Traditional food:

1. Laba porridge

It is the custom to eat Laba porridge on Laba day. Laba porridge is also called Qibao and five-flavor porridge. The history of eating Laba porridge in our country has been more than a thousand years. It first started in the Song Dynasty. On every Laba day, no matter the court, government, monasteries or ordinary people's homes, they must make Laba porridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge became even more popular.

In the palace, the emperor, queen, prince, etc. all gave Laba porridge to the ministers of civil and military affairs and the attendant maids, and distributed rice, fruits, etc. to various temples for the monks to eat. Among the people, every family also makes Laba porridge to worship their ancestors; at the same time, families gather together to eat it and give it to relatives and friends.

Although the ingredients used in Laba porridge vary from region to region, they basically include cereals such as rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, purple rice, and barley, as well as beans such as soybeans, red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, and cowpeas. , red dates, peanuts, lotus seeds, wolfberry, chestnuts, walnut kernels, almonds, longans, raisins, ginkgo and other dried fruits. Laba porridge is not only a seasonal delicacy, but also a good health food, especially suitable for maintaining the spleen and stomach in cold weather.

2. Laba noodles

A seasonal food during the Laba Festival. Traditional pasta is popular in the Guanzhong area of ??Shaanxi Province. In the Chengcheng area in Weibei, Shaanxi Province, porridge is generally not eaten during the Laba Festival. Every year on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household has a bowl of Laba noodles.

Using noodles and various beans (red beans as raw materials) as raw materials, the noodles need to be made into leek leaf noodles (noodles with the same width as leek leaves) for later use; soak the red beans overnight in advance and use them on Laba day Make the soup. When the water boils, turn down the heat to low until the red beans are cooked, then cook the noodles over medium heat. At the same time, sauté the chopped green onion in cooked oil until fragrant. After the noodles are cooked, pour the chopped green onion oil into the pot.

3. Laba Vinegar

In northern China, there is a custom of soaking garlic in vinegar on Laba Day, which is called "Laba Vinegar". You should soak in Laba vinegar until the first day of the Lunar New Year. You should eat dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year. You should eat vegetarian dumplings, which means a year of plainness and purity. Eating them dipped in Laba vinegar will give you a unique taste.