What to eat during the Dragon Boat Festival in Chaoshan

There are many customs during the Dragon Boat Festival in Chaoshan, and many of them are unique. So what do you eat during the Dragon Boat Festival in Chaoshan? You might as well take a look at the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in Chaoshan Let's do it!

1. Eat "Holy Gan Zhi"

"Eat the leaves during the Qingming Festival, and take the medicine at the Dragon Boat Festival" is a widely circulated Chaoshan food saying. The local folk custom in Shantou is that during the Qingming Festival, people eat the leaves of Pu Zi, and during the Dragon Boat Festival, they eat the anti-parasitic medicine "Holy Gan Zhi (Shi Junzi)".

It is generally believed that May is a poisonous month, and the fifth day is an evil day. According to legend, evil is in power on this day, and the five poisons appear simultaneously. The Dragon Boat Festival is a holy day for detoxification. Taking the medicine can take effect immediately and the effect is significant. Taking it on other days will have little effect. I remember when I was a kid, on the Dragon Boat Festival, parents would give scrambled eggs to their children to eat, which could easily drive away roundworms.

2. Bathing (eating) medicinal soup with mugwort flowers

Another main custom in Chaoshan Dragon Boat Festival is bathing (eating) medicinal soup with mugwort flowers. On this day, moxa moxa (or moxa moxa in some places) is placed on the door of each house. The moxa is in the shape of a tiger to ward off evil and filth, and to drive away plague and evil spirits. In addition, this day is called "Holy Day", and taking medicine is the most effective.

Chaozhou people have the custom of eating "five-fruit soup" for breakfast. ?Five-fruit soup? That is, boiled lotus seeds, corn, ginkgo, soybeans, Huaishan, etc. The mother-in-law of a foreign family must take a bath with moxa water on the Dragon Boat Festival to get rid of rheumatism.

3. Eating Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings

Chaoshan people have been making rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival for generations, which is one of the traditions of worshiping Qu Yuan. There is a folk proverb that says, "If you haven't eaten the rice dumplings in May, you won't be able to let them go." This shows that rice dumplings have a long history of becoming a famous snack in Chaoshan.

In the Chaoshan area, in addition to pork and mung beans, salted egg yolk and sweet bean paste are also added inside the rice dumplings. Some people also add lotus seeds, etc., and pour a layer of diluted syrup on them before eating. Add some sesame seeds to bring a hint of sweetness to the whole salty rice dumpling, which is really special.

4. Eat cooked wheat?

According to "Chaozhou Prefecture Chronicles": There are two members for a thousand households in Dacheng, three members for a deputy thousand households, and ten members for a hundred households. There are 100 governors and 1,223 flag troops. ?These people came from all over the country and brought various customs including food customs. For example, after the Qingming Festival every year, it is popular in the local area to eat a kind of food called "Mai Shu". The cakes are made from Qingming Festival to Dragon Boat Festival.

The emergence of "Mai Ripe" is related to the large number of troops stationed in the city from the north in ancient times. During the Ming Dynasty, troops were stationed in Suocheng. When the wheat is ripe, there will be a good harvest, and (at that time the soldiers will) grind the harvested wheat into powder (to make dough), which is called "wheat ripe".

5. Eat Gardenia Kueh

In the Chaoshan area, Gardenia Kueh is only sold during the Dragon Boat Festival throughout the year. Chaoshan people eat gardenia during the Dragon Boat Festival, hoping to clear away heat and disease and aid digestion.

To make gardenias, you need to wash and mash the picked gardenias, soak the filter residue to turn into yellow juice, then mix it with glutinous rice paste, put it in a special rice cake, put it in a steamer and steam it. The steamed gardenia is brown in color. Let it cool before eating. You don't need to cut it with a knife, but use yarn to pull it into small pieces and eat it with white sugar.

6. Eat pearl cauliflower

Chaoshan people sometimes simply call the Dragon Boat Festival the "Leaking Shit Festival". During this season, in addition to taking Holy Gan Zhi and Pu Zi Kueh, you also eat pearl cauliflower (white flower mugwort), "Gardenia Kueh" made with yellow gardenia and Pujiang lime, or grass cake made with jelly grass, etc. food.

In this season, there is a kind of "wild vegetable", which Chaoshan people call "Yexiahong". It is the most tender during the Dragon Boat Festival every year. The elders say that this vegetable has the effect of clearing away heat in the intestines and stomach.

7. Dragon Boat Racing

Chaoshan has three main rivers: Hanjiang, Rongjiang, and Lianjiang. The tributaries are intertwined and the water flow is gentle. It is a golden water area for dragon boat racing. There are generally three types of dragon boats that Chaoshan people race during the Dragon Boat Festival. One is a large dragon boat, 20 to 30 meters long, 1.4 to 1.6 meters wide, equipped with 20 to 30 pairs of oars, and painted with fish and dragon patterns all over. The other two types are Caitou Boat (Raoping and Nan'ao area) and Long Chuanzi.

In some places (such as Chenghai), after dragon boat racing, people drink "dragon boat water" and eat "dragon boat rice" to pray for safety and health.

8. Hanging plugs? Five auspicious signs?

In Chaoshan people, bunches of moxa tied with "red-headed ropes" should be hung on the lintel, door knocker and even under the eaves along the Dragon Boat Festival. Grass, calamus, durian flowers, garlic, and dragon boat flowers are combined into five kinds called "Wu Rui". According to the old custom, the "Five Moons" are combined to attract the spirit of Qu Yuan. In fact, the ancient trendy people and sages took anti-epidemic and health care measures in response to the rampant plague during the "Evil Moon", with the intention of driving away the plague and warding off evil spirits.

The old county annals of Chenghai contain: "Placing mugwort on the Dragon Boat Festival gate, and using mugwort leaves and durian flowers (page) to tie hairpins in your hair can ward off evil spirits."

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