To an agriculture country like Viet Nam, the Parasite-Killing Festival is a meaningful occasion given its intention of preventing pestilence and diseases, evils and illnesses.  Known as Tet Doan Ngo in Viet Nam, this year’s festival falls on Thursday 9 June (the 5^th day of the 5^th lunar month).

‘Doan’ means the beginning, and ‘Ngo’ means mid-day, therefore the celebration of Tet Doan Ngo is at the middle of the day when the solar energy is at its maximum.  The herbs harvested at this very moment are thought to be excellent for curing colds, itching or intestinal diseases, and people living in the countryside often go picking herbs together at this time.

‘Banh u tro’

As with other traditional Vietnamese festivals, spiritual rites are among the essential parts of the festival and in every family offerings to the spirit world are made to commemorate their ancestors.

On this day, farmers eradicate all pests and start growing their crops for the new season.  Therefore, creatures and people must become stronger in both their health and their souls in order to overcome this. 

‘Com ruou’

Most notably, the two traditional types of food to be eaten at this holiday are ‘banh u tro’ and ‘com ruou’.  ‘Banh u tro’ are pyramid-shaped sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves.  They are often stuffed with beans and banana leaf essence, which creates their dominant flavour.  ‘Com ruou’, which literally translates as ‘rice wine’, are little balls of fermented rice soaked in rice wine.  To make the wine, the sticky rice is boiled and, after it cools, it is mixed with brewer’s yeast.  Fermented for two or three days, it becomes a sweet, thick liquid.  ‘Com ruou’ is eaten early on this day to kill the “worms” in one’s stomach.

If you try it, you will find that ‘com ruou’ has a strong and quite delicious taste.  It is the Vietnamese traditional belief that this wine kills all parasites in the body.  Vietnamese people, from adults to children, love to eat ‘com ruou’, and adults are more likely to benefit from its curative effect if they add a grain of salt.

(Source: Da Nang Today/ Internet)