Warm and cozy full moon day of July

- In the cool autumn weather, the full moon of July (July 14th of the lunar calendar) is always a special holiday for the Tay and Nung people in Lang Son . According to tradition, this holiday is an occasion for daughters and sons-in-law to return to visit their parents and grandparents, a day of love, filial piety and reunion (also known as “Pay tai” holiday, meaning “returning to the maternal home”). The warmest thing is the traditional full moon meal at my maternal grandparents' house with typical dishes of the Lang people such as "peng tai", duck meat... The dishes seem simple but convey so much humanistic meaning, strengthening family ties.

Right after the recent September 2nd holiday, Ms. Phung Thi Pin, a Nung ethnic in Thuy Hung commune, went to make dried noodles, went to the market to choose delicious sticky rice, ramie leaves, palm sugar, and looked at her family's flock of ducks to choose the fattest pair. For her, after more than 30 years of being a daughter-in-law, every year, when the full moon of July comes, she is busy preparing familiar dishes to go to her maternal grandparents' house for Tet. Since having a daughter-in-law, she and her daughter-in-law have prepared for her daughter-in-law and son to go to her maternal grandparents' house for Tet, while she still keeps the tradition of going to her maternal grandparents' house to celebrate Tet with her father.

Mrs. Pin shared: No matter what, a meal with "peng tai", duck meat, and vermicelli is meaningful enough. I always want my children and grandchildren to keep this custom, so that every time they visit their grandparents for Tet, it is not only an occasion for the sons and daughters-in-law to bring gifts but also a heart of filial piety and respect to visit their parents.

img,3126,13421804.jpg — Tay women make peng tai to prepare "pay tai" on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month

In the full moon feast of the Tay and Nung people, “peng tai” is an indispensable cake. The cake is closely associated with the working life and agricultural production of the Tay and Nung people. On the full moon of the seventh lunar month, after finishing the planting of the crop, people hold a party to celebrate, thanking Heaven and Earth for favorable weather. “Peng tai” with ingredients to make the cake is the result of the cultivation process such as sticky rice, ramie leaves, beans, peanuts, sugar, etc.

The process of making the cake is also very elaborate. The rice used to make this cake must be delicious sticky rice, not mixed with ordinary rice, soaked the night before to "fill" it with water, ground in a stone mortar or by machine into a thick paste, put in a cloth bag, hung up to drain the water. The ramie leaves are boiled until soft, squeezed out of water, then the veins are removed, and dried. The dried leaves are roasted until fragrant. Brown sugar - a type of sugar made by hand from sugar cane - is melted. After that, the sugar is mixed with the ramie leaves and flour and pounded in a stone mortar until smooth. In recent years, the process of pounding the cake has almost always been supported by machines.

Through the pounding process, the smell of sticky rice flour, honey, and ramie leaves blend together to create a green-black, sticky, fragrant dough. The filling is made from crushed peanuts or green beans mixed with sugar. Along with ramie leaf cakes, many people also make cakes from ingredients such as bananas, banana roots with sticky rice flour or white cakes from sticky rice flour with peanut filling... The cakes are shaped into flat circles, wrapped in banana leaves, 2 pieces placed parallel to each other, then put in a steamer to cook. Each pair of cakes after being steamed will be hung on a long pole. Nowadays, although life has changed a lot, many women, especially women in rural areas, still maintain the habit of making "peng tai" by hand.

After steaming, the banh peng tai is dried. — After steaming, the rice is dried.

If “peng tai” is an indispensable cake, then duck is a sacred dish in the “pay tai” ceremony. According to folk beliefs, duck is the animal that carries the rooster across the sea to offer to the heavens, praying for a good harvest. Ducks are also associated with the agricultural production cycle of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups in Lang Son. Ducks are raised from the end of the third lunar month, and by July they are mature, with delicious meat and golden skin. Therefore, a pair of fat ducks is always an important gift that sons-in-law and daughters bring home to their parents-in-law every full moon of July.

Mr. Hoang Van Pao, Chairman of the Provincial Cultural Heritage Association, said: Tet Pay Tai is not simply a day of reunion, but also contains the profound humanistic philosophy of the Tay and Nung people; married daughters always keep the responsibility of showing filial piety to their parents. Dishes such as "peng tai", duck meat... not only have culinary value but are also symbols of family affection and connection between generations. The fact that the Tay and Nung people of Lang Son maintain their customs as well as typical dishes on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month is a contribution to preserving the unique cultural identity of the community.

Nowadays, when life is improved, young families, no matter where they go, where they return, where they live, still do not forget the customs of their people. Along with peng tai, duck meat, dried noodles, bottles of wine, when returning to "pay tai", families also bring roast pork, fruits, candy... depending on their economic conditions.

The ducks, raised for many months, are one of the offerings. — Ducks raised by people for many months are one of the "pay tai" offerings on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.

Mr. Do Van Nam, Hai Phong city shared: I am a Kinh ethnic, in 2023 I married a Tay woman in Hoi Hoan commune. Since then, every year, on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month, my wife and I follow the customs of the Tay ethnic group, bringing a pair of ducks, fruits, and cakes to my wife's parents' house. Due to being busy with work and not having the conditions to make cakes ourselves, we always proactively ask my wife's relatives to help us make the "ceremony" according to custom. I find that this is not only a courtesy, but also a way to remind myself that I must always turn to my roots and appreciate the birth of my parents. The meal my wife's family treats my son-in-law and daughter with boiled duck, or duck vermicelli cooked with sour bamboo shoots is a rich flavor that I will never forget.

On the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, the meaning of typical dishes such as “peng tai”, duck meat... not only creates the flavor of Tet, but also contributes to preserving cultural identity, so that each reunion becomes a memory that children carry with them throughout their lives. Although modern life has many changes, that beauty has been preserved for many generations, becoming a unique cultural feature of the Tay and Nung people of Lang Son.