Lunar New Year and the capital of coconut in Ben Tre, Vietnam

In Viet Nam, we celebrate Vietnamese New Year marking the arrival of spring based on the Lunar calendar, a lunisolar calendar. Tet Nguyen Dan or Tet is not only the most important but also the popular holiday and festival in Vietnam, as known as, Lunar New year. 

Ben Tre is one of the 13 southern provinces in Vietnam which has many vast gardens of green coconut trees, therefore Ben Tre Province is considered the “capital” of coconuts in Vietnam. Ben Tre is also known for its cuisine that makes out mostly from coconut and provides some of the most beautiful scenery in the Mekong delta.

We have the saying that the atmosphere of Tet holiday always makes us tingled and so busy to prepare for a happy new year; perhaps Tet comes and goes, pass by like a breeze reflecting the spring flavor. All are nostalgically deposited many emotions, mood pay back, the memories as well as the excellent cuisine that we enjoy with family. The memory of Tet in Ben Tre will never be forgotten to people in Ben Tre particularly and Vietnamese in generally. In addition, we usually celebrate the New Year with generosity, lavishness and kindness with our family and others. As the economy grow, luxurious and high-class dishes have also evolved, however the traditional New Year holiday in the capital of coconut has always have been preserved by generations with countless dishes but simple and still full of meaning.

Bitter melon soup (Photo: Tường Vi)

The first traditional indispensable dish in Tet holiday could not help but mention is the meat of coconut milk, also known as the braised pork in coconut juice with eggs. Back in the old day, my family gathered around the dinning table and enjoy this dish. I have still remembered that each piece of soft cooked bacon had been mingled with the sweet, fragrant taste of coconut water and had been served with hot rice. At present, it brings not only warmth but also refresh and joy during New Year. This dish has a meaning for a whole new year full of prosperity because in the dish the bacons are sliced square symbolized the land, and the round duck eggs represent the sun like yin and yang harmony. Side by side with the braised pork in coconut juice with eggs is the bitter melon soup. We usually use minced pork or fish are stuffed with wood ear mushroom filling in the middle the bitter melon. The broth will be packed with flavor because a little bit of bitterness and sweet (from the stuffed mixture and the bitter melon). The soup always appears on the table of people in Ben Tre during Tet because they want to convey out the difficulties and hardships of the old year and wish to receive many luck, smoothness in every aspect of life and favorable for the new year.

Coconut Jam (Photo: Tường Vi)

Ben Tre people often invite guests with cake, jam, …that made from coconut, though simple, but imbued with the love. On New Year, every family here has rice paper, puff pastry, candy and jam made from coconut in their house to treat visitors. Rice paper, puff pastry which grilled on charcoal will be very crispy and tasty and will make us just want to keep eating them because the cake is made from rice flour and coconut milk combined with many other diverse ingredients such as milk, onions leaves, white sesame, and so on. In Ben Tre, coconut jam is also highly addictive, in a good way. Each piece of white coconut jam is crystallized with sugar, milk and eye-catching colors such as green of pineapple leaves, orange of carrots, red of spiny bitter gourd, purple cabbage, et cetera. It is not only eye-catching, but also chewy and rich in flavor. Moreover, coconut candy is also a traditional one and is indispensable in every Tet in Ben Tre. Coconut candy is made from malt, coconut milk, sand sugar and to add flavor, the worker adds peanuts, pineapple leaves, durian along with others.

In the spring days, when the weather is cold, with just a few soft, greasy coconut candies, and a hot tea is to die for with those who enjoy it for the first time. These are special gifts of Ben Tre that are usually presented at every souvenir shop in Ben Tre. 

Every spring, besides the traditional foods mentioned above, each home in Ben Tre will has a few other dishes depending on the preferences and economic conditions of each family such as dried shrimp, shrimp rolls, spring rolls, pork bologna, Chinese sausage, chicken porridge in the garden, coconut rice, tofu salad with coconut meat and shrimp, roasted shrimp with shrimp, fried fish served with vermicelli and rice paper, pig trotters stewed with dried bamboo shoots, and so forth. Even though 2020 New year has passed by, however, the echo of food still lingered at each house in Ben Tre

Life is becoming more and more modern and prosperous, we do not need to wait for New Year to come by to enjoy these delicious dishes which can be found at any restaurants, hotels, tourist destinations, and the like. In Ben Tre, services and reasonable prices always serve you wholeheartedly and hospitably by the idyllic people.

Writer: Tường Vi

Translator: Phương Thy