On the second day of the second lunar month, the people call this day "the dragon looks up", which symbolizes that spring returns to the earth and everything recovers. Dragon Head Raising is also called "Spring Farming Festival", "Farming Festival" and "Spring Dragon Festival", which is a traditional folk festival of Han nationality. This traditional folk custom day in China, which can be traced back to Fuxi era, has not only related to farming, but also evolved into a culture and a tradition.

what should I eat on February 2nd? On this day, all parts of the country also pay attention to eating. Ordinary people eat noodles, spring cakes, popcorn, pig's head meat, etc. on this day. Different regions have different foods, but most of them are related to dragons. It is common to add the title of "dragon" to the name of food, such as kneading noodles and sugar into round balls and frying them, which is called dragon eggs; Eating dumplings is called eating "dragon ears"; Eating spring cakes is called eating "Long Lin"; Pancakes are dragon skins; Eating noodles is called eating "dragon beard"; Eating rice is called eating "dragon son"; Eating wonton is called "filling the dragon's teeth" Sticky cake is dragon waist; Eating pig's head raises the head for the dragon. The food you eat every day should also be called a good color, such as tofu called doufu, mustard called borrowing money and so on.

why do you eat "dragon" food on February 2nd?

The second day of the second month of the lunar calendar is the day when the Qinglong in the Twenty-eight Nights begins, and it is designated as "the dragon looks up" according to the astronomical phenomena. Because of people's worship of dragons, it is necessary to eat food with the word "dragon" on this day to get "dragon spirit". Besides calling fried cakes "Gentiana", spring cakes "Long Lin" and noodles "Longxu", they also call rice "Longzi", wonton "Longya", jiaozi "Longer" and so on.

There is another story about the origin of "On February 2nd, the dragon looks up". According to experts, the second day of the second lunar month coincides with the time of the fright, when hibernating animals such as snakes and earthworms start to move, while snakes are also commonly known as "dragons" and earthworms are commonly known as "lumbricus". When snakes and earthworms start to emerge, they are called "dragons look up". And some pests started to move with snakes and earthworms at the same time, so in the Ming Dynasty, there was a custom of eating "smoked insects" on the second day of February. People spread pancakes, cook bacon, stir fry, smoke pests with oil and eat them to protect crops and pray for health.

what do you eat on the second day of February? 13 kinds of traditional cuisines are recommended

1. Spring cakes

Eating spring cakes is called "eating Long Lin". A spring cake bigger than the palm of your hand is like a piece of Long Lin. Spring cakes are tough and contain many dishes. Such as sauce meat, elbow, smoked chicken, sauce duck, etc., are cut into filaments with a knife, mixed with several kinds of home-cooked stir-fried dishes, such as stir-fried leek sprouts with shredded pork, stir-fried spinach with shredded pork, green bean sprouts cooked with vinegar, vegetarian fried vermicelli, spread eggs, etc., and rolled into spring cakes, dipped in shredded onion and noodles sauce with sesame oil, which is really delicious and refreshing. When eating spring cakes, the whole family sits around, puts the baked spring cakes in the steamer, and takes them as you eat them. It's hot and happy.

2. Pig's head meat

The second day of the second lunar month is a traditional festival for ordinary people, and there are also customs of eating pig's head meat, biting pig's trotters and biting pig's ears on the second day of February, all of which symbolize good luck and prosperity. People buy pig's head meat one after another, hoping for a good sign in the new year. People describe dragons as finding features from many animals. In the dragon image, we can find the shadows of snakes, fish, phoenixes, dragons, deer, horses and cows. This is also the reason why people use pig heads instead of faucets.

Grilled pig's face

It is also said that pig's head meat is eaten on the second day of February. Since ancient times, pigs, cattle and sheep have always been used to worship the gods, and later it was simplified to the head of the three animals, and the pig head is one of them. According to a story recorded in the "Notes on Qiuchi" in Song Dynasty, Wang Zhongling was very hungry after pacifying Bashu, so he broke into a small village temple, but he met a drunken monk. Wang Zhongling was furious and wanted to cut it, but he didn't know that the monk was scared at all. Wang Zhongling was very surprised and turned to him for food. Soon the monk offered a plate of "steamed pig's head" and wrote a poem for it, saying: "" When steaming, the banana leaves have been wrapped, and when ripe, apricot paddles are used for watering. Red, fresh and elegant, is called Jin Panting, and ripe and soft is really as good as jade. "If there are no hairy roots to compare, the felt roots will eat the rattan themselves." Wang Zhongling ate steamed pig's head and was very happy to listen to the humorous and unique "pig's head poem", so he named the monk "Purple Clothes Master". It seems that the pig's head is really a delicacy, and it is also an auspicious symbol of turning the corner and making rapid progress. Now there is a famous dish called "Grilled Pork Face", which can be served on the table after twelve steps, such as selecting ingredients, cleaning, spraying and baking, soaking and making sauce, and cooking for more than ten hours. There are three kinds of "pork face"

. One is to eat it as it is; The second is to eat with sauce; The third is to roll pancakes to eat.

every way of eating has a different taste. "Grilled pig's face" is fat but not greasy, the meat and bones are separated, and it is delicious, which brings beauty and brain-strengthening effects to modern people. "February 2nd" eating modern "Grilled Pig Face" and recalling the ancient dining history is really a perfect experience of blending contemporary and history.

3. jiaozi

On February 2nd, every family will eat jiaozi. Eating jiaozi on this day is called "eating dragon's ears". In the past, when medicine was underdeveloped, it was not easy to cure diseases. Probably people thought that "the dragon looked up" would curb all diseases, and eating "the dragon's ears" would protect his health and eliminate all diseases. Up to now, there is still a jingle that "eat dumplings on February 2, and all diseases are afraid of the dragon running outside".

Some of jiaozi are shaped like gold ingots, while others are shaped like ears. When a dragon looks up and eats jiaozi, it is called "eating dragon ears". "It's better to be comfortable than to be upside down, and delicious than to be in jiaozi". On the day of "Dragon Looking Up", pay attention to eating "jiaozi with meat and vegetables", that is, take the homonym of "meat and vegetables" as "wealth", and send a message that financial resources are rolling in the New Year.

4. Fried cake

In some areas such as Beijing and Tianjin, people have the custom of eating fried cake on the Spring Dragon Festival, which is called "eating gentian". The fried cake is golden in color, and it is very vivid to be called Gentiana. The practice is to grind the millet into yellow rice, and then grind the yellow rice into flour, that is, yellow wheat. The yellow rice cake made of yellow wheat has four characteristics: yellow, soft, strong and fragrant. There are two ways to eat it, one is vegetarian cake, and the other is fried cake.

5. Mustard rice

Eating mustard rice on the second day of the second lunar month is a popular custom in Wenzhou, and there is a saying that eating mustard rice will not cause scabies. In the old days, ordinary people lived in poverty, and their health awareness was weak. In addition, there were many patients with skin diseases (such as scabies) and they were easily infected. Mustard contains a lot of chlorophyll and vitamin C. Regular consumption of vegetables rich in chlorophyll and vitamin C can improve autoimmune ability and enhance resistance, which is good for human skin. Therefore, there is a saying

that "eating mustard rice will not cause scabies".

6. Rolling on a donkey

As a custom in old Beijing, people always like to buy "rolling on a donkey" on the second day of the second lunar month. The snowballing of soybean flour with bean paste stuffing is round in shape and has the auspicious meaning of "rolling in financial resources".

7. Face a flag

On the second day of the second lunar month, Zibo people have the traditional custom of eating fried noodles with flags. The so-called flag is a piece of dough cut into diamonds, 3-2 cm long and wide. The dried noodle flag is heated and fried with white soil to make the fried noodle flag.

8. Longxu Noodles

Northerners like to eat a bowl of "Longxu Noodles" on February 2nd to win a good prize. Eating noodles is also called eating "dragon beard", hence the name of Longxu Noodles. "On February 2 nd, the dragon looked up, the big warehouse was full, and the small warehouse flowed." On this day, people worship the Dragon King with the custom of eating noodles, hoping that it can spread clouds and rain and rain.

Longxu Noodles evolved from hand-pulled noodles in Shandong Province. The pulled noodles are as thin as hair, and the boiled water is like a silver dragon entering the sea, hence its name. According to legend, there was a chef in the imperial kitchen of the Ming Dynasty. On that day in beginning of spring, he made a noodle as thin as hair, just like a dragon beard. The emperor's appetite was wide open, and he was very happy and full of praise. Since then, this fried fine point has become a very fashionable snack. Longxu Noodles's February 2 eclipse has a beautiful meaning of "smooth and smooth, smooth and happy".

9. Popcorn

In those days, Wu Zetian became emperor, which annoyed the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor told the Dragon King of the Four Seas that it was forbidden to rain on the earth for three years, but a yellow dragon violated his will. When the jade emperor learned about it, he laid it down on the earth and pressed it under the stupa. The jade emperor said that if he wanted to return to heaven, it would be "golden beans blossom". In order to save the Dragon King, people look for blooming golden beans everywhere. On the second day of February of the following year, when people were drying corn seeds, it suddenly occurred to them that this corn was like golden beans, and when it was fried, it blossomed. Isn't it "golden beans blossom"? Every household burst popcorn and set up a case in the yard to burn incense for the "golden beans" that bloomed.

1. Stir-fried beans

In the northwest, Min County, Gansu Province and other places, there is a habit of eating fried beans, which means that at the beginning of every spring, people who come to the wave meeting in Min County buy rhubarb pears and take them home to honor the elderly, so the "February 2" temple fair is also called the "Huanglihui".

11. fried noodles

in beixiang, Shexian county, Huangshan city, Anhui province, every household eats fried noodles at noon on the second day of the second lunar month. Stir-fried noodles are small pieces of noodles, and then mixed with shredded pork, shredded bean curd, shredded bamboo shoots, green vegetables and so on. Because the fried noodles look like insects, it means that everyone works together to fry the insects and eat them all.

12. Pancakes

There is also the custom of eating pancakes on February 2nd. The pancakes eaten on February 2nd are mostly made of sorghum flour or white flour. Make the noodles sticky, heat the pan, preferably a pan, rub it with a piece of fat to prevent it from sticking to the pan, then spread the prepared batter in the pan and spread it evenly with a shovel, and it will be cooked in an instant. This is because at that time, just before and after the fright, all kinds of poisonous insects began to move, and people used this as a reminder not to be hurt by poisonous insects.

13, fried noodles chess

Fried noodles chess, also known as fried scorpion beans, is angular and shaped like a chess piece. At this time, it coincides with the early spring, and scorpion poisonous insects wake up. Eating fried noodles means people's avoidance of pests. The nursery rhyme sings: "Eat scorpion claws, scorpions don't have to fight."