Vietnam Airlines is serving a special lotus-themed menu, \u201cCh\u1ea1m Sen\u201d (\u201cTouching the Lotus\u201d), in business class to coincide with the 2026 lotus season. Everything from salad to soup, main course, and tea uses lotus, and the menu was supervised by Mai Th\u1ecb Tr\u00e0, a 92-year-old researcher of imperial cuisine born in Hue in 1934. For over half a century she has documented the imperial cuisine of the Nguyen dynasty and Buddhist vegetarian cooking. Why lotus, and why Hue? And where, on an actual trip to Vietnam, can you experience the flavors you met on this in-flight meal? We dig in from a traveler's point of view.<\/p>\n
Vietnam Airlines' \u201cCh\u1ea1m Sen,\u201d running in 2026, is more than just an in-flight menu. Built around the business-class lotus menu, it is a cultural program that uses lotus as a common language, bringing together lotus-themed drinks, a \u201cCh\u1ea1m Sen\u201d art space in the airport Lotus Lounge, and even a cabin scent called \u201cNh\u00e3.\u201d<\/p>\n
The in-flight lineup includes a salad of lotus buds from Hanoi's West Lake (Ho Tay), a soup of pork spare ribs and lotus root, chicken thigh wrapped in glutinous rice and lotus seeds, and lotus tea to finish. The menu scatters nearly every part of the plant\u2014seeds, buds, root, and heart\u2014across the dishes one by one. Tr\u00e0, who supervised it, describes the effort as \u201ca bold step toward retelling the story of heritage in the language of cuisine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mai Th\u1ecb Tr\u00e0 was born into a family descended from a consort of Emperor Duy Tan of the Nguyen dynasty. After graduating from Hue Normal University, she taught Vietnamese language and home economics (including cooking and other life skills) at schools such as Dong Khanh Girls' School. She did not learn cooking at school but absorbed it at home as inherited family craft. To set those memories down in writing, she compiled \u201cV\u00e9g\u00e9tariens \u00e0 la mode de Hu\u1ebf (Hue-style vegetarian cuisine)\u201d in both Vietnamese and French, as well as \u201cVegetarian Cuisine of the Hue Court.\u201d In early 2026, the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association also conferred on her the title of \u201cNational Artisan of Vietnamese Culinary Culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the core of Hue cuisine, as Tr\u00e0 describes it, is the idea of \u201cnever letting any one flavor stand out, but harmonizing sour, spicy, salty, and sweet with care.\u201d Lotus is an ingredient that embodies that philosophy: a single plant holds several textures and aromas, from the faintly bitter heart to the soft lotus seed and the crisp lotus root. For recreating complex layers of flavor in the limited galley of an aircraft, few subjects are as convenient as lotus.<\/p>\n
Lotus suits a flight for reasons beyond cultural symbolism. Parts like the seeds, root, and heart spoil less easily over time than leafy vegetables and hold their texture and aroma even after cooking. For an in-flight meal that must maintain consistent quality over a long flight, that is a practical advantage. What's intriguing is how lotus as a symbol\u2014Vietnam's national flower, tied to Buddhist culture\u2014happens to align neatly with the real-world benefit of keeping quality.<\/p>\n