All that's needed for Tet
Writer's note: So here you go, a translation of that Vietnamese post, but the joy of Lunar New Year in the air needs no interpretation. Once upon a Saturday morning, a full-blown sleep was programmed in my brain to make up for all the wretched mornings for school, when a shuffling noise from the kitchen woke me up. Despite the noise, I struggled to resist the enticing warmth of the heater and get out of bed. Still, in my rumpled pajamas, I crept down the stairs to see Mom sitting beside the wooden table, meticulously peeling bulbs of kiệu (a type of onion). A bowl chock-full of washed pigs' ears (yes, you've heard it right) was lying right beside, with the veins ingraining like the wavy patterns of the wooden table. Seeing me agape, Mom chuckled, "It's the Kitchen God's Day in Vietnam, so why not have some kiệus ?" I simply stood there, inhaling every bit of the pungent smell of...