Why do Tet cakes differ across the three regions?
Tet cakes differ across the three regions mainly because local ingredients, climate and farming customs differ, not because one original version was altered elsewhere. Summaries by Nhan Dan newspaper and Vietnam News Agency (VietnamPlus) both stress that each region has its own signature cake, which is not only attractive and tasty but also carries its own meanings. The Vietnam News Agency article published on Dan toc va Mien nui gives this source's explanation: arising from external factors such as different geography, climate and culture, each region has its own variations of dishes, which are not too luxurious in ingredients but are very distinctive and unique.
The sections below follow each region in turn and record only what the cited sources state.
The North
According to Nhan Dan and Vietnam News Agency, banh chung is an indispensable cake on the Tet meal tray of northerners. It is square, wrapped in green dong leaves, symbolizing fertile green land tied to wet rice culture. The filling includes fragrant sticky rice, mung beans and pork belly seasoned with spices and pepper. One cake needs about 5 to 6 dong leaves; the leaves must be green, unbroken, washed clean and dried. Once wrapped, the cakes are placed in a large pot and boiled. Boiling time differs between the two sources: Nhan Dan states 7 to 10 hours, while Vietnam News Agency states 10 to 12 hours. This is where the sources disagree, and this article records both figures instead of choosing one.
Banh chung is placed on the ancestral offering tray and the New Year feast table, eaten with fatty pork and pickled onions. Nhan Dan notes that although the economy is better off and ready-made cakes are widely sold, many families still keep the custom of wrapping banh chung at Tet so that children and grandchildren understand more about their ancestors' traditions.
Besides banh chung, the North also has banh phu the, tied to Bac Ninh and Kinh Bac land, especially Dinh Bang ward in Tu Son city. Nhan Dan and Vietnam News Agency both recount two versions of its origin: one says the cake appeared in the Ly dynasty, when King Ly Anh Tong went to war and the queen at home, missing her husband, made cakes and sent them to the battlefield; the other says that on an occasion when King Ly Thanh Tong and the queen visited the Do Temple festival, a young couple in Dinh Bang village made cakes to offer the king. Both sources record a span of nearly 1,000 years and both present the variations without asserting that any one is the only version.
The wrapper of banh phu the 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 color of the wrapper comes from gardenia fruit water. The filling is made from mung beans with the skins removed, steamed, pounded fine, 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 water and left to dry; once cool they are wrapped in another layer of green dong leaves and tied with red strings into pairs. Tying them in pairs carries the wish for deep and lasting marital affection, so the cakes are also often used in weddings and Tet ceremonies.
Vietnam News Agency also mentions Hai Duong's mung bean cake, made from mung beans, with a nutty, sweet and fragrant taste; at Tet the cakes are placed in gold-ingot-shaped boxes printed with a flying dragon, often used as gifts.
The Center
According to Vietnam News Agency, if the North has banh chung at Tet, people in the Center, especially in Hue, eat banh in. Banh in is made from sticky rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar and mung beans; it was originally made exclusively for kings and now is a traditional Tet cake in many Hue families. The cakes are stamped with many images such as dragons and phoenixes and the characters for blessing, wealth, fortune and longevity, as a New Year wish.
The Center also has banh it, but it is banh it la gai, a specialty of Binh Dinh. Vietnam News Agency cites folk tradition that the cake appeared in the Hung King era, created by the king's youngest daughter from banh chung and banh day; the cake is block-shaped with a chewy, nutty taste. It should be noted that this is a folk account retold by the source, not historical documentation fixing the time of origin.
Another cake mentioned by both Nhan Dan and Vietnam News Agency is banh to, tied to Hoi An in Quang Nam. Both sources quote the folk verse: "Nem cha Hoa Vang, banh to Hoi An." Banh to usually appears only at Tet and is harder to find on ordinary days. The cake is dark brown like earth, poured into a thick mold, square or round, and in the folk understanding recorded by the sources it is a symbol of "round sky and square earth."
Banh to's ingredients include finely ground sticky rice flour from the famous bau sticky rice of Quang Nam, brown sugar and pounded ginger juice. The sticky rice flour and sugar are kneaded well, with a little ginger water added for fragrance. Banana leaves or dried dong leaves are wiped clean and lined around a bamboo basket mold woven into a square or round shape 10 to 15cm in diameter. The sugar-flour mixture is stirred until thick before being poured into the mold and steamed. When cooked, the cakes 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 the cakes so they firm up. Quang Nam banh to can keep for a long time, becoming chewier and richer the longer it is kept, depending on the maker's own secret.
Vietnam News Agency, publishing on Dan toc va Mien nui, also notes that people in the Center do not have banh chung but make banh tet, a cake whose flavor is very close to banh chung. Besides banh tet, the Center has many other cakes placed on the Tet feast tray such as banh to and banh in. The Central Tet feast tray also includes fermented pork and vinegar pork; in the former imperial capital Hue, this source notes that the Tet feast tray is even more meticulous and elaborate with fermented shrimp and sliced pork, grilled beef rolls, shrimp patties and fig salad; some areas add braised beef and dried braised lean pork. If the North has pickled onions, the Center is distinctive for mixed pickles made from carrots and papaya pickled sour and salty.
The South
According to Vietnam News Agency on Dan toc va Mien nui, banh tet, also called banh don, is the signature Tet cake of the Southern region. This source also quotes a folk verse circulated in the South: "Chim keu ba tieng ngoai song, mau lo lua nep het dong tet ve." Banh tet is made in many types such as savory banh tet, vegetarian banh tet without filling, and sweet banh tet. In the Mekong Delta there are many famous banh tet villages in Ben Tre, Can Tho and Hau Giang, and according to this source Tra Cuon (Tra Vinh) is mentioned as a place with delicious banh tet. The source also writes that banh tet is the "soul of Tet" for Southerners.
Nhan Dan notes that the Tet meal of Southern families is fragrant with banh tet, eaten with radish pickled in fish sauce and bitter melon soup stuffed with meat. Vietnam News Agency on Dan toc va Mien nui also names three signature Southern Tet dishes: banh tet, braised pork and bitter melon soup. Braised pork is also called pork braised with eggs or pork braised in coconut water; the dish combines a square piece of braised pork with a round egg submerged in sweet mild coconut water, eaten with white rice and pickled bean sprouts. Bitter melon soup stuffed with meat is linked by this source to the meaning of seeing off the difficulties of the old year and hoping for a luckier new year.
As for why the Southern Tet feast tray is somewhat simpler, the Vietnam News Agency source on Dan toc va Mien nui offers its own explanation: the South is famous as a plain land with abundant natural produce, where even without elaborate preparation the taste is captivating, so Southern culinary culture both on ordinary days and at Tet is usually simpler than in the North and the Center. This is the source's assessment, and this article retells its spirit verbatim without treating it as a standard for ranking better or worse.
Summary table of main differences
| Criterion | The North | The Center | The South |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signature Tet cakes | Banh chung, banh phu the, Hai Duong mung bean cake | Hoi An banh to, Hue banh in, Binh Dinh banh it la gai, banh tet | Banh tet (banh don) |
| Names | Banh chung, banh phu the (also called banh xu xe) | Banh to, banh in, banh it la gai | Banh tet, also called banh don |
| Main ingredients | Sticky rice, mung beans, pork belly, dong leaves (banh chung); yellow-flower sticky rice, mung beans, coconut, gardenia fruit (banh phu the) | Sticky rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, mung beans (banh in); bau sticky rice flour, brown sugar, ginger (banh to) | Sticky rice with savory, sweet or vegetarian fillings depending on the type of banh tet |
| Distinctive preparation | Wrapped in dong leaves, tied with crisscross strings, boiled 7 to 12 hours depending on the source; banh phu the steamed, pressed dry and rewrapped in pairs | Banh in uses molds stamped with dragons, phoenixes and the characters for blessing, fortune and longevity; banh to is poured into square or round bamboo basket molds, steamed and sprinkled with sesame | Banh tet is wrapped and boiled, with savory, sweet and vegetarian variations |
| Accompaniments on the Tet tray | Fatty pork, pickled onions | Fermented pork, vinegar pork, mixed pickles; in Hue, fermented shrimp with sliced pork, grilled beef rolls, shrimp patties, fig salad | Braised pork with eggs, bitter melon soup stuffed with meat, radish pickled in fish sauce, pickled bean sprouts |
| Meaning stated by the sources | Banh chung symbolizes square earth and is tied to wet rice culture; banh phu the symbolizes fidelity and marital happiness | Banh to carries the symbol of round sky and square earth; banh in is a wish for blessing, fortune and good luck | Bitter melon soup is tied to seeing off the old year's difficulties and wishing for a lucky new year |
Points where the sources disagree or are incomplete
There are at least two places where the sources do not match. First is the boiling time for banh chung: Nhan Dan states 7 to 10 hours, Vietnam News Agency states 10 to 12 hours. Second is the number of variations on the origin of banh phu the, with both sources telling at least two different versions and not asserting that any one is the only version.
As for source coverage, Nhan Dan and Vietnam News Agency devote much space to banh chung, banh phu the, banh to, banh in, banh it la gai and banh tet. The section on Hai Duong mung bean cake is mentioned only briefly by Vietnam News Agency, with no detailed description of how it is made. Some other cakes of the Center and the South are only listed by name by the sources without process descriptions, and this article also records them only at the level of names, without further inference. Source number 3 in the reference list had no extractable content, so no information from this source is used in the article.
One note on scope: the sources used here describe Tet customs at the regional level and in some specifically named localities such as Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hue, Hoi An, Binh Dinh and Tra Vinh. One should not generalize that every locality in a region makes the same cakes, because the sources themselves only record what is mentioned.
How to read the comparison table correctly
The differences in the table above are differences in ingredients, wrapping, names and accompaniments, not a scoring scale for ranking. The explanations given by the sources all revolve around natural conditions and local customs: climate, produce and settlement history. Therefore, when looking up how to cook a Tet cake, what is useful is to compare recipes from the exact locality you care about, rather than seeking a recipe considered standard for the whole country.
