In the days leading up to Tet, just a touch on the phone, a full tray of offerings is delivered to the door. Steamed banh chung, canned gio cha, packaged offerings... all are ready to replace the nights of staying up to watch the pot of red fire banh chung.
In the midst of that modern pace of life, there are still young people who choose to slow down, personally wrap cakes, cook feasts, and keep Tet a warm and quiet time for the family.
On the afternoon of December 29th, the yard of Mr. Nguyen Duc Manh (born 1997, Kieu Phu commune, Hanoi) smelled of freshly washed dong leaves. Sticky rice was washed early, green beans were washed clean, and pork belly marinated with pepper and onions were ready in an stainless steel basin. Manh and his parents sat around an old aluminum tray, quickly folding leaves, measuring rice, placing fillings, and tying bamboo strings.
Many of my friends order cakes quickly. But for me, missing a pot of boiling banh chung in the yard, I feel like Tet has not come yet," Manh smiled, still skillfully adjusting the corner of the leaves to be square.
Born and raised in the suburbs, where the rate of urbanization is changing every day, Manh admits that busy life makes many families no longer have enough time to prepare for Tet as before.
He himself works in the inner city, and at the end of the year, work is piled up. However, every year he asks for a day off early to go home to help his parents wrap banh chung.
“Wrapping cakes is not just making a cake to eat. That's when the whole family sits down, telling stories about the past year. My father instructed me how to tie the bamboo strings tightly, my mother reminded me to stack the leaves tightly. Things that seem small are very big memories,” he said.
As night fell, the fire was lit. The pot of banh chung was placed in the middle of the yard, smoke mixed in the cold late winter mist. Manh received the "night duty" to watch the water, occasionally adding firewood.
For him, that moment is a sacred part of Tet.
Not only wrapping banh chung, Manh also prepared a tray of offerings for New Year's Eve with his mother. Chicken was boiled golden brown, a plate of red gac sticky rice, a bowl of fragrant bamboo shoot soup. Everything was simple but neat.
He shared: "I think worship is about the heart. The altar always maintains cleanliness and neatness, it is not necessary to have a high tray full of offerings. The important thing is the sincerity of children and grandchildren to ancestors.
That concept also makes his family's feast not follow the form. Not ordering ready-made feasts with dozens of elaborate dishes, his family chooses familiar traditional dishes that are just right for preparation.
According to reporters' observations, in many suburban residential areas of Hanoi, banh chung ordering and Tet feast ordering services are booming. With just a few hundred thousand to a few million VND, homeowners can own a traditional standard feast without needing to lift a finger.
Convenience is undeniable, especially for busy young families.
However, besides that convenience, there are still young people who choose to keep their own Tet customs.
On New Year's Eve, when the feast is placed on the altar, fragrant incense spreads in the small house, Manh gently adjusts the flower vase to be neat.
Out there, fireworks brighten the Hanoi sky. In that house, Tet comes not only with colors, but with the continuation of family values.
