Oklahomans ready to celebrate Tet, Lunar New Year 2023 with food and customs

The rapid successive popping of hundreds of firecrackers rings out, smoke fills the air and drums and cymbals build in a euphonic rhythm as lions and Buddhas dance energetically down the sidewalk and through the doors to the delighted crowd awaiting their arrival.

This is a common scene at celebrations for Lunar New Year, a holiday celebrated by many Asian cultures. You may have heard the holiday referred to as Chinese New Year or hear of the Year of the Rabbit as the animal ascribed to the year according to the Chinese zodiac. In the Vietnamese zodiac, the rabbit is replaced by the cat and the ox by the water buffalo, making 2023 the Year of the Cat, rather than the rabbit.

Because many cultures, including Chinese, Korean, Tibetan and Vietnamese people, all celebrate the holiday, Lunar New Year is sometimes used as a more inclusive or generalized term.

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What is Lunar New Year?

Each culture has distinct traditions and thriving Asian communities driving celebrations across the country. But there are some commonalities. Generally the celebrations mark the start of a new year according to the lunar calendar, beginning with the first new moon and ending on the first full moon. This date can fall between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20.

In Oklahoma City, where many of the residents are Vietnamese, the most commonly observed celebration is Tet, short for Tet Nguyen Dan, the Vietnamese observance.

Like other celebrations, Tet takes time to focus on intentions for the new year. A recurring theme of many of the Vietnamese traditions is to foster a spirit of togetherness while inviting good fortune and prosperity into the lives of those celebrating.

"The new comes in — that new luck, that new prosperity comes in for the year — and so you don't want to be looking back," said Ba Luong, one of the owner-operators of Oklahoma City's Super Cao Nguyen grocery store. "It's more so important in this culture because they believe every year is different and new and that you've got an opportunity to make the most of that."

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What do people eat for Tet and Lunar New Year celebrations?

Vietnamese culture places a few food items at the center of the household and celebrations for Tet, according Luong.

"A lot of the foods are really symbolic during this time of year," he said. "All these foods that you'll have are things that you can share, basically, with your guests and your family."

A rice cake made of rice, mung bean, and some kind of meat, often pork, is fundamental and the central dish for many families. The cake comes in two forms, the square shaped Banh Chung and the log shaped Banh Tet.

"The idea behind the rice cake is that, as a celebration, you don't have to be rich or wealthy to celebrate this holiday," Luong said.

A great deal of time and care is put into making the rice cakes, with households traditionally boiling rice for eight to 10 hours to complete the recipes.

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Luong said the invention of time-saving technology like the Instant Pot allows busy families to continue enjoying making the food tradition at home. What was once a process that would need to extend overnight can now be shortened into a few hours.

"It's allowing a younger generation to actually go in and actually be interested in it and actually make these cakes by hand," Luong said. "The kids enjoy doing it, too, and they're really getting into it, so that modern technology has been great."

Another common meal consists of dumplings, chicken, bok choy and longevity noodles — once again embracing ingredients that anyone can afford, Luong said.

"The dumplings look like gold nuggets, so they represent wealth. Chicken represents prosperity and togetherness as it is served whole and brings the family together," he said. "'Bok choy' sounds like the word for prosperity in Chinese. Longevity noodles are long unbroken noodles to represent long life."

Jenny Nguyen, whose family operates Lee's Sandwiches and who will operate the highly anticipated Bun Box, both in the Asian District, said Lee's offers both Banh Chung and another popular Tet dish, Ga Luoc, chicken simmered in water overnight.

"Boiled chicken is symbolic of good luck and abundance. The white meat represents purity and healing, while the yellow or red skin symbolizes good fortune and happiness," Nguyen said. "Our Ga Luoc is served with our signature light-yellow fried rice, a cup of the broth rendered from the chicken, and a dipping sauce made from fish sauce and chili peppers."

When guests join you in your home for Tet, it is customary to offer them a tray — called a togetherness tray — that may include dried and candied fruits and vegetables, such as coconut, lotus seeds, yams, ginger, kumquats, melons and other items along with melon seeds.

Luong said because Tet is the first major holiday following the Harvest Moon Festival, the idea is that the fruits and vegetables that were harvested are candied in order to preserve them.

Additionally, each of the food items has a different symbolic meaning. Some of the meanings include melon seeds for blessings of fertility, ginger for warmth and happiness, lotus seeds for unity, kumquat for luck, peace and prosperity; coconut for happy gatherings and peanut candy for longevity.

What other traditions are there for Tet?

Beyond meals, there are many other traditions observed for Tet. Many of the foods enjoyed with family may also be set up as offerings to the gods.

"You prepare offerings for the gods with foods that are symbolic for your altar," Luong said. "It's a time when you remember your ancestors and the people the came before you and you get your house ready."

The first day of Tet, which will be Jan. 22 this year, is a day meant to be spent with family. Luong said the tradition is to visit the homes of family members beginning with the closest and older members first, expanding to more distant relatives, family friends, neighbors and into the community in the days that follow.

"After you celebrate with your family, you'll celebrate with your community and so you'll go out to these businesses to wish them a happy new year as well," Luong said.

Businesses will hire lion dance teams and light firecrackers, a tradition meant to scare away evil spirits. The lion dance teams are another important aspect of Tet, with local young people dedicating long hours to practicing and years to the skill.

"Lion dancing is a traditional blessing that we do for stores and all it is, is to start the new year with a boom," said Hoang Tran, 19, team captain of the GQ Lion Dance team from Giac Quang Temple.

Tran has six or seven years of lion dance experience and said that his main focus as captain is keeping his younger teammates safe, especially during stunts and tricks and spreading the meaning of lion dance to others.

"I take great pride with it," Tran said. "As a minority, we don't get our culture as much out there and I love it, being able to spread our culture throughout the community and to other cultures."

The team frequently performs at events across the city and like most is made up of young men and women who come together to learn and celebrate a traditional art form tied to their heritage.

"Once they start the drumroll you get really scared and nervous, but then once you're in the head you're like 'oh, it's ok, it's not that bad,'" Arissa Nguyen, 16, said of performing.

Arissa has been with the team for just over a year and joined because she thought it was a good opportunity to be active and spend time with friends. Being a part of the team has given her a chance to connect with people who share a language and beliefs with her.

A final tradition and a favorite among the youngest community members is the tradition of receiving lucky red envelopes, also called "li xi" or lucky money.

"It is tradition when you visit your elder's houses to wish them a happy new year. In return, the elders wish good fortune and education on the younger unmarried kids," Luong said. "Anyone married would wish that good fortune on the younger kids with a lucky red envelope filled with money for their new year. The money is meant to help bring good fortune in the new year."

How should I celebrate Tet if I am not Vietnamese?

Luong said people who are not part of the Vietnamese community can still take part by trying the different traditional foods. He also said others should reflect on the importance of coming together and looking ahead for those who celebrate and use it as motivation in their own lives.

"It's a great holiday to remember your family, to visit your family, to spend time as a family and to have a good outlook on the rest of the year," Luong said.

Another great way to get involved is to visit Oklahoma City's Asian District the weekend of Jan 28. and 29 to see the celebration first hand.

"There will be lion dance teams that will traverse throughout the Asian District that weekend — that Saturday and Sunday — and in terms of our celebration we're planning on lighting about a million firecrackers, noisemakers," Luong said.

"That weekend would be a great weekend for someone to come into the Asian District and go eat in the Asian District, go shop the Asian District, and kind of take in all the colors and the culture and the shows and the traditions of the Asian District."

There are several public events planned for Lunar New Year beginning Jan. 21. You can find all the details in our guide on how and when to celebrate the holiday.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Here's how Oklahoma City celebrates Lunar New Year, Tet traditions