No Tết without bánh chưng. This square cake of sticky rice, mung beans and pork, wrapped in green leaves, is the heart of the Vietnamese New Year festival. Far from Vietnam, making it becomes a challenge… and often a moment for getting together. Here is its story, its recipe in broad outline and the solutions found in France.
A square cake that tells a legend
Tradition says that a Hùng king wanted to choose his successor among his sons: the one who would bring him the most precious dish. One of them, Lang Liêu, the most modest, offered two cakes made of rice, the simplest and most essential product: a square cake for the Earth, the bánh chưng, and a round cake for the Sky, the bánh dày. The king was moved by this message and entrusted him with the kingdom. Since then, bánh chưng has been made for Tết, placed on the ancestors' altar, then shared with the family.
What is inside
- sticky rice, soaked for several hours;
- shelled mung beans (yellow), cooked or soaked;
- pork belly, seasoned with salt, pepper and shallot;
- dong leaves (lá dong), which give the rice its green colour and its fragrance, and ties to hold the parcel tight.
The cake is assembled in a square mould (or by hand for the most skilled), tied firmly, then boiled for a long time: a whole night, often eight to ten hours or more depending on its size. In the past, the whole family kept watch around the pot. It is perhaps this night-long vigil that those who live far away miss most.
In France: the solutions found
- Pork, sticky rice and mung beans are easy to find in Asian grocery shops and supermarkets.
- Dong leaves are rarer. They can sometimes be found frozen in Asian grocery shops before Tết. Many families replace them with banana leaves: the taste changes a little, the green colour is less strong, but the cake keeps its shape.
- Associations organise days for making them together before Tết. For example, the association of Vietnamese people in Toulouse (AEVTL) organises a "bánh chưng day". It is a chance to find the gestures and the vigil again.
- Bringing it back from Vietnam? No: it contains pork. Meat is prohibited in luggage coming from a country outside the European Union, even cooked and packaged. All the details are in our guide Bringing back products from Asia.
When to make it?
Tết follows the lunar calendar: its date changes every year. The next Tết and all the festivals to come are in our festival calendar, updated automatically. Families make bánh chưng in the last days before the New Year.
📅 Next major festival: Loy Krathong, on Tuesday 24 November 2026 — in 20 days. See the full calendar.
An idea for businesses
A caterer, a bakery or a grocery shop offering bánh chưng made in France, with French products, meets a real need, especially for families who no longer have the time or the know-how. And a European producer of frozen dong leaves would probably find customers. Are you one or the other? Register your company, it is free.
Sources (consulted on 31 October 2026): Association des étudiants et des Vietnamiens de Toulouse (AEVTL), « La journée du bánh chưng »; luggage rules: European Union, "Your Europe" (checked by the EU on 21/10/2026).