The many sides — and dishes — of the Lunar New Year - what are the vietnamese dishes at restaurants

Not only is the city red on Valentine's Day this month, it is also wearing the lucky red that marks the lunar new year of February. 16.
This celebration is often called the Chinese New Year in Toronto.
This may be because the Chinese were the first Asian ethnic group to settle in Canada in the 1800 s.
As a worker building the Canadian Pacific Railway
As one of the largest ethnic groups in GTA, they account for about 700,000 of the population, namely, people.
During the New Year, revelers celebrate the new year by eating noodles, steamed fish and rice cakes. Other Asian communities that follow the lunisolar calendar also start the new year celebration with their own feast this weekend.
From Tibetan rice beer to Vietnamese head cheese to Korean rice cake soup, three families are cooking dishes for the Lunar New Year.
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Tet, Vietnamese Lunar New Year Trinh is putting her Tet feast on the kitchen table at Scarborough's house, and she has no room. “Back home (in Vietnam)
"People are not really rich, but in the new year, people cook a lot of food with the money they have accumulated throughout the year," she said . ".
Meat is considered a luxury for many low-income people
Income families and pork are popular Tet ingredients.
Trinh's husband, Nguyen Ngoc Duy, a pair
The president of the Toronto Vietnam Association, who grew up in southern Vietnam, has not seen meat at the table for months.
Nguyen and Trinh met and fell in love in a refugee camp in Indonesia, who fled their homes in the late 70-year Vietnam War.
Nguyen moved to Canada and Trinh sought a new life in the United States. S.
But they vowed to reunite.
They married in California and settled in Toronto.
In honor of the country they left, they named their two sons Vietnam and Vietnam.
Trinh goes all out for the Spring Festival.
She makes tender pork belly and stewed eggs, pork belly (thit dong)
Spring rolls, head cheese, head meat and ears from pigs (gio thu)
Grilled sausage (cha)
Finely chopped pork seasoned with cinnamon and banh tet, a glutinous rice filled with mung beans, coconut cream, sugar and bananas.
At the center of the table was a nice bag of banh chung, sticky rice stuffed with pork and mung beans, neatly wrapped with banana leaves.
Platter with Pickles (Duva Meng Ku Kiu)
Carrots, radishes, cucumbers and ramps (wild garlic).
There is also a stewed balsam pear filled with ground pork, mushrooms and green bean noodles.
"Balsam pear is called 'kho Qua' and in Vietnam the name is translated to 'Pain is over, '" she said '. ".
"The new year is a new beginning and happier than the year you left behind.
The dessert is a dish of honey ginger, sweet potato, carrot, wax gourd, coconut and lotus paste, with a plate of watermelon seeds dyed lucky red.
And the basic fruit display of sugar-
Apple, coconut, papaya and mango.
In Vietnamese, when the names of these fruits are combined, they form the phrase "cau dua du xai", a desire for prosperity.
"It's not just food for us," Han said . "
"It's about sharing and coming together with family.
This is our culture.
"Loza, Tibetan lunar new year, a cooking whirlwind is happening in the kitchen of a Tibetan restaurant in the small Tibetan community of pakdale, Lugar Kok. Husband-and-
Wife Loga and Dolma Yangchen recruited friends to prepare the food needed to bless their loved ones for the new year for the Buddhist holy land.
"Each family will have a different altar to prepare different food for Losa.
In a traditional robe called chuba, Loga said: "There is no mandatory dish or offering . ".
"The most important gift is a gift from the heart.
In 2012, the Loga family moved to Toronto from Bill village in northern India near the Tibet border.
His parents fled Tibet in 1959, and in the same year, the Dalai Lama fled India after the defeat of the Chinese occupying forces in Tibet.
A photo of the spiritual leader hangs on the table, and family friend Dechen Dolma stacks up with different types of khapse, exquisite fried dough common during Losar.
The big ears at the bottom are called bhungu amchoe and are also called donkey ears due to their shape.
The top is a thin batter fried into a large disk.
Scattered around the fritters are small pieces of khapse known as kaptog.
There are alcohol, biscuits, chocolate, flowers, rice and butter on the altar, all of which are yaks that produce milk in the Tibetan diet.
There is a square thue brick, which Dolma calls Tibetan cheese.
It is decorated with auspicious signs of ancient Buddhism. Butter tea (po cha)
Also on the table, put a pile of butter on the fruit for good luck.
Finally, seven bowls of water representing generosity and a complex carved wooden box called chemar bo were placed in front, filled with baked barley flour and seeds.
When people stand in front of the altar and offer their blessings, they will chew some seeds and throw them in the air.
It's time to eat.
On the table, Loga turns around the chang Cup at home
Sweet beer brewed with rice and barley.
Big slow Bowl
Steamed momos with cooked beef ribs (
Dumplings with beef, chicken and vegetable stuffing)
Rice with raisins and cashew nuts (droma dresil).
Another family friend, Khedup Pematso, explained how to make tsampa, a typical Tibetan dish that is kneaded into small dough with roasted barley flour and butter tea
"Losa can last 15, 20 days or even a month or two in Tibet," Loga said . ".
"In Toronto, because everyone has to work, it's usually only one day.
But it is a very important festival.
This is the only time a Tibetan restaurant is closed.
"Seollal, the Korean lunar new year, in the Korean New Year, the chef at home will fry a delicious pancake called jeon, which is full of vegetables, seafood and meat.
Burning wine is a clear wine made of rice or barley, flowing like water.
Children bless their elders and in return they will receive money for good luck.
But for chef and cooking coach Sangin, the Korean New Year comes down to a dish he needs to cook for his family: tteokguk or Korean rice cake soup.
"Teokguk is very important for the new year," said Kim, who hosted sushi --
Class at the kitchen studio north of the intersection.
"This is one of the first dishes a child eats, and it is what you eat every year, symbolizing getting older.
It represents a profound change in life.
"Kim Jong Il grew up in the rural area of Suwon and learned how to make it from his grandmother, a city south of Seoul in northwest Korea.
Each family has its own tteokguk version, some families make soup bottoms with cooked seaweed and anchovy, and some families use dumplings instead of rice cakes.
The version of Kim was first made with garlic and Korean soy sauce (guk-ganjang.
Eight hours later, he added several pieces of chewy rice cakes made of broken rice.
Then put beef bris, scallions and Korean Julianne in the soup. style omelette.
Of course, no Korean meal is complete without a lot of kimchi, which Kim produced in bulk.
He fermented the cabbage for three months before it was ready to be eaten.
Being with loved ones is the most important part of the new year celebration, Kim said.
No matter how busy or far a person lives, going home for a bowl of tteokguk is a priority.
"Koreans celebrate the new year: the Gregorian New Year and the Lunar New Year," Kim said . ". “The western-
The traditional Lunar New Year is celebrated with friends.
The day you go home to visit your family to celebrate.
"Karonliu @ the star.