Hunan people are keen on setting off firecrackers. It is said that this is because Liuyang firecrackers are one of Hunan's specialties. When founding ceremony set off Liuyang firecrackers. Based on this, the Spring Festival in Hunan is simply deafening in the whole city.
A 1 kg carp and a 3 kg elbow-these are the necessary Chinese New Year dishes for Hunan people, commonly known as "Tuannian Fish" and "Tuannian Elbow". "Tuannian Fish" as its name implies means "reunion is another year, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new". People in Hunan love spicy food. In the folk, basically a few strings of dried red peppers are hung at the door of every household, which is convenient for the host to sprinkle a few peppers when cooking every meal to meet the demand of taste buds for "spicy". And this also continued to the dinner table of the Lunar New Year. They say it's a good red and spicy year.
It is auspicious to eat New Year's Eve, that is, to reflect the gratifying harvest of the family in the past year and work hard for the coming year. Therefore, the bigger the dishes on the dining table, the richer and more auspicious, especially in areas where traditional customs and habits are well preserved, such as southern Hunan.
The pepper pot is full of fire.
Besides elbows, you will definitely eat chicken, meat, fish and so on. New Year's Eve, and it must be big fish and big meat.
Stew the whole chicken, and add some herbs such as Codonopsis pilosula, Lycium barbarum and Gastrodia elata. The rooster should be chosen, and the head of the chicken should be put on it after stewing. Sprinkle red pepper on the steamed fish, and don't finish it for 30 nights. You should wait until the first day of every month to eat it, which symbolizes that there is enough food every year, and pepper certainly represents prosperity; Some families will have chicken feet, called "grasping money feet", which means making a fortune in the coming year. In addition, there is an increasingly popular mutton hot pot in the local area, and the picture is lively; As for cold dishes, stir-fried dishes and snacks, the characteristics are actually not obvious.
Cold dishes and cooked food can't get rid of the word "spicy": stir-fry bacon, sausage, jiaozi and preserved beef with red pepper and chopped pepper, mix preserved fish and pig's ears with coriander and pepper, and add a few dishes-there must be dishes, which means that the whole family is harmonious in the new year and the business is thriving. This is a full table, and Hunan people's New Year's Eve dinner is almost ready.
Besides, there is no custom of eating jiaozi here. We take rice as our staple food, but we drink sweet wine brewed by our own rice and distiller's yeast. No food is not spicy, no spicy, not happy, hemp and spicy, Hunan people enjoy the New Year's Eve dinner. It usually starts at seven or eight in the evening and ends at eleven or twelve. The locals think that the longer New Year's Eve is, the better.
Hunan people are keen on setting off firecrackers. It is said that this is because Liuyang firecrackers are one of Hunan's specialties. When founding ceremony set off Liuyang firecrackers. Based on this, during the Spring Festival in Hunan, the sound of the city was deafening and smoke filled the air.
On new year's eve, they will set off firecrackers three times: once, before having a reunion dinner, ask people to have a reunion dinner; Thirdly, when the New Year bell rings, it means to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new; The other time is when the door opens in the morning of the Spring Festival, which indicates that a brand-new and beautiful year is coming. The size and setting-off time of firecrackers are decided by each family, but it will be lucky if the firecrackers are set off without interruption.
Eat rice cakes in the New Year.
On New Year's Day, the first meal of Hunan people is basically "rice cake" and "sesame tea": the rice cake is made by every household, the size of a brick, cut into pieces when ready to eat, then put it in an oil pan, fry it on both sides, and then add caramel to cook it together, which tastes soft and sweet; And sesame tea is to drink sesame seeds and water. What these two kinds of snacks have in common is similar in meaning-rice cake, homophonic for "rice cake", sesame also has the meaning of increasing year by year, so they are both lewd, and their sweetness also symbolizes the sweetness of the New Year.
After breakfast, every male host will bring his wife and belt to pay New Year greetings to his parents, because the local saying is that "the first son, the second son, visits his neighbors on the third day", and the family will return to their parents' home to pay New Year greetings to their parents-in-law: Hunan people pay attention to etiquette and loyalty, and they will begin to pay New Year greetings to each other on the third day, wishing each other "a lively year". Until the fifteenth day of the first month, after the temple fair, drama and lantern festival, this year is a good year.