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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Happy Year of the Tiger and Banh Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Sticky Rice Cakes)

Banh Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Sticky Rice Cakes) 1

Since this year's Tet (Vietnamese lunar new year) coincides with Valentine's Day, I'll just have to wish you a Happy Year of the Tiger first because I've got a lovely post for Valentine's Day.



Banh Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Sticky Rice Cakes) 2

My family has always made Banh Tet (Vietnamese lunar new year sticky rice cakes) for Tet. Three years ago, I posted about the banh tet traditions in my family.

Oldest uncle's version in the photo above. Youngest uncle's version below.

Banh Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Sticky Rice Cakes) 3

Dua mon (Vietnamese pickles) courtesy of oldest uncle.

Banh Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Sticky Rice Cakes) 4

I ate one plain and then pan-fried them until they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Banh Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year Sticky Rice Cakes) 5

Oldest uncle gave me some homemade keo me (Vietnamese sesame candy) too.

Keo Me (Vietnamese Sesame Candy)

Happy Year of the Tiger everyone!

Previous Lunar New Year posts:
2009 Year of the Ox

*****
1 year ago today, Spaghetti and Meatballs.
2 years ago today, Cranberry Juice-Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream.
3 years ago today, the best maple bars ever at Miss Donuts & Bagel - La Verne.

21 comments:

  1. Isn't this what you gave me to take home way back when, or am I confusing it with something else?
    Was it Lunar new year then? If so, can't believe it's been a year!

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  2. I love eating this pan fried and with sugar! :D

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  3. Happy New Year! I'm going to write about Chinese Sweet Rice Cakes soon :). This looks totally different of course...quite amazed at how the leaves bring out so much lovely green colors to the sticky rice.

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  4. I've never had these! I want to try!

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  5. We had some of these at lunch with my parents today. My white boy Hubs even likes it! Happy Viet New Year!

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  6. hello wc - happy lunar new year! :)

    btw, we were in your neck of the woods yesterday. we did a road trip to pasadena after visiting universal...had lots of good food!

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  7. Chúc mừng năm mới, khang an thịnh vượng.

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  8. Fried fried fried! Love these fried :-) Happy New Year!

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  9. p.s., to answer your question, I've never heard of Bag Balm, but for every-day lotioning, I really like the CeraVe.

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  10. I agree- it tastes delicious fried and sugared! :)

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  11. Burumun,
    Yup! But last year's lunar new year was end of January. So our 1 year anniversary came and went without us noticing. :P

    Doris,
    Happy new year!

    Diana,
    Pan-fried for me too, but no sugar.

    ETE,
    Sometimes my family cheats and adds a bit of food coloring, but most of that color is natural.

    WeeMo,
    Done!

    Clara,
    Happy new year!

    CC,
    Sorry we missed each other this go-round!

    Bill,
    Chuc mung nam moi!

    Daphne,
    Happy new year!

    Jonathan,
    Happy new year to you and Parker!

    Nikki,
    How do you like to eat your banh tet again? ;)

    Tigerfish,
    Lunar! Happy lunar new year. :P

    Wiffy,
    Happy new year!

    Jeannie,
    Just fried for me.

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  12. Dear Wandering Chopsticks,

    I just wanted to let you know that I tried your baechu kimchi recipe and it turned out -beautifully-. In fact, when I took some home for Chinese New Year after about 3 days' fermentation and cooked it in jjigae for the first day of New Year for our dinner, my parents polished off the entire lot and LOVED it. It's probably going to be our very own family tradition from now on - jjigae and home-made kimchi for Chinese New Year, hah!

    I lurk as I often haven't much time to read as many blogs as I want, but I -have- come back time and time again to read your blog and oh, thank you SO MUCH for your time and effort in putting these recipes here. It means a lot for people like me, who need inspiration adapting recipes for gluten-free needs. Since the only ready-made guojuchang I can find in the stores here have gluten in it, I had to make do with Madhur Jaffrey's substitute guojuchang mix, but it worked -well- and it's safe food! Thank you once again!

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  13. Another one for the "never had banh tet" camp - but looks delicious (esp. the pan-fried one)

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  14. Shuku,
    What a lovely comment! Your parents ate a whole jar of kimchi in one sitting? That's hardcore! I'm so glad you're finding my recipes easy to adapt for gluten-free. I always wonder about that, but I figured people with dietary restrictions are better able to decide what they can and can't eat than for me to try and say it. Do let me know if you try anything else! I always like hearing from readers.

    H.C.,
    Banh tet is usually only made for Tet so you just have to hang around a VNese person's house during the lunar new year. :P

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  15. Chuc mung nam moi!

    Your posts pop up in my RSS feed in a really weird order. Oh well.

    I never liked banh tet much but damn I miss it. Well, truth be told I miss my mother forgetting that I don't much like it and plying me with more than I will ever eat. Hope you had a lovely tet!

    Oanh

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  16. Oanh,
    I don't know why my feeds have been so weird. I just got an update on one of my posts from November. I find I like a lot of different food that I didn't before because of nostalgia.

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