The Tết Celebrations have already begun

Tết is the most important festival in Vietnam. Also known by its longer name of Tết Nguyên Đán, it is a time for reunion dinners, ancestral worships, giving lì xì (lucky money), temple visiting, and uttering New Year greetings.

Typically, two to three weeks before Tết, businesses start to slow down, and bosses take the opportunity to throw lunches to thank their staff for their contributions over the past year, and to celebrate the upcoming Tết.

Bánh chưng is a common dish for any Tết celebration. It reminds me of the Chinese rice dumpling. But unlike the pyramidal-shaped Chinese rice dumplings with many variations in terms of flavours, it is rectangular in shape, and it is typically made of pork, bean fillings and sticky rice.

Another popular dish is Thịt Kho Nước Dừa, which is made of fatty pork stomach and medium boiled eggs stewed in a broth-like sauce made overnight of young coconut juice and nuoc mam.

Toasting one another is customary during such lunches. They will all join in a chorus of "Một, hai, ba, uống!" ("one, two, three, drink!"), and down their glasses of whisky or beer.

So, let's make a toast to Tết:

Một, hai, ba, uống!