What Goes on a Central Vietnamese Tet Table
Not banh chung but banh tet. Not onions pickled in vinegar but vegetables pickled in fish sauce. The central Tet table has a logic of its own.
This page is translated from Vietnamese. Prices and opening hours are checked against Vietnamese sources — see the Vietnamese version for the most recent update.
At a glance the Tet tables of the three regions look alike — cake, meat, pickles. But stand in front of a central one for a moment and the difference is plain: everything is saltier, every plate is smaller, and there are more plates.
Why the central table is like this
Three reasons, all of them coming from land and weather rather than preference.
Hard climate. Long storms, poor soil. People here are used to keeping food, so most Tet dishes are things that last: cured, pickled, braised salty, dried.
Eating sparingly. Small plates, many kinds. A little of each, and it still stretches from the first to the fourth day of the new year.
Salty to carry rice. Not salty for its own sake, but because the bowl of rice is the main thing and the dish is the accompaniment.
The dishes that have to be there
Bánh tét. The first difference. The north wraps square bánh chưng; the centre and south wrap bánh tét, a long cylinder cut into rounds. Mung bean and pork belly inside, banana leaf outside.
Pork cured in fish sauce. The clearest marker of a central Tet, and virtually absent from a northern table. Pork is boiled, then steeped in fish sauce cooked with sugar until it takes on the flavour and turns translucent. Sliced thin and eaten with pickles and rice paper. The quality of this dish depends almost entirely on the bottle of fish sauce.
Dưa món. The second difference. The north has onions pickled in vinegar; the centre has vegetables pickled in fish sauce — papaya, carrot and kohlrabi dried briefly, then steeped in fish sauce cooked with sugar. That is why central pickles are amber brown and deeply salty-sweet, rather than clear and gently sour.
Pickled scallions. Pickled in vinegar and sugar, so white and cleanly sour — the counterweight to the saltiness of the dưa món. With dried shrimp it is the classic snack across the whole holiday.
Tré. Pork tossed with roasted rice powder, galangal and garlic, wrapped in guava leaf and bound with straw. A few days of fermenting makes it lightly sour and hot, very good with a drink.
Beef sausage. A Da Nang speciality. Springy, chewy, strongly peppery. Sliced thin onto a plate.
Fermented pork roll. The same family as tré, but more sour and softer.
Braised pork and eggs. Pork belly and duck eggs braised in coconut water, started on the 29th or 30th to eat through the holiday. The richest thing on the table — which is exactly why the pickles sit next to it.
Boiled chicken. Offered at midnight, then taken down, torn and tossed with Vietnamese coriander and onion.
Dried bamboo shoot with pork knuckle. The soup of the table; the shoots are soaked for days before Tet.
Dishes by area
Hue — tôm chua with boiled pork, and hot candied ginger. The Hue table tends to be more intricate, with many small dishes prettily arranged.
Da Nang – Quảng Nam — beef sausage, tré, bánh tổ, bánh in.
Nghệ An – Hà Tĩnh — beef braised in cane molasses, very particular to that area.
Bình Định — bánh ít lá gai, nem chợ Huyện, Bàu Đá rice wine.
Sweets are shared across the region: candied ginger, candied coconut, bánh thuẫn, bánh in.
Compared with the northern and southern tables
| North | Centre | South | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cake | Square bánh chưng | Cylindrical bánh tét | Cylindrical bánh tét |
| Pickles | Onion in vinegar | Vegetables in fish sauce | Scallions, bean sprout pickle |
| Signature savoury | Pork roll, jellied pork | Pork cured in fish sauce, tré | Braised pork and eggs, stuffed bitter melon |
| Soup | Bamboo shoot, bóng | Dried shoot with pork knuckle | Bitter melon |
| Presentation | Large plates, fewer dishes | Many small plates | Large plates, plenty of meat |
Jellied pork only works in the north, because it needs genuinely cold weather. The centre is warmer, so pork cured in fish sauce takes its place — the same purpose, keeping well, by a different method.
How to shop without a last-minute scramble
Buy a week before Tet. The closer to the holiday, the scarcer and dearer everything gets. Pickles keep a long time in the fridge, so there is little risk in buying early.
Estimate by household. Four or five people eating at home: a 500g jar of each is about right. A house with visitors coming and going, or gifts to give: take the 800g jars.
Buy good fish sauce. If you plan to cure pork in fish sauce, this is not the place to economise — the whole dish rests on that bottle. A concentrated first-press sauce gives depth without harshness.
Buy fresh items close to the day. Tré, fermented pork roll and beef sausage are only good for a few days.
What to cook when
- A week before Tet: buy the pickles and scallions, soak the dried bamboo shoots
- 28th–29th: cure the pork in fish sauce (it needs 2–3 days to take)
- 29th–30th: wrap the bánh tét, start the braised pork
- 30th: boil the chicken, simmer the bamboo shoot soup
Braised pork is noticeably better reheated the next day than fresh, so starting early is correct practice rather than just getting it out of the way.
Specialties used in this dish
Dưa món Nhựt Hoàng – hũ 800g The 800g jar — sized for the Tết table, or for a house with guests coming and going. 139.000₫ 
Dưa món Nhựt Hoàng – hũ 500g Papaya, carrot and kohlrabi steeped in sweetened fish sauce — crisp, balanced between salt and sugar, and never absent at Tết. 95.000₫ 
Kiệu chua Nhựt Hoàng – hũ 750g The 750g jar — fragrant, crisp pickled scallions, to eat with meat or to braise with fish sauce. 85.000₫ Prices are in Vietnamese đồng.
Food
- Banh Trang Cuon Thit Heo — the Dish to Eat in Da NangDouble-skinned pork, a dozen kinds of herb, dew-dried rice paper — but what decides everything is still the bowl of fermented anchovy sauce.
- Bun Mam Nem — the Da Nang Noodle Bowl With No Broth at AllNo broth, no stockpot. The whole bowl rests on one thing: a well-mixed bowl of fermented anchovy sauce.
- Mi Quang — the Vietnamese Noodle Bowl With Almost No BrothDo not drown it. Mi Quang needs only a little thick sauce at the bottom of the bowl — enough to coat the noodles, not enough to drink.