Tteokbokki, sushi, dim sum, pizza, croissants, burritos: during an average year, many people in Saigon eat dishes from a great variety of global cuisines.
Not during Tet, though. The Lunar New Year is a time to indulge in traditional dishes that Vietnamese have been enjoying for generations. Preparing and sharing them helps bring families together and affords people a break from their hectic daily lives.
While recipes for making Tet classics like bánh tét (sticky rice cakes with pork belly), thịt kho trứng (braised pork and boiled eggs) and tôm khô củ kiệu (small pickled leeks) may be passed down within a family and never written down, a recipe book featuring them still has great value. One could learn new techniques or preparation ideas, it could help introduce the cuisine to foreigners, or simply serve as a feast for one's eyes.
For a 2017 college project, Yu Hong designed such a cookbook. It includes many of the holiday's main dishes and sweet snacks, as well as colorful collages of the many different fresh ingredients that one relies on during the holiday. The project also includes a design for the book's recipe section, as well as a gift box that includes a notebook to write down one's own recipes, bookmarks, and an apron that can fold into a bag.
Take a look at the illustrations below:
Ingredients used for the dishes.
Book page design.
A sample of the recipe page design.
Promotional materials for the book release.
[Images via Yu Hong's Behance page]
