In Vietnam, to celebrate Tết is to ăn Tết, literally meaning "Tết eating", showing the importance of food in its celebration. Some of the food is also eaten year-round, while other dishes are only eaten during Tết. Also, some of the food is vegetarian since it is believed to be good luck to eat vegetarian on Tết. Some traditional food on Tết are:
Bánh chưng and bánh dầy: essentially tightly packed sticky rice with meat or bean fillings wrapped in banana leaves. Bánh chưng (rectangular) and bánh giầy (circular) are symbolically connected with Tết and are essential in any Tết celebration. Preparation is time-consuming, and can take days to cook. The story of their origins and their connection with Tết is often recounted to children while cooking them overnight.
Hạt Dưa: roasted watermelon seeds, also eaten during Tết.
Dưa Hành : pickled onion and pickled cabbage.
Củ Kiệu: pickled small leeks.
Mứt: These dried candied fruits are rarely eaten at any time besides Tết.
Cầu Dừa Đủ Xoài - In southern Vietnam, popular fruits used for offerings at the family altar in fruit arranging art are the custard-apple/sugar-apple/soursop (mãng cầu), coconut (dừa), papaya (đu đủ), and mango (xoài), since they sound like "cầu vừa đủ xài" ([We] pray for enough [money] to spend) in the southern dialect of Vietnamese.
Thịt Kho Nước Dừa Meaning "Meat Stewed in Coconut Juice", it is a traditional dish of pork and medium boiled eggs stewed in a broth-like sauce made of young coconut juice and nuoc mam. It is often eaten with pickled bean sprouts and chives, and white rice.