Tet: Vietnamese New Year 2011, Fairfield Showground

This Tet festival is the largest in the state, around 60,000 people are expected to go through the gates over the three days.  As I've mentioned in a past noodlies Sydney food blog post, Chinese and Vietnamese share the Lunar calendar, so New Year's Day is on the same day, this year it's 3rd February.



But the animal for the year is different.  2011 is the year of the rabbit for Chinese but cat for Vietnamese.  But I don't go to Tet festival to argue over animals, I go because you get the greatest variety of delicious Vietnamese food.

Nem nuong: Vietnamese grilled pork is a party favourite because it's easy to cook and easy to eat.  But the version I had today (tipped off by another festival punter) was nem nuong from Nha Trang, from the south-central region of Vietnam.



What's different? As you can see by the video, it's the sauce.  No runny stuff here, the sauce contains ground sticky rice and pork meat!

Another favourite is goi: Vietnamese salad.  This version contains shredded green papaya, Vietnamese mint, prawns and a very, very special ingredient, shredded pigs ears.  Watch the video to see what it looks and tastes like!

Something which you won't get in too many Vietnamese restaurants is bo la lot, beef wrapped around betel leaf.  It has a distinctive strong, but not overpowering taste, similar to banana leaf which works very well with the sweetly marinated beef.

We even transform the humble corn.  You're starting to see these at mainstream festivals everywhere, it's grilled corn, protected by regular brushing of oil and shallots.  Yes, who knew shallots and corn would work... actually, who knew you could grill corn?!



And finally to quench that thirst from the hot Sydney summer's day or acquired from eating too much fish sauce, I'd recommend a glass of sugar cane juice.  It's a pure as you can get - the cane is squeezed and you get the juice, chilled with ice and cut with a little lemon juice.

Tet festival is a hidden gem and I'd encourage you to go one year.. even if it's to support the Buddhist Scouts by playing housie!



Vietnamese Tet New Year Festival
Fairfield Showground
4-6th February 2011
Entry $7 adults, $3 children

Win in the New Lunar Year

Start your year with good luck by winning a 5kg bag of Royal Umbrella Jasmine Rice, new crop 2011.  Email thang[at]noodlies[dot]com and tell me about a favourite family dish or meal.  Why is it special?

I also encourage you to also share those memories with us by putting it in the comments section of this post.

The three most creative entry wins.  Winning entries will be published on noodlies on 8 January 2011.

Prizes will be sent to addresses in Australia.

 A few rules:
- 50 words or less
- Entries close 11pm, 7th January 2011
- Residents of Australia only
- make sure it's full of love

Email thang[at]noodlies[dot]com 

and tell me about a favourite family dish or meal.  Why is it special?  

Share your experiences with us in the comments section... 
 

Prizes are from our friends at Royal Umbrella rice.

Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, Tet 2011

Lunar New Year is the biggest festival in the Asian calendar, you know it's an important festival when the usually hard working Chinese take three days public holiday.  In China, 230 million people are expected to return to their homes in the countryside to celebrate with family and friends.

It's Lunar New Year because it's a new year in the Lunar calendar.  This is precisely why the date changes each year, it usually between end of January and mid February.

This year, it falls on 3rd February 2011 which is relatively early, however, next year it's even earlier - 23rd January 2012.  To find out Lunar New Year dates for other years, click here.

Lunar New Year has many names, the most popular is probably Chinese New Year.  However, it's celebrated in many other Asian countries including  Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and to a lesser extent Korea and Japan.  Because of this there are many names for the festival that doesn't include the word Chinese: in addition to Lunar New Year, you may hear it being referred to as Spring Festival and Tet (Vietnamese).

Of course, these days because of the Chinese and Vietnamese diaspora, it's a major festival in USA, Canada and Australia, with the postal service in these countries issuing commemorative stamps to mark the occasion.

Lunar New Year Festivals: 
where are they held in Sydney in 2011?

Chinese commemorate the festival over a two week period, ending on the 15th day with a Lantern Festival sometimes referred to as Chinese Valentine's Day.  In fact, every day during the fortnight has a different theme, which is summarised pretty well by wikipedia.

Like all new year, it's a time to gather with families first and then friends. Some elements of Lunar New Year include:

• Red Packets: containing money which are given to children as well as unmarried adults by their elders
• Candied fruit: lotus seeds are the most popular, but these small sweets can be made from custard apple, pineapple, coconut
• 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac
• Cleaning of the house before hand and wearing new clothes
• Refraining from going into debt or starting an argument

Many of the actions above relate to the belief that actions on the first day of the new year will repeat itself for the rest of the year... so best not to fight or go into debt.

It's now common for many banks to run savings account promotions during new year because it's good to accumulate wealth in the new year.

Lunar or Chinese New Year also marks everybody's birthday, so you gain a year on the first day of the new year, rather than on your actual birth date.

Of course, each year is marked by a different animal, there are 12 animals so the cycle repeats each 12 years.  2011 is the Chinese year of the Rabbit, the rest of the animals are: rat, ox, tiger, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig.  Each animal has it's own characteristics and relationship to other animals.  Follow this link to find out your Chinese animal.

Rabbit or Cat???

This year is unusual as it's one of a few where the animal is different for Chinese (rabbit) and Vietnamese (cat) cultures. One explanation is that one expression for rabbit  in Chinese sounds similar to the Vietnamese word for cat (mao, mèo), so we may have a case of lost in translation.

To find out where you can join the Lunar New Year Festival fun in Sydney click here.

Share your new year memories in the comments section of noodlies Sydney food blog so that we can all celebrate it!