Đức Viên Buddhist Temple

Watch San Jose Buddhist Monks Make Thousands of Bánh Tét for the Lunar New Year Holiday at Đức Viên Temple | Eater SF

"I watched a nine-minute documentary that follows Đức Viên Temple in San Jose as the community prepares for Lunar New Year, showing nuns and volunteers making thousands of banana leaf–wrapped bánh tét—sticky glutinous rice cakes filled with mung bean and pork belly. The temple, described as one of the largest Buddhist temples in the Bay Area and reportedly built by nuns who collected recycling to fund its creation, opens its doors for children and families to pitch in on the meticulous, hand-done process; community members even take pre-orders in December. The film captures tactile, meaningful moments—an elderly woman explaining to a child that the sticky rice binds the community together—and the festival atmosphere with fireworks and firecrackers up and down the street, portraying the temple as both a spiritual hub and a hands-on center for sustaining Lunar New Year food traditions." - Paolo Bicchieri