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Foods to Avoid at Tet for a Year of Good Fortune
Vietnam has many Tet traditions that are still kept today. Our elders taught that “if you worship, the gods will answer; if you abstain, good things will follow”, so there are many things to avoid eating in the first days of the year if you don't want the rest of the year to go wrong.
Each region has its own Tet customs, so it's worth knowing which foods to avoid in the first days of the new year to keep bad luck away all year long.
1. Prawns
In southern Vietnam, people avoid eating prawns in the first days of the year. They believe that eating prawns, which move backwards, at the start of the new year means that nothing will go smoothly in the year ahead. Money, love and other affairs will meet obstacles instead of sailing along with the wind, so people take this taboo very seriously.
2. Dog meat
Dog meat is considered a taboo food in the first days of the new year, so think twice before eating it at Tet.
3. Balut
Balut (fertilised duck egg) symbolises bad luck and misfortune, so it is also on the Tet blacklist in traditional Vietnamese custom.
4. Squid
“As black as squid ink” is an age-old Vietnamese saying for terrible luck, so you can guess why this seafood is on the blacklist!
5. Duck
Like dog meat, duck is a symbol of bad luck. Many families avoid it not only in the first days of the year but also at the start of every month.
6. Silver carp
Silver carp has a strong fishy smell and lots of bones, and in northern and central Vietnam it is avoided in the first days of the new year because it stands for bad luck and lost fortune.
7. Durian
This fruit is loved all year round across the S-shaped country, yet it is shunned in the first days of the new year.
Its Vietnamese name, sầu riêng, contains the word for sorrow and grief.
8. Bananas
In the south, people associate this nourishing fruit with stalled careers and promotions, which is why it makes this list of foods to avoid.
9. Sour, spicy, astringent and salty foods
A happy new year is on its way, so sweet fruits are always popular, in the belief that eating sweet things brings sweet things in life.
Compiled by Ng.D
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