On the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, people call it Laba for short, and it is measured that this day is the coldest day of the year. La is the name of the ancient lunar December festival. This name began in the Zhou Dynasty, and later people called the lunar December "twelfth month". The food in the twelfth lunar month is called "preserved food", and the meat preserved in winter is called "preserved meat".
On Laba Day, every family will drink Laba porridge. Regarding "Laba porridge", it is said that in ancient times there was a young man who was an only child, and both his mother and father were cultivators. As there is only one precious son, I am reluctant to let him work since I was a child. After a while, the child got used to staying and refused to work. It happened that when the child grew up, he married a daughter-in-law who could not live. In the first few years, when the old couple were alive, the young couple had a decent life. A few years later, the old couple passed away, and the young couple ate the eight hoards of food left by their parents in a few years.
On this day, I arrived at Laba. The husband said to his daughter-in-law, "Go and scoop some rice for cooking!" " Daughter-in-law came to the granary and saw that all the hoarders were empty. I have no choice but to eat. So the daughter-in-law had to pick up a broom and sweep the bottom of each hoard. All the eight hoarders have been swept, but at least some miscellaneous grains of rice have been swept, which is only enough to make a porridge.
Since then, they have braved the wind and snow to go out begging every day. In the blink of an eye, it's spring, and it's time to choose seeds and farm. The young couple threw away the beggar's ladle, and worked hard to farm like the older generation. Slowly, life was better again.
Although the days are better, the young couple have also developed a habit. Every year on Laba Day, the young couple must grab a handful of rice and mix it with porridge to remember the previous lessons. In the long run, neighbors also cook this porridge for children and tell this story to inspire future generations to be thrifty. As a result, this custom of drinking "Laba porridge" as soon as it arrives at Laba has been passed down.
Laba porridge includes three concepts: wax refers to solar terms and seasons, indicating that it has entered the coldest season in winter; Eight is a number, representing eight kinds of grains; Porridge is a variety of diet.
In fact, Laba porridge doesn't have to be made up of eight kinds of grains, but more and fewer kinds are ok. In winter, there is a custom of "cat winter" in the north. People generally don't go outdoors and only cook two meals a day. Porridge saves rice and is warm, killing two birds with one stone.
In addition, a variety of cereals are mixed together to cook porridge, which also increases its nutritional components. Laba porridge is mainly made of sorghum rice, millet, soybean, glutinous rice, millet, rice, barley, rice beans, etc. Some of these grains contain high sugar content, some contain starch, and some contain fatty acids. When boiled together, porridge has the functions of health preservation, longevity and cold protection. Laba porridge is nutritious, fragrant and delicious, and adults and children like to eat it.
Nowadays, "Laba porridge" can not only be seen on the folk dinner table on Laba day, but usually, as long as you come to the north and tell your host that you want to drink Laba porridge, the host will enthusiastically serve him a bowl, because "Laba porridge" has become a food that northerners often eat.
Come on, come to the mysterious north and have a bowl of Laba porridge with unique flavor in the north.