TL;DR: Tet cakes in Vietnam's three regions have no single standard version, because each region makes cakes tied to its local ingredients and climate. The North is known for banh chung wrapped in dong leaves and banh phu the from Kinh Bắc, the Center for Hội An's banh to, Hue's banh in and Bình Định's banh it la gai, and the South for banh tet, eaten with braised pork and eggs and bitter melon soup. The cited sources attribute these differences to geography, climate and farming customs, not to one region preserving tradition better than another.
Why do New Year cakes differ across the three regions?
New Year cakes in the three regions differ mainly because of local ingredients, climate and farming practices, not because there was one original version that other places deviated from. The overviews by Báo Nhân Dân and TTXVN (VietnamPlus) both stress that each region has its own signature cake, which is not only beautiful and delicious but also carries its own meanings. The TTXVN article published in Dân tộc và Miền núi sets out this source's explanation: arising from external factors such as different geography, climate and culture, each region has its own variations on dishes, which, though not made with very luxurious ingredients, are very distinctive and particular.
One layer of meaning often mentioned is the legend of bánh chưng and bánh dày from the Hùng Kings era, tied to the figure Lang Liêu: the square bánh chưng symbolises the earth, the round bánh dày symbolises the sky. This is a folk legend handed down, not a historical record fixing the time when the cakes appeared. The content of this legend is presented separately in the article nguồn gốc bánh chưng; here it is noted only to show that the later New Year cakes are all more or less placed within that square and round frame of meaning.
Below is the presentation region by region, recording only what the referenced sources have stated.
What cakes does the North have at Tết?
According to Báo Nhân Dân and TTXVN, bánh chưng is an indispensable cake on the Northern Vietnamese New Year meal tray. The cake is square, wrapped in green dong leaves, symbolising the lush, fertile land tied to the wet rice culture. The filling consists of fragrant sticky rice, mung beans and pork belly seasoned with spices and peppercorns. One cake needs about 5 to 6 dong leaves; the leaves must be green, unbroken, washed clean and dried. Once wrapped, the cakes are arranged in a large pot and boiled. The boiling time differs between the two sources: Báo Nhân Dân states 7 to 10 hours, while TTXVN states 10 to 12 hours. This is where the sources do not agree, and this article records both figures rather than choosing one side.
Bánh chưng is placed on the ancestral offering tray and the New Year feast table, eaten with fatty meat and pickled onions. Báo Nhân Dân notes that although the economy is better off and ready-made cakes are plentiful, many families still keep up the custom of wrapping bánh chưng at Tết so that their children and grandchildren understand more about the traditions of their forebears.
In the North, wrapping bánh chưng is usually done on the 27th or 28th of Tết. This is an occasion for the whole family to gather to wipe the leaves, prepare the beans and wash the rice. The most beautiful, most perfectly square cakes are usually chosen to be placed on the ancestral altar.
Besides bánh chưng, the North also has bánh phu thê, tied to the land of Bắc Ninh, Kinh Bắc, especially Đình Bảng ward, Từ Sơn city. Báo Nhân Dân and TTXVN both tell two variants of its origin: one variant says the cake appeared in the Lý dynasty, when King Lý Anh Tông went to war and the queen at home, missing her husband, made cakes and sent them to the battlefield; the other variant says that on an occasion when King Lý Thánh Tông and the queen visited the Đền Đô festival, a young couple in Đình Bảng village made cakes to offer the king. Both sources give a span of nearly 1,000 years and both set out the variants without asserting that any one of them is the only one.
The wrapper of bánh phu thê is made from yellow flower sticky rice ground into flour, mixed with white sugar, shredded green papaya, banana essence, vanilla and gardenia fruit water. The yellow colour of the wrapper comes precisely from the gardenia fruit water. The filling is made from mung beans with the skins removed, steamed until cooked, pounded smooth, mixed with white sugar, coconut milk and grated coconut. After wrapping, the cakes are boiled or steamed; when cooked they are taken out, pressed to remove all water and left to dry; once cool they are wrapped in another layer of green dong leaves and tied with red ties into pairs. Tying them in pairs carries the meaning of wishing for deep, lasting married love, so the cakes are also often used in weddings and at Tết.
TTXVN also mentions the mung bean cake of Hải Dương, made from mung beans, with a rich, sweet and fragrant taste; at Tết the cakes are put in boxes shaped like gold ingots printed with a flying dragon, and are often used as gifts.
What cakes does the Central region have at Tết?
According to TTXVN, if the North has bánh chưng at Tết, then the people of the Central region, especially in Huế, eat bánh in. Bánh in is made from sticky rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar and mung beans; it was originally made exclusively for kings and lords, and today it is a traditional cake at Tết for many families in Huế. The cakes are pressed with many images such as dragons and phoenixes and the characters for phúc, tài, lộc, thọ, as a New Year wish.
The Central region also has bánh ít, but it is bánh ít lá gai, a speciality of Bình Định. TTXVN cites folk tradition that the cake appeared in the Hùng Kings era, created by the king's youngest daughter from bánh chưng and bánh dày; the cake has a block shape and a chewy, rich taste. It should be noted that this is a folk telling that the source repeats, not historical material fixing the time when the cake appeared.
Another cake mentioned by both Báo Nhân Dân and TTXVN is bánh tổ, tied to Hội An, in the Quảng region. The folk verse cited by both sources runs: "Nem chả Hòa Vang, bánh tổ Hội An". Bánh tổ is usually available only at Tết, and is harder to find on ordinary days. The cake has a dark brown colour like the colour of earth, is poured into a thick mould, square or round, and according to the folk understanding recorded by the sources, it is a symbol of "round sky, square earth".
Bánh tổ is also a cake placed on the ancestral altar at Tết by the people of the Quảng region, not merely an everyday food.
The ingredients of bánh tổ include fine sticky rice flour ground from the famous bầu sticky rice of the Quảng region, bát sugar and freshly pounded ginger juice. The sticky rice flour and sugar are kneaded thoroughly, with a little ginger water added for fragrance. Banana leaves or dried dong leaves are wiped clean and lined around a bamboo splint mould woven into a basket, square or round, 10 to 15cm in diameter. The sugar and flour mixture is mixed until thick before being poured into the mould and steamed. When the cakes are cooked they are taken out, sesame is sprinkled evenly on top, they are left for 3 to 4 minutes to cool and then stored in a cool, airy place. Some people also sun-dry them so the cakes firm up. Quảng Nam bánh tổ can be kept for a long time, and the longer it is kept the chewier and richer it becomes, depending on the maker's own secrets.
TTXVN, published in Dân tộc và Miền núi, also notes that Central Vietnamese people do not have bánh chưng but make bánh tét, a cake whose flavour is very close to bánh chưng. Besides bánh tét, the Central region has many other cakes placed on the New Year offering tray such as bánh tổ and bánh in. The Central New Year offering tray also has fermented pork rolls and vinegar-cured meat; in the former imperial capital of Huế, this source notes that the New Year tray is even more meticulous and elaborate with pickled shrimp and sliced meat, grilled beef rolls, shrimp paste, and fig salad; some areas add braised beef and dried braised lean meat. If the North has pickled onions, the Central region is distinctive for dưa món, made from carrots and papaya pickled in a salty and sour brine.
What cakes does the South have at Tết?
According to TTXVN, published in Dân tộc và Miền núi, bánh tét, also called bánh đòn, is the signature New Year cake of the Southern region. This source also cites a folk verse handed down in the South: "Chim kêu ba tiếng ngoài sông, mau lo lựa nếp hết đông tết về". Bánh tét is made in many kinds such as savoury bánh tét, meatless vegetarian bánh tét, and sweet bánh tét. In the Mekong Delta there are many famous bánh tét villages in Bến Tre, Cần Thơ and Hậu Giang, and according to this source Trà Cuôn (Trà Vinh) is mentioned as a place with delicious bánh tét. The source also writes that bánh tét is the "soul of Tết" for Southern Vietnamese people.
In shape and wrapping, bánh tét differs from bánh chưng in that bánh chưng is square and wrapped in dong leaves, while bánh tét has a long cylindrical shape, usually wrapped in banana leaves (some places use dong leaves). The cake is wrapped into long rolls and only cut into slices when eaten. The filling can be savoury with mung beans and fatty pork, or sweet with banana and black beans.
Báo Nhân Dân notes that the New Year meal trays of Southern families are fragrant with bánh tét, eaten with radish pickled in fish sauce and bitter melon soup stuffed with meat. TTXVN, published in Dân tộc và Miền núi, also names three signature New Year dishes of the Southern region: bánh tét, thịt kho tàu and bitter melon soup. Thịt kho tàu is also called thịt kho trứng or thịt kho nước dừa; the dish is a combination of a neatly square piece of braised pork with a round egg submerged in mildly sweet coconut water, eaten with white rice and pickled bean sprouts. Bitter melon soup stuffed with meat is tied by this source to the meaning of seeing off the difficulties of the old year and looking forward to a luckier new year.
As for why the Southern New Year tray is somewhat simpler, the TTXVN source published in Dân tộc và Miền núi offers its own explanation: the South is famous as a plain, unpretentious land with abundant natural produce, where even without elaborate preparation the palate is captivated, so the culinary culture of the South, both everyday and at Tết, is usually simpler than that of the North and the Central region. This is the source's assessment, and this article restates its spirit faithfully rather than treating it as a standard for judging better or worse.
Summary table of the main differences
| Criterion | North | Central | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signature New Year cakes | Bánh chưng, bánh phu thê, Hải Dương mung bean cake | Hội An bánh tổ, Huế bánh in, Bình Định bánh ít lá gai, bánh tét | Bánh tét (bánh đòn) |
| Names used | Bánh chưng, bánh phu thê (also called bánh xu xê) | Bánh tổ, bánh in, bánh ít lá gai | Bánh tét, also called bánh đòn |
| Main ingredients | Sticky rice, mung beans, pork belly, dong leaves (bánh chưng); yellow flower sticky rice, mung beans, coconut, gardenia fruit (bánh phu thê) | Sticky rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar, mung beans (bánh in); bầu sticky rice flour, bát sugar, ginger (bánh tổ) | Sticky rice and savoury, sweet or vegetarian fillings depending on the kind of bánh tét |
| Characteristic preparation | Wrapped in dong leaves, tied with cross-shaped ties, boiled for 7 to 12 hours depending on the source; bánh phu thê steamed, pressed of water, rewrapped in pairs | Bánh in uses moulds printed with dragons and phoenixes and the characters phúc lộc thọ; bánh tổ is poured into square or round bamboo splint moulds and steamed, then sprinkled with sesame | Bánh tét wrapped in banana leaves (some places dong leaves) into long rolls, boiled until cooked and cut into slices when eaten; there are savoury, sweet and vegetarian variants |
| Accompaniments on the New Year tray | Fatty meat, pickled onions | Fermented pork rolls, vinegar-cured meat, dưa món; in Huế there are pickled shrimp with sliced meat, grilled beef rolls, shrimp paste, fig salad | Thịt kho tàu (braised pork with eggs), bitter melon soup stuffed with meat, radish pickled in fish sauce, pickled bean sprouts |
| Meaning stated by the sources | Bánh chưng symbolises the square earth, tied to wet rice culture; bánh phu thê symbolises fidelity and married happiness | Bánh tổ carries the symbol of round sky and square earth; bánh in is a wish for blessings, fortune and good omens | Bitter melon soup is tied to seeing off the difficulties of the old year and wishing for a lucky new year |
How do bánh chưng and bánh tét differ?
Bánh chưng is square and wrapped in dong leaves, while bánh tét has a long cylindrical shape and is usually wrapped in banana leaves, wrapped into rolls and only cut into slices when eaten. These are the two most obvious differences in shape and wrapping. As for the filling, bánh tét also has a savoury filling with mung beans and fatty pork, or a sweet filling with banana and black beans, meaning its range of fillings is wider than that of bánh chưng.
Some places in the Central and Southern regions also use dong leaves to wrap bánh tét, so the leaf material is not always an absolute distinguishing criterion. What distinguishes them more clearly is the shape: bánh chưng is pressed into a square one by one, bánh tét is rolled round into a long roll. Both kinds are boiled for many hours before use.
Points where the sources do not agree or are incomplete
There are at least two places where the sources do not match. The first is the boiling time for bánh chưng: Báo Nhân Dân states 7 to 10 hours, TTXVN states 10 to 12 hours. The second is the number of variants on the origin of bánh phu thê; both sources tell at least two different variants and do not assert that any one of them is the only one.
As for the coverage of the sources, Báo Nhân Dân and TTXVN devote a lot of space to bánh chưng, bánh phu thê, bánh tổ, bánh in, bánh ít lá gai and bánh tét. The section on the Hải Dương mung bean cake is mentioned only briefly by TTXVN, with no detailed description of how it is made. Some other cakes of the Central and Southern regions that the sources only list by name without describing the process are also recorded here only at the level of their names, without further inference. Source number 3 in the reference list has no extractable content, so no information from this source has been used in the article.
One note on scope: the sources used here describe New Year customs at the regional level and in some specifically named localities such as Bắc Ninh, Hải Dương, Huế, Hội An, Bình Định and Trà Vinh. It should not be generalised that every locality in a region makes cakes the same way, because the sources themselves also only record what is found in the places mentioned.
How should the comparison table be read?
The differences in the table above are differences in ingredients, wrapping, names and accompaniments, not a scale for ranking. The explanations given by the sources all revolve around natural conditions and local customs: climate, produce, and the history of settlement. Therefore, when looking things up in order to cook a New Year cake, what is useful is to compare the recipe of the exact locality you are interested in, rather than looking for a recipe treated as the common standard for the whole country.
