HO CHI MINH CITY – Tet dishes such as Banh Chung, Banh tet, spring rolls, meat braised eggs … are reproduced with almost lifelike size, made of clay.
For more than a month, in a room in the apartment Ly Thai To (District 3), Mr. Nguyen Tan Dat has made the dishes on the Tet tray of the three regions with clay.
The collection includes more than 20 dishes of the Tet holiday of each region such as boiled chicken, banh chung, banh tet, onion, frozen meat, duck meat, bitter melon … are vividly recreated.
“I see that the past time the traditional Tet culture is fading away. Many young people travel instead of with family to cook together. So I make Tet dishes as a way to preserve traditional customs. “Mr. Dat said, hand painted intently to the clay chicken’s skin color.
Tet rice tray of the North, he chose some outstanding dishes such as boiled chicken with lemon leaves, onion, spring rolls, frozen meat, sticky rice and indispensable banh chung.
He said he had to spend a lot of time to carefully learn the dishes that are typical of each region. He chooses typical dishes and many people know.
“Boiled chicken is the most indispensable dish in the New Year’s Eve ceremony in the North. Not only Tet but any summer occasion, chicken is also needed,” he said.
To make an offering chicken, he took a day to shape, paint and then dry. Before that, he made many clay models and animals so he had experience in shaping and color matching.
An indispensable banh chung in the northern tray. He shared, clay banh chung is not difficult but it takes a lot of time to create rice grains and stick them together.
Compared with the Tet tray of the North, the Central dish brings many colors such as sour rolls, tré, banh Tet, boiled meat – sour shrimp, spring rolls and boiled chicken is indispensable.
If the North has banh chung, the Central and the South cannot be without banh Tet on Tet.
Tré and spring rolls are popular dishes in Tet trays, especially in Hue and Da Nang provinces.
The boiled meat, sour shrimp and the central dish are put together on a plate. The dishes made by Mr. Dat have nearly the same size and are stored in ceramic plates to create the most authentic feeling.
With the New Year’s cuisine in the South, there are indispensable dishes such as banh Tet, braised meat with duck seeds, bitter melon soup, palanquin, cucumber …
Duck seed meat is the most difficult to make in many dishes. According to Dat, mixing colors to create colors for stock, eggs and meat takes a lot of time.
A bitter soup of the South with the meaning of hoping that the hardships of the old year pass, the new year will have many luck.
In addition to Tet dishes, 25 noodle dishes such as crab cakes, Hanoi pho, Nha Trang fish vermicelli, Hue beef vermicelli … are vividly recreated by clay.
“There are also many people asking to buy, but I do not sell but to show it beautiful. In the near future I will make new models on other topics such as craft villages, handicrafts … and other materials” , Mr. Dat shared.
vnexpress