A series of meals to celebrate the National Day have been solemnly prepared to mark and remind each other of a proud moment of being a Vietnamese of the independent country of Vietnam. And on the occasion of the 2025 Independence Festival, Hanoi women took the opportunity to think, choose, and arrange a meal to celebrate the Independence Festival.
The meal for the country's largest celebration cannot be lacking in luxury, meticulousness and elaborateness, but must also demonstrate the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine, especially the places and dishes related to the historical event of the founding of this country such as Nghe An, Hanoi and the quintessence of representing the three regions of the North - Central - South.
In that same concern, Hanoi women who specialize in cooking and culinary such as journalist Vinh Quyen, businesswoman Pham Thi Bich Hanh - owner of Ngon Garden restaurant - a restaurant that has been listed by Michelin Selected three times in Hanoi - have created an independent Tet meal tray to treat precious guests coming to Hanoi on the occasion of National Day on September 2 this year.
In that spirit, the independent Tet tray includes 10 dishes: Thanh Chuong sticky rice, fried chicken steamed squid, lemon-leaf steamed chicken, Hanoi green rice sausage, Phu Thuong corn sticky rice, Hue sticky rice cake, Nam Dan soy sauce crab, braised crab soup, steamed vegetable crab soup and sweet soup with coconut milk.
Just looking at the rice tray, diners can clearly see the purpose of honoring National Day 2.9, along with characters and lands closely related to this event, at the same time demonstrating the spirit of solidarity, North - Central - South solidarity, continuously taking a strip around a rice tray, throughout the dishes, from appetizers to dessert.
There is a culinary flavor from President Ho Chi Minh's hometown of Sen village, with Thanh Chuong sticky rice and Nam Dan fireworks. The dish of shrimp in Nghe Anese proverb "Nhu Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan soy sauce" is a familiar dish of Nghe An people, especially on times of crop celebration, when shrimp must be eaten instead of rice.
The chopped young jackfruit is then eaten with salt and salt to form a stewed dish, now Thanh Chuong stewed specialty. On this independent Tet meal tray, Thanh Chuong sticky rice transforms into a delicious and very interesting sticky rice dish, creating a memorable delicious dish.
A bowl of Nam Dan fireworks will be combined with a bowl of water spinach, water spinach and Brazil potato soup, which was a soup cooked by a woman in Phu Thuong village 80 years ago to treat President Ho Chi Minh when he returned from the battlefield and stopped here for a few days before moving to the center of Hanoi to prepare for the big day on September 2, 1945.
Crab soup with water spinach, herbs eaten with eggplant and white rice is a culinary symbol of the Northern Delta and North Central regions. These are all ingredients available in fields and gardens around the house, so they are everywhere, everywhere. The salty dish that is brought here is the braised cotton fish of Western cuisine.
The sign of the land that welcomed the delegation of senior officials to the capital to prepare for National Day on September 2, 1945 is Phu Thuong corn sticky rice. This village is located along the Red River, once famous for its traditional sticky rice cooking, fragrant, thick, and rich.
The famous Phu Thuong sticky rice has spread the scent, flying all over the South and the North and by February 2024, Phu Thuong sticky rice has been listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Currently, in the village where Uncle Ho set foot in the past, there are still more than 600 households practicing the traditional sticky rice blowing profession.
In addition to Phu Thuong sticky rice with a clear sign of place name, the rice tray also has a unique Hanoi green rice cake, an unforgettable reputation, and imbued with the culinary spirit of Hanoi people. Because green rice grains are available everywhere, but the intention of turning those green rice grains into a noble, sophisticated hotpot is only available to Hanoians.
Therefore, green rice cake deserves to represent Hanoi cuisine in the independent Tet meal. The green rice cake has a crispy peel on the outside, inside are sticky green rice grains mixed together and ground until smooth. The green rice cake has a sweet taste of meat, fat and sticky rice, rich in fresh green rice.
Hanoi green rice cake is sticky and sweet. Compre is a symbol of solidarity, while the rich and sweet taste does not mean saying that "the sweet and sweet are remiss the bitter and bitter times" of a day without national independence or something. And more, the Hanoi green rice season is best in the fall, when the rice has just just ripened, giving off the aroma of milk rice in the autumn breeze.
Just like that, each dish, each dish in the independence Tet meal has a subtle meaning. The braised cotton fish is the flavor of the river cuisine of the West, the shrimp and meat filling cake from Hue kitchen is both beautiful and stylish, the leaf cake has the rustic flavor of the Central region.
The end of the independent Tet rice tray is coconut sweet soup, a fruit of the South, cooked with Hung Yen crab, Tinh Tam Lake lotus seeds (Hue), Duc Pho rock sugar (Quang Ngai) according to the Hanoian sweet cooking style to become a dessert that is both beautiful, delicious, clear, and sweet with the spirit of "huge bracelets".
There is a clear meaning, there is a strict meaning, but those who attend and enjoy the Festival of tides understand and feel it. Because that is the meaning of the people gathering together to celebrate the independence Day, the 80th National Day of the country!
