1, Laba porridge
Laba porridge is also called "Qibao Wuwei porridge". China has been drinking Laba porridge for 1000 years. It first started in the Song Dynasty. On the day of Laba, whether it is the imperial court, the government, temples, or the people's homes, Laba porridge will be cooked. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge became more popular. At court, emperors, queens and princes give laba porridge to civil and military ministers and attendants, and distribute rice and fruit to monasteries for monks to eat. In the folk, every household should also make laba porridge to worship their ancestors; At the same time, family members get together for dinner and give gifts to relatives and friends.
2. Laba garlic
Pickling Laba garlic is a custom in northern China, especially in the north. As the name implies, garlic is brewed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In fact, the materials are very simple, namely vinegar and garlic cloves. The method is also extremely simple. Put the peeled garlic cloves in a sealable container, such as a jar or bottle, then pour in vinegar, seal the mouth and put it in a cold place. Slowly, the garlic soaked in vinegar will turn green, and finally the whole body will turn green, like jade and jasper.
Step 3 eat ice
On the day before Laba Festival, people usually scoop water in steel pots and freeze it. When Laba Festival comes, they will remove the ice and break it. It is said that the ice on this day is magical, and it won't hurt your stomach for a year after eating it.
4, Laba tofu
"Laba Tofu" is a folk specialty in Ganxian County, Anhui Province. Before Laba on the eve of the Spring Festival, that is, around the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household in Ganxian county will bask in tofu, which is called "Laba tofu" by the people.
5. Laba noodles
In some places in northern China where little or no rice is produced, people eat laba noodles instead of laba porridge. The next day, on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the whole family will eat Laba noodles.
Examples of diet before and after Laba Festival:
Tianjin
Tianjin boiled Laba porridge is similar to Beijing, including lotus seeds, lilies, pearl rice, Italian glutinous rice, Coix seed, sticky glutinous rice, sticky yellow rice, beans, mung beans, longan meat, longan meat, ginkgo, red dates and sweet-scented osmanthus in syrup. They are all good in color, smell and taste. In recent years, black rice has been added. The Laba porridge can be used for dietotherapy, and has the effects of invigorating spleen, stimulating appetite, invigorating qi, calming nerves, clearing away heart fire and nourishing blood.
Shanxi
Laba porridge in Shanxi, also known as eight-treasure porridge, is mainly millet, with cowpea, adzuki bean, mung bean, jujube, sticky yellow rice, rice and glutinous rice. In southeastern Shanxi, cooking porridge with water is also one of the eating customs. This kind of porridge is called fragrant rice, which means adzuki beans, red beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, glutinous rice and persimmons on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.
shanbei plateau
On the day of Laba in the northern Shaanxi Plateau, besides all kinds of rice and beans, porridge is cooked with all kinds of dried fruits, tofu and meat. Usually cooked in the morning, sweet and salty, depending on people's tastes. If you eat at noon, you should cook some noodles in the porridge, and the whole family can get together for dinner. After eating, you should put porridge on the door, on the stove and on the trees outside the door to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, so as to welcome the next year's agricultural harvest. According to folklore, it is forbidden to eat vegetables on Laba, saying that there are many weeds in the field after eating Lai crops. Laba people in southern Shaanxi want to eat mixed porridge, which is divided into "five flavors" and "eight flavors" The former is cooked with rice, glutinous rice, peanuts, ginkgo and beans. The latter uses the above five raw materials to add diced meat, tofu, radish and seasonings. On Laba Festival, people not only eat Laba porridge, but also worship their ancestors and granaries with porridge.
Gansu
Traditional cooking of Laba porridge in Gansu uses whole grains and vegetables, which are not only eaten by family members, but also distributed to neighbors to feed livestock. In Lanzhou and Baiyin urban areas, Laba porridge is made of rice, beans, red dates, ginkgo, lotus seeds, raisins, dried apricots, dried wax gourd, walnuts, shredded mung beans, sugar and diced meat. After cooking, it is first used to worship the door god, the kitchen god, the land god and the god of wealth, and pray for good weather and good harvests in the coming year; Then give it to the neighbors and give it to the last family. Wuwei, Gansu pays attention to "Sulaba", eating coarse rice, lentil rice or coarse rice, cooked with fried seeds and twist. Folk call it "bean porridge bubble".
Ningxia
When laba rice is made in Ningxia, lentils, soybeans, red beans, broad beans, black beans, rice and potatoes are generally used to cook porridge, and wheat flour or buckwheat flour is used to cut into rhombic "ears" of willow leaves or made into "sparrows' heads" of small round eggs, and chopped green onion oil is added before cooking porridge. On this day, the whole family only eats laba rice, not vegetables.
Xining in Qinghai
Although most people in Xining, Qinghai are Han people, Laba does not eat porridge, but eats wheat kernel rice. Boil freshly ground wheat with beef and mutton, add green salt, ginger peel, pepper, tsaoko, Miao Xiang and other condiments, and after a night of slow fire, the meat and wheat merge into a milky white shape. Boil the pot in the morning, and the smell is fragrant.
Shandong (province)
In the "Confucius Food System" in Shandong Province, there are two kinds of "Laba porridge". One is made of rice kernels, longan, lotus seeds, lilies, chestnuts, red dates, japonica rice, etc. There are also some "porridge fruits" added to the bowl, mainly because the fruits are carved into various shapes for ornament. This kind of porridge is specially for Confucius' master and the master of the zodiac. The other is cooked with rice, sliced meat, cabbage and tofu. , is for the servants in Confucius.
Henan(Province)
Laba rice is made of eight kinds of raw materials, such as millet, mung bean, cowpea, wheat kernel, peanut, jujube and corn. When cooking, add some brown sugar and walnuts to make the porridge thick and fragrant, which means a bumper harvest in the coming year.
Jiangsu area
Eating Laba porridge in Jiangsu is divided into sweet and salty, and the cooking method is the same. It's just that salty porridge is served with vegetables and oil. Suzhou people cook Laba porridge with arrowheads, water chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, euryales, red dates, chestnuts, fungus, vegetables, Flammulina velutipes and so on. Li Fu, a scholar in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem: "The porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month came from Brahma, and the seven treasures blended beautifully with mixed flavors."
zhejiang people
Zhejiang Laba porridge is generally boiled with walnut kernel, pine nuts, Gordon Euryale seeds, lotus seeds, red dates, longan meat and litchi meat. Sweet and fragrant, food is prayed for longevity. It is said that this method of cooking porridge came from Nanjing, which contains some legends.
Sichuan Province
There are many people in Sichuan. Laba porridge is made in a variety of ways, including sweet, salty and spicy, while rural people eat salty food, mainly soybeans, peanuts, diced meat, white radish and carrots. Strangers come here to taste, although do as the Romans do, but it is difficult to get used to it. Nowadays, many people in the city eat sweet porridge, which can be called unique flavor. Laba is closely related to porridge. Drinking porridge in Laba is also a fancy and a level.