Zizhou flower cotton is a specialty of Zizhou County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. Flower cotton is an artistic food and a special gift for relatives and friends, which embodies the traditional cultural plot. Zizhou Nanchuan flower cotton has a long history and unique flavor, and is an important intangible cultural heritage.
In the past, almost every household in Nanchuan, Zizhou County (Hejiaji Town to Huainingwan Township) had to knead flour flowers before cold food and Tomb-Sweeping Day, and this custom is still very popular.
A few days before the Cold Food Festival, every household in Nanchuan, Zizhou will ferment the prepared white flour, and then prepare decorative materials such as black beans, melon seeds and pockmarked seeds and various pigments. On the day of kneading dough flowers, they had an early meal, and then the women began to make dough flowers. Sometimes I do too much, so I ask my neighbors or relatives for help. They mix the fermented dough with a certain proportion of flour and knead it into various figures, animals and auspicious patterns, including boys, girls, dolls, zodiac signs and various birds and animals. Their production tools are very simple, that is, knives, scissors, combs and so on. They can knead everything they see in life to life. After kneading the flour flowers, put them in a pot and steam them. Take it out and put it on a cover made of sorghum straw or in a basket or dustpan. After cooling, point to various colors, so that the noodles are ready. Some animals' eyes are often replaced by black beans, pockmarked seeds or melon seeds. Do it while kneading, not steaming. Some small flowers are usually hung on the branches of needles, so that they can be slowly dried and easy to watch, and some can be preserved until the next year's Cold Food Festival.