What’s Cooking for Tet Celebrations?

“Tet is like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Memorial Day rolled into one,” says one Vietnamese celebrant.

In the past, Vietnamese towns bustled with Tet preparations weeks before the first jubilant firecracker ever went off. As families prepared to honor their deceased ancestors and welcome the new year, everybody got new clothes and homes were decorated with apricot blossoms and chrysanthemums. To insure that no cooking need be done during the monthlong celebration, special foods like banh Tet cakes, were prepared in advance.

Here in Southern California, the Tet celebration is being celebrated this weekend in Orange County’s Little Saigon (Bolsa Avenue between Magnolia and Dillow). It’s a particularly good time to get to know Vietnamese food.

Booths near the carnival area sell typical snacks: grilled sate, barbecued minced shrimp wrapped around sugar cane, and banh mi --Vietnamese submarine sandwiches. Sugar cane juice is squeezed on the spot to drink.

Elsewhere, Vietnamese delis and bakeries honor the holiday by stocking traditional foods. All month they bake banh Tet choi --a sticky rice roll studded with currants and filled with sweet cooked plantain bananas. Similar sticky rice “cakes” have fillings of cured pork ( banh chung ) or mashed bean ( banh Tet ba man ). There’s also mut --candy-like glazed fruits, coconut, nuts and ginger. (A few sources for these are listed below.)

And even if you don’t join in the celebration of the holiday, this is a perfect opportunity to discover some of the 200 plus Vietnamese restaurants in Southern California. Little Saigon has the greatest selection, but the Monterey Park-San Gabriel area, the San Fernando Valley, Gardena and Long Beach all have their share. Here is a selection of some of the best from each area.

A new Little Saigon restaurant, Nha Hang so 1, has a long and fascinating menu. In addition to the familiar noodle soups and grilled sates, you can get a beautifully roasted quail with crisp skin, or eel in various guises--ours came in a hot pot containing tomatoes, pineapple and banana flower buds. But the best dish is qoi tom cang --grilled crayfish with their coral on a bed of tart-sweet cucumber salad.

Also in Little Saigon, Thien Thanh 2 specializes in dishes that are grilled or cooked fondue-style at your table in a little pot of tart broth. You wrap the meat or seafood up in sheer rice paper crepes, sprinkling in a few fresh herbs or exotic items from the accompanying vegetable platter--perhaps a pickled garlic clove or a slice of starchy plantain. Some dishes such as fat jumbo shrimp wrapped in thin beef slices come from the kitchen already grilled. For early risers, Thien Thanh 2 serves an assortment of noodle dishes for breakfast.

At Anh Phuong in San Gabriel, the warm salad with lean and meaty duck chunks has a tart, sassy dressing that defines the beauty of this cuisine: pungent, light and completely satisfying. Remarkably, this masterpiece costs $3.95. An astonishing array of noodle dishes includes the clear chewy hu tieu , or the thicker fat, banh canh noodles with all sorts of toppings. And perfect with any soup are the banh khot --crunchy light-as-air fried rice cakes topped with shrimp.

At My Hanh in El Monte, any dish listed under “tiny rice stick” is a good bet. You’ll be served grilled meat on a bed of thin rice vermicelli along with the customary fresh herb, lettuce, and sauce trio with which to wrap and dip the meat and noodles. One of My Hanh’s best plates is the combination grilled shrimp and cha gio --the fabulously crispy rice paper-wrapped egg roll--on tiny rice sticks. (The beef and pork versions of this dish are great too.) And don’t miss banh xeo , an omelet-like crepe stuffed with minced meat and shrimp.

Even though Santa Monica’s Royal Cuisine is far from any Vietnamese neighborhood, its food competes with the best kitchens in Little Saigon. And it is served in a Deco-look dining room that is very West L.A. Try bun thit heo nuong a layered noodle-on-salad concoction topped with marinated grilled pork or chicken and topped with fresh herbs. You stir up the noodles and salad to eat with the meat. Com tay cam , a rice and chicken stew flecked with black mushrooms, cooked in an earthen ware pot, and goi ga , a tart-sweet salad made with roasted chicken are house specialties. Less familiar but equally wonderful are the frog legs sauteed in butter and garlic.

Reseda’s Dong Que started its life as a Vietnamese fast food and noodle shop. Recently, however, they have added a long list of new dishes to the menu and turned into a full fledged restaurant that is a boon to the neighborhood. Shrimp fondue and bo nuang yi , sliced beef marinated with lemon grass, are excellent. (You might want to request nuoc cham as a dipping sauce, as the sauce that comes with the dish is very strong and fishy tasting.) The familiar rice plates, noodle dishes, salads, and sandwiches are all here, too.

Vietnamese food lovers in the South Bay will be glad to know about Tam Da, just slightly inland from Manhattan Beach in Lawndale. Tam Da’s extensive menu includes a “seven courses of beef” dinner and its deli case holds a collection of che --those colorful layered sweet bean and coconut milk desserts. Other good bets: Grilled shrimp and marinated pork on a bed of noodles or garlicky barbecued meatballs.

The Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce Tet Festival, Little Saigon takes place on Saturday, 10 a.m.--1 a.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.--10 p.m. Admission for adults $4, children, $1, (children under 3 free).

Tet Specialty Foods:

Sau Voi Vietnamese Deli, 066 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, (714) 895-4373. (Tet cakes)

Van’s Bakery, 21 East, Valley Blvd., San Gabriel (818)571-5845 and 14346 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, (714) 839-1666 (Tet cakes).

Pho Tuong Lai Food To Go, 9211 Bolsa Ave. 120, Westminster, (714) 893-1218. (Tet cakes).

99 Price Market, 9221 Bolsa Av., Westminster, (714)894-3888. (Mut).

Restaurants:

Nha Hang so 1, 14122 Brookhurst St. Garden Grove, (714) 537-5022. Open daily.

Thien Thanh 2, 10722 Westminster Ave., Garden Grove (714) 537-5563. Open daily.

Anh Phuong, 633 South San Gabriel Blvd. 112, San Gabriel, (818) 309-1334. Open daily.

My Hanh, 9611 East Garvey Ave. 109, (818) 579-5112. Closed Wednesday.

Royal Cuisine, 1120 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (213)394-4762. Closed Sunday.

Dong-Que, 18601 Sherman Way D, Reseda, (818) 609-1039. Open daily.

Tam Da , 15180 South Prairie Ave., Lawndale, (213) 675-7392. Open daily.