Are you starting to feel fed up with having to eat the same dishes like sticky rice cake and braised pork throughout this Lunar New Year? Don’t worry, because today Cooking tips will help you immediately pocket some dishes to help avoid boredom and diversify your family’s Lunar New Year meals!
1 Mixed Salad
Salad is a relatively simple dish that brings a new flavor to the Tet meal. It can be made from various types of meat and vegetables or simply a mix of vegetables for vegetarian dishes, and then the ingredients are combined with a distinctive sweet and sour dressing. This sweet and sour taste is what makes mixed salad a refreshing dish for the Tet meal, which often includes a lot of meat and grease.
There are many ways to make a delicious mixed salad depending on the ingredients used. Some popular recipes include chicken salad and pig ear salad. Especially during this Tet occasion, you should try making bitter melon salad to align with the spirit of “letting all hardships pass” in the early days of the new year!
2 Carp Steamed with Fermented Soybean Paste
Steamed Carp will be a suitable choice to make the meal more special during the Tet holiday, especially when the meal during these days often has only pork dishes.
The fish is sweet and firm, the glass noodles are soft, slightly chewy, soaked in sauce, and served with fragrant fermented soybean paste, creating a very appealing flavor.
In addition, you can also prepare carp in different ways depending on your family’s taste and to refresh the meal!
3 Marinated Beef Shank
This dish will be perfect for enjoying with friends and family at a banquet or as a main dish for a family meal, and it will be very delicious. The beef shank is sweet and firm; after soaking in the mixture, it will absorb the spices evenly, and when eaten, you will experience the very appealing distinctive flavor.
You can try making marinated beef shank using various recipes, such as soaking it in vinegar, fish sauce, or soy sauce. No matter how you choose to marinate it, you can be sure that the result will be an attractive and unique plate of beef shank to make your Tet meal more special.
4 Chicken Glass Noodles
During the festive days, after having eaten too many fried dishes and sticky rice cakes, nothing beats a hot bowl of chicken glass noodles. The chicken glass noodles with a clear broth and rich flavor, served with soft and chewy glass noodles, will be an attractive choice to relieve the heaviness of the Tet feast.
Cooking chicken glass noodles is very simple. Additionally, you can cook it with various types of mushrooms to enhance the sweetness of the broth and make the dish more nutritious!
5 Mixed Salad
On a platter full of various meat dishes, a plate of mixed salad will help balance the meal and prevent it from becoming greasy. Green vegetables will help reduce the oiliness of the fried dishes, and a hint of sourness from the dressing will be a highlight of the meal.
You can use common fresh vegetables like lettuce or cabbage to make a salad to treat your family. Additionally, to make the meal more unique and special, you can try using Brussels sprouts to make salad, which will be very appealing.
6 Stir-fried Beef
For a meal where the main dishes are mostly made from pork and chicken, having a plate of stir-fried beef will help refresh the palate and prevent the meal from becoming monotonous.
Tender and sweet beef stir-fried with a little bit of vegetables is incredibly simple but will definitely bring a new flavor and a breath of fresh air to the meal.
7 Five-Spice Pig Ears
Pig ears can not only be used to make mixed salad but can also be transformed into a very attractive five-spice pig ear dish.
Crispy pork ears, boiled with various spices, will bring a distinctive aroma and eye-catching colors. This will be a unique snack for everyone to enjoy at the party!
8 Pickled chicken feet
Another dish that, while not new, is sure to attract diners this Tet. Chicken feet are cleaned and soaked with lemongrass and chili in a characteristic pickling solution, creating a very appealing flavor.
Having a table with pickled chicken feet to sip on with a little alcohol is simply wonderful, isn’t it!
9 Beef tendons
Enjoying a plate of beef tendons with friends and family during the early days of the new year will be very tempting.
The beef tendons are cooked thoroughly, ensuring they are not chewy but crispy, infused with rich flavors of sour, salty, and sweet, and enjoying them with a cold beer is simply delicious! Let’s try making them for the holiday to treat everyone!
10 Spring rolls
This dish, rich in Southern flavor, is a perfect combination of vegetables and meat. Various green vegetables will help the Tet meal not feel greasy and will bring a fresh flavor to a meal that is already rich in meat and oil.
You can try combining different types of fillings for spring rolls to suit your family’s taste. Let’s get into the kitchen and try making this dish!
11 Fermented Pork
To add a bit of the pink-red color of the Tet atmosphere to your meal, you can try making fermented pork at home, which is delicious and safe to serve your family.
The naturally fermented pork will bring a light sour taste, along with the pungent flavor of fresh garlic and the spiciness of chili, making it a perfect side dish to reduce the greasiness of meat and eggs during the New Year’s days.
12 Soup
Soup is also a delicious dish that you can make to treat your family this Tet. The dish is cooked with various vegetables, mushrooms, and meat, making it very easy to eat after several days of only having meat, sausages, and cakes.
This is also a nutritious dish to help you and your family have more energy to enjoy during these days.
13 Stir-fried Bitter Melon
Bitter Melon is a typical dish from the South during the Tet holiday. According to customs and the belief “to let every sorrow pass,” the Tet meal must include a plate of stir-fried bitter melon.
Bitter melon, when properly processed, will reduce its bitterness, making it easier to eat. Additionally, with the cooling properties of this fruit, stir-fried bitter melon will help cool the body after days of consuming warming foods.
14 Phoenix roll
If you want your family to “eat like kings” this New Year, you can take a little extra time and effort to make a grand phoenix roll to treat your family.
Each piece of the soft, chewy, and fragrant roll with egg and pork paste blends with the sweet crunch of vegetables, and the colorful presentation of the dish is sure to make the phoenix roll the highlight of this year’s feast.
15 Mushroom soup
To balance the flavors after enjoying oily meat and fish dishes, you should prepare a bowl of mushroom soup to cool down and prevent feeling bloated.
Mushrooms cooked with vegetables will bring sweetness to the broth, making it delicious whether eaten with rice or on its own. Give it a try and make mushroom soup to treat the family this New Year!
16 Mixed vermicelli
To make the first meal of the year unique and special, why not try making mixed vermicelli to treat your family?
The soft and chewy noodles mixed with vegetables and other spices will help blend the flavors of the ingredients and create an incredibly appealing dish. This is also a way to help supplement vegetables into your family’s menu during Tet, which is already rich in protein.
17 Steamed tofu
Steamed tofu is a light dish but also very unique that you can try making for this year’s Tet feast.
The soft and sweet tofu, when combined with ingredients like shrimp and meat, will make the dish appealing and nutritious.
18 Pickled vegetables
In the early days of spring, it is certain that the families’ meals will not lack Banh Chung and Banh Tet. And to relieve the boredom of having to eat these cakes continuously for many days, having a plate of sour pickled vegetables is absolutely necessary.
Depending on each region, the ingredients and recipe for the pickled dish will vary, but the flavors it brings will elevate the rustic cakes, helping to balance the richness of fatty meat and the stickiness of the glutinous rice, allowing us to eat more without feeling bored.
19 Ice cream
To end a meal that has quite a few savory dishes, you can balance the taste for the whole family with a glass of ice cream that is sweet and refreshing.
During the somewhat dry weather of the South, enjoying a snack like ice cream is truly “wonderful”. And in the chilly weather of the North, the pleasure of eating ice cream when it’s cold will also bring a very interesting sensation.
20 Jelly
Another dessert to make for the family after a lavish meal is jelly.
With many different flavors that you can try to make, jelly will definitely satisfy and delight those who taste it!
See more:
- A collection of 16 ways to make delicious and crispy spring rolls for the Lunar New Year
- Tips to distinguish and choose coconuts for making delicious and authentic candied coconut for the Lunar New Year
- What is the year-end party? The significance of the year-end party and what is included in the year-end offering?
Hopefully, through the article what to eat on Tet to avoid boredom and interesting dishes, you have learned more great ways to make your family meals during the upcoming holiday more delicious and appealing. Wishing you a new year filled with health and joy!