Happy Lunar New Year!

Vietnamese New Year (Tết) has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Here in Korea, Lunar New Year (Seollal) is celebrated over the course of three days and is a mostly quiet affair that involves gifts of food, visiting family, and honoring ancestors.

In contrast, Vietnamese New Year is a raucous party with firecrackers, dragon dances, gambling, and lots of food, most of which are specialties that are only prepared and eaten once a year. My mom made some of these special Vietnamese treats and sent them to us for Lunar New Year: chewy peanut and sesame candy (kẹo đậu phộng), coconut candy (mứt dừa), tamarind pods, and dried pineapple “flowers.” It’s nice to have a taste of home, especially at this time of the year, but I still long for the energy and excitement that is missing from Korean New Year celebrations.

Missing family is especially hard over the holidays, but I’ve learned the only way to combat the homesickness is by creating new memories. This year, we celebrated with Japanese cheese tarts from Bake, two bottles of inexpensive chilled white wine, and a splurge dinner of Taco Bell. I’m not sure we would normally eat these things together under normal circumstances, yet somehow, in the mishmash of Lunar New Year culture, it seemed to make sense: Something old, something new, and something to get us drunk. 😊

Happy year of the fire rooster, everyone!

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!