What does the Dragon Boat Festival offer? Suggestions for offerings on May 5 of the 3 North – Central regions

What to do on the Dragon Boat Festival to bring good luck is something that many people care about. Below are suggestions for offerings on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month.

Tet Doan Ngo is known as one of the traditional New Year’s Day that is very important to Vietnamese people. So what does the Dragon Boat Festival offer? Let’s find out together in this article.

What is the date and day of the Doan Ngo New Year 2022?

According to the perpetual calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival on May 5, 2022 will fall on Friday, June 3 of the solar calendar.

Doan Ngo New Year 2022 falls on a Friday

This is the day of the week, so families who want to make offerings need to consider the right time to avoid forgetting or making offerings to the ancestors and gods.

According to feng shui experts, on this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, there are two beautiful time frames for worshiping: the time of the Horse (about 11-13 o’clock) and the time of the Dragon (from 7 to 9 am).

What does the Dragon Boat Festival offer?

Depending on the customs of each region and locality, the answer to the question of what the Dragon Boat Festival is will be different.

1. What do Northerners offer during the Dragon Boat Festival?

During the Lunar New Year, Northerners often prepare the following offerings to make offerings to their ancestors and gods:

– Glutinous rice wine

This is one of the indispensable dishes in the Lunar New Year. The way to make yellow flower sticky rice wine is very simple. First, you wash the glutinous rice and then soak it for about 4 – 8 hours. The rice has been soaked, you wash it again and then take it out or cook it.

Turn the rice on a tray, when the sticky rice cools down, start sprinkling the yeast on top. Use your hands to mix the rice so that the yeast is more evenly absorbed. Note, should be mixed when the rice is still warm so it will be easier to ferment.

Put the mixed glutinous rice into a crock pot, then close the lid, incubate for 3-4 days to be able to use.

Check that the glutinous rice is cooked, the smell of yeast is fragrant, then scoop it out into a bowl and enjoy.

– Five-fruit tray: Plum, lychee, mango, watermelon

– Banh gio (banh gio)

Banh tro or banh gio is a typical dish in the Lunar New Year offerings of the Northern people. Ash cake is not too difficult to make but requires meticulousness. Glutinous rice is washed and soaked in ash water for about 22 hours. After soaking, take the rice out of the basket to drain and then mix with a little salt.

The dong leaves are washed, dried, then put rice in the middle and wrapped around the edges of the leaves. Use a flatbread to tie the cake firmly and then put it in the pot to boil. Baking time is about 2-4 hours.

When the cake is done, take it out to cool and enjoy. The ash cake after boiling will have a very beautiful amber color. To make the dish more round, remember to prepare molasses.

In addition, depending on each family, the gift will have different dishes. For example, some families will prepare more savory feasts such as sticky rice, some families will add a bowl of sticky rice with tea…

Refer to some trays of worshiping for the Lunar New Year of the Northern people:

Photo: Kitchen Quyen

Photo: To Hung Giang

Photo: Vu Thanh Hoan

2. What do you worship in the Central region of the Lunar New Year?

A little different from the people in the North, the Central region will have more duck meat in the offering tray. Specifically:

– Duck meat

Duck meat in the Lunar New Year is usually boiled or roasted duck. With boiled duck meat, you should buy ready-made ones at the market to save time.

Duck meat has a characteristic odor so you need to rub salt + fresh ginger to remove the smell. Next, wash the duck, then put it in the pot, add water to cover the surface of the duck and turn on the stove. It takes about 20-30 minutes for the duck to be cooked.

Use a toothpick to skewer the meat to check if the duck is cooked. If you don’t see red juice, you can take the duck out to cool, then chop and arrange on a plate.

Boiled duck will be more delicious when dipped with garlic ginger fish sauce.

– Lotus seed tea, millet seed tea

– Seasonal fruits

– Glutinous rice wine

Suggest a few samples of the Doan Ngo New Year worshiping trays of the Central region:

Photo: Ngoc Lien

Photo: Thom Nguyen

3. The offering tray on the 5th of May of the Southern people

People in the South are influenced by Chinese culture, so they are more or less different from the North and Central regions. If asked what to offer for the Lunar New Year, Southerners will immediately name the following offerings:

– Banh ú domination

– Floating tea

– Gac sticky rice

Sticky rice is not difficult to cook. Sticky rice soaked for at least 6 hours for the rice grains to bloom, when cooked, sticky rice will be more fragrant and flexible. Add gac fruit and remove seeds into a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of white wine with salt and mix well.

Take out the rice to drain, then mix it with Gac meat. Use your hands to mix the gac with rice to make the sticky rice have a nice color. Put the rice in the rice cooker, press the “Cook” button to start cooking the sticky rice.

After the sticky rice is cooked, the rice cooker jumps to the “Warm” button, press the “Cook” button one more time. Take the sticky rice out to shape it, then add grated coconut on top and place it on a tray for the Lunar New Year. .

– Fruit

– Glutinous rice wine

In addition to the above offerings, the offerings of all three regions include incense, flowers, tea, votive paper and betel nut.

Depending on the conditions of each family, the offerings will be different. Whether the ceremony is large or small, the respect of the owner is still the most important thing.

Notes when preparing the tray of offerings for the Lunar New Year

In addition to knowing what the Dragon Boat Festival is, you also need to pay attention to some of the following issues to avoid committing great taboos.

– The tray of offerings to the ancestors and gods should be carefully and fully prepared. There is no need for a full tray, but must have enough of the main ceremonies such as: Rice, wine, fruit, incense, flowers,… These offerings must be beautifully and cleanly presented.

– Do not use fake items to make offerings such as: fake flowers, fake fruits, etc.

– Fruit offerings must be carefully selected. Do not choose crushed, crushed or rotten fruits to display on the altar lest they violate taboos.

– Offerings must be clean, without touching chopsticks lest they be considered disrespectful to the superiors.

– The person doing the worshiping ceremony must dress neatly, cleanly, politely and discreetly.

– The process of preparing for the ceremony to avoid dropping or breaking such things will be considered bad luck and bad luck.

Here is some information to help you answer the question of what to do for the Lunar New Year. Refer to more articles about Tet holiday on May 5 at Eva Kitchen to better understand this traditional Tet holiday.