon on the altar is also a way for descendants to show respect and filial piety to their grandparents and ancestors.
Speaking of watermelon, one cannot help but mention the five-fruit trays of Tết that we often see in many Southern Vietnamese households, which typically include papaya, custard apple, coconut, and mango. The presence of these fruits is intentional: they symbolize one’s wishes for the new year – Cầu (custard apple), Vừa (coconut, pronounced as “Dừa” in Southern dialect), Đủ (papaya), and Xài (mango, derived from “Xoài”). In English, “Cầu Vừa Đủ Xài” translates to “Pray for Enough to Get By.” Yes, people don’t wish for anything too grand; with this fruit tray, they simply hope that in the new year, making ends meet won’t be a pressing concern anymore – having enough to get by is already a blessing.
In Northern Vietnam, the five-fruit tray is slightly different, as it includes a bunch of bananas. The banana bunch evokes the image of Buddha’s hand, suggesting protection and shielding people from misfortune. Conversely, Southern Vietnamese typically avoid using bananas because when pronounced in the Southern dialect, it sounds very similar to “chúi,” evoking the image of “chúi nhũi” (meaning “to fall headfirst, unable to recover”) – a very unlucky connotation.
It’s also worth mentioning the significance of the five-fruit tray. “Ngũ” means the number five, corresponding to the Five Elements theory that creates heaven, earth, and the universe. The number five also symbolizes the Vietnamese wish for “ngũ phúc” (five blessings): “phú, quý, thọ, khang, ninh,” meaning “wealth, nobility, longevity, health, and peace.”
When it comes to the Tết meal, one cannot overlook bánh chưng and bánh giầy. Legend has it that Prince Lang Liêu – the 18th son of the 6th Hung King – chose these two types of cake to offer during the beginning of spring. Ancient Vietnamese believed in “round heaven, square earth,” and therefore bánh giầy, being round, symbolizes heaven, while bánh chưng, being square, symbolizes earth. Offering bánh giầy and bánh chưng is a way to express gratitude to heaven and earth for bringing favourable weather and harmony throughout the past year. Moreover, the ingredients for making these cakes – sticky rice, beans, and meat – reflect the civilization of rice cultivation and express the wish for abundance and sufficiency.
Legend tells that while other princes took turns offering various delicious and rare delicacies of high quality, Lang Liêu’s two cakes – at first glance – appeared quite ordinary. However, when the Hung King heard the explanation of these two types of cake, he nodded in approval, impressed by their profound meaning. When he tasted them, they were delicious. After that, he passed the throne to Prince Lang Liêu. And from then on, it became customary for people to make bánh chưng and bánh giầy to offer to their ancestors and heaven and earth during Tết.
On the Tết meal of Southern Vietnamese, there is also thịt kho trứng (braised pork with eggs) and canh khổ qua (bitter melon soup). Thịt kho trứng is a traditional dish, with square pieces of meat and round eggs representing the balance of yin and yang in heaven and earth. The image of eggs also symbolizes the wish to have children and grandchildren in the new year. And accompanying the thịt kho trứng, there must be a soup, and what could be more fitting for Tết than canh khổ qua? The name “khổ qua” itself expresses the wish that the suffering and misfortunes (“khổ”) of the old year will “pass” (“qua”), and the hope that the new year will be prosperous and smooth sailing.
And so, as you can see, the spirit and symbolic play of Vietnamese people during Tết is very rich and diverse. Every image, colour, and even sound is employed to create symbols and meaning. Especially in cuisine, the cakes, fruits, and dishes that are displayed always carry hidden intentions behind them – the wish for a new year filled with good things, peace, and happiness.