Banh Day Recipe Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake

Banh day (pronounced yầy) is a very simple and traditional rice cake with a great story. Vietnamese legend has it that the wise King Hung Vuong the VI had a competition to decide which one of his 22 sons was going to succeed him on the throne. The competition was to find the most tasty dish in the country and serve it to the King during the last day of the lunar month. The person with the tastiest dish would inherit the throne (Top Chef eat your heart out). So each prince went off and scoured the land and seas in search of rare delicacies to make that perfect dish. The exception was one prince name Lang Lieu (Tiet Lieu).

Cha Lua Vietnamese Ham Recipe

Cha lua or gio lua (Vietnamese ham/sausage) is another common item on the traditional Tet menu. As we mention, Tet is a time for families to come together and celebrate the new year with a fresh start. But it's also a time to remember and honor the past. During Tet, cha lua is frequently used as an offering to relatives that have passed and placed before the ancestral alter in each home. And of course since it's a filling for the traditional new year snack banh day (sticky rice cakes),  you can't have a shortage of cha lua around the house during Tet.