WORDS ON THE STREET 70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Home / My HaNoi / Culture
Sticky rice dumpling "masterpieces" for Cold Food Festival
The endless creativity of Vietnamese housewives helps to enrich the ancestral offerings at the Han Thuc Festival, which fell on April 11 this year.

Tet Han Thuc, or Cold Food Festival, is one of the four most important traditional festivals of the year, according to ancient Vietnamese belief. These festivals include Tet Holiday, which is usually held in late winter to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the Lunar New Year; Cold Food Festival, which marks the end of spring; Tet Doan Ngo or Insect Killing Festival, which is organized to welcome summer; and Mid-Autumn Festival, which celebrates the time when the moon is at its fullest and roundest in the year.

The beautiful offerings for the Cold Food Festival prepared by a skilled Hanoi housewife. 

Nowadays, it is common for Vietnamese families to get together and cook typical dishes to offer to their ancestors.

The Cold Food Festival is often held on the third day of the third lunar month, or on April 11 this year. As usual, Hanoians make two types of sweet dumplings - banh troi (floating dumplings) and banh chay (sweet mung bean dumplings) - to offer to their ancestors.

According to cultural researcher Tran Quang Duc, the ritual of eating these dumplings during the Cold Food Festival in Vietnam dates back to the Le Trung Hung dynasty from 1533 to 1789.

The creations of skilled Vietnamese housewives also show the unique cultural traits of Vietnam, which is an agrarian country that is associated with the wet rice plant. Two types of dumplings, all made from delicious sticky rice flour, are the result of the hard work of farmers.

 Each of the Vietnamese cakes conveys a specific meaning. 

"The banh troi has a round shape, reminiscent of the Vietnamese wish "Me tron con vuong" or a successful birth and good health for both mother and child. It also reminds people of the Vietnamese legend of Mother Au Co, who gave birth to an egg sac from which 100 children were born, the ancestors of the Bach Viet clans," he said.

"Meanwhile, banh chay is also made with glutinous flour (representing yin) and stuffed with mung bean paste (representing yang), demonstrating the harmony of yin and yang according to Eastern concepts. It is also a prayer of Vietnamese farmers for a year of favorable weather and good harvests," he added.

“Thus, the Vietnamese Cold Food Festival bears the meaning of remembrance and gratitude to the deceased ancestors,” he concluded.

In today's busy world, savvy housewives do not need to prepare the dishes themselves, but order them from online stores or buy them at the market. But as with many things, the best is homemade. Many skilled Vietnamese cooks choose to make the cakes themselves.

 Traditionally, the banh troi and banh chay are white with a sugary taste, but talented cooks can make them more colorful and tasty by adding food coloring or flavoring to the dough
 Transparent floating dumpling is one of the creations of Vietnamese housewives at this year's Cold Food Festival
 The Vietnamese-style dumplings and sticky rice in pink tone color
 The eye-catching banh chay dumplings in the shape of animals delight the kids.
 They also come in a variety of shapes and colors.
These dumplings look as delicious as they are beautiful.
 The color of these dumplings is said to come from natural ingredients. 
RELATED NEWS
TAG: Tet Han Thuc 2024; Cold Food Festival 2024
Other news
11:31, 2024/10/05
Hanoi ao dai festival for tourism promotion
This fall, Hanoi plans to hold cultural events to honor the ao dai, a traditional Vietnamese dress that symbolizes a strong sense of cultural identity, and to attract tourists.
22:01, 2024/10/02
Hang Can Street: Ancient charm of modern capital
The narrow streets of Hanoi's Old Quarter are filled with intriguing secrets that captivate residents and pique the curiosity of visitors alike.
15:48, 2024/09/22
Nostalgia for Hanoi draft beer
Since the subsidy era, it has been a common Hanoi practice to enjoy draught beer from glass cups on the sidewalks while chatting with friends and eating boiled peanuts.
23:24, 2024/09/08
Hanoi: Relic restored in capital's heart
The extensive restoration of Dien Hong Flower Garden is a key initiative of Hoan Kiem District People's Committee to preserve this valuable Hanoi heritage.
22:50, 2024/08/01
Continue to build progressive Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity
For the past five decades, culture has maintained its indispensable role as a "torch to light the nation's way forward" in socio-economic development.
17:16, 2024/07/27
Hanoi offers attractive 2024 autumn tourism packages
Hanoi in autumn has become one of the most picturesque destinations in the world, providing a wide range of unique and tempting tourism offers.