Tet and the traditional cake-making custom
Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year) is the most important holiday of the year for Vietnamese people, and the custom of making cakes to offer to ancestors has become an indispensable cultural beauty. Since ancient times, according to the legend of "Chung cake and day cake" from the Hung King era, the square chung cake symbolizes the Earth, and the round day cake symbolizes the Sky, expressing the philosophy of square and round (harmony) and the aspiration for abundance of wet-rice agricultural dwellers. Today, depending on the region, this custom has various adaptations, creating a rich culinary picture of Tet.
Northern Region: Square chung cakes and solemnity
The North is considered the place preserving the most ancient features of the Tet cake-making custom, centered on the square chung cake. According to references, chung cake has a long history and a special place in Vietnamese minds, associated with the story of King Hung and Lang Lieu. The square shape symbolizes fertile land, an icon of the age-old wet-rice civilization.
Ingredients and wrapping method: Northern chung cakes are typically wrapped in fresh green dong leaves, inside are sticky and fragrant glutinous rice, a filling of mung beans and marinated pork belly with spices and pepper. The wrapping technique requires skill to produce neat, sharp-edged, and uniform square cakes. After wrapping, the cakes are boiled for 10 to 12 hours in a large pot.
Meaning and rituals: On the ancestral altar tray and New Year's feast of Northerners, green chung cake is always the central image, often displayed with fatty meat and pickled onions. Beautiful, thick cakes are reserved to place on the ancestral altar. The cake-making usually takes place on the 27th and 28th of Tet, as an occasion for family members to gather, together clean leaves, process beans, and rinse rice, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere. Besides chung cake, Northerners also have other cakes such as banh phu the (banh xu xe) in Bac Ninh, symbolizing fidelity and marital happiness, or Hai Duong mung bean cakes used as Tet gifts with wishes of wealth and fortune.
Central Region: Diversity and refinement of royal and folk cakes
Unlike the uniformity of chung cake in the North, Central Tet cuisine is extremely rich and diverse, influenced by the royal culture of Hue and local characteristics. Information from references indicates that the Central region does not have a single dominant cake but rather the presence of many different types.
Banh in (Hue): If the North has chung cake, Central people, especially in Hue, eat banh in. This cake was formerly made exclusively for kings and queens, and today it is an indispensable traditional cake during Tet for Hue families. Ingredients include glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, and mung beans. The cakes are printed with various shapes such as dragons and phoenixes, or the characters fortune, talent, prosperity, and longevity, as good wishes for the new year.
Banh to (Quang Nam): Banh to is an indispensable cake on the ancestral altar during Tet for Quang people. The cake has a dark brown color, poured into bamboo molds, square or round, symbolizing "round sky, square earth". Ingredients include glutinous rice flour from the famous 'bau' sticky rice of Quang, brown sugar (duong bat), and mashed ginger. Banh to can be preserved for a long time, and the longer it is kept, the chewier and more flavorful it becomes.
Banh it la gai (Binh Dinh): Central people also eat banh it during Tet, but it is banh it la gai, a specialty of Binh Dinh. According to folklore, this cake appeared during the Hung King era, created by the youngest daughter of the King from chung and day cakes. The cake has a block shape, with a fragrant, chewy, and rich taste.
Southern Region: Tet cakes and a generous spirit
While the North favors square chung cakes, Southerners are familiar with tet cakes, a long cylindrical cake. Although the reference sources do not yet provide detailed information on the origin and meaning of tet cake in Southern culture, it can be seen that this is the most characteristic and popular cake in this region during the traditional Tet holiday.
Distinctive features: Tet cake has a long round cylinder shape, wrapped in banana or dong leaves. The wrapping method also differs from chung cake: instead of wrapping individual square pieces, Southerners often wrap long rolls and then cut them into slices when eating. The filling inside is also more diverse, either savory with mung beans and fatty meat, or sweet with banana or black beans.
Customs and practices: Southerners often wrap tet cakes in the last days of the year, and cake-making is also an occasion for family gatherings. However, detailed information about the specific timing and typical rituals of wrapping tet cakes in the South has not been fully covered in existing references. Further research or in-depth articles are needed for a more comprehensive view of this custom.
Comparison table of Tet cake-making customs across three regions
| Feature | Northern Region | Central Region | Southern Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main offering | Square chung cake, day cake | Banh in (Hue), banh to (Quang Nam), banh it la gai (Binh Dinh) | Cylindrical tet cake |
| Shape | Square, symbolizing the Earth | Diverse: square (banh to), block (banh it), molded with various shapes | Long round cylinder, cut into slices when eating |
| Characteristic ingredients | Glutinous rice, mung beans, pork belly, dong leaves | Glutinous rice flour, sugar, mung beans (banh in); glutinous rice flour, brown sugar, ginger (banh to); gai leaves (banh it) | Glutinous rice, mung beans, fatty meat or banana, black beans, banana leaves |
| Symbolic meaning | Symbolizes the Earth, the square-round philosophy, abundance of wet-rice civilization | Linked to royal culture (banh in), local folk beliefs (banh to symbolizes round sky, square earth) | Reflects the generous and diverse spirit of Southern cuisine |
Conclusion
Although the custom of making Tet cakes in the three regions of Vietnam differs in shape, ingredients, and characteristic types, they all convey a common meaning: a reverent offering to ancestors, an occasion for family reunion, and a symbol of aspirations for a prosperous and happy new year. These differences not only enrich the national cultural identity but also reflect the subtle adaptation of Vietnamese people to the natural conditions and history of each region.
