Eight kinds of ingredients for Laba porridge

"Laba porridge" is also called eight-treasure porridge, which has "all five flavors" inside. The so-called "eight treasures" mean "good luck". But porridge does not have to be made from eight ingredients, but three of them are indispensable, namely dates, barley rice and water chestnut rice. Among them, the red dates are peeled and mashed into puree and put into the porridge to cook together, usually in a casserole. The most important thing is to fry the barley and dye it red at the same time, and sprinkle it on the Laba porridge when it is cooked. Both of them have the meaning of "red and prosperous".

The origin of Laba porridge

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when the Buddha became enlightened. The four heavenly kings came from heaven to the earth, each containing eight treasure rice of gold, silver, colored glaze, agate, etc. The bowls were offered to the Blessed One, and the Blessed One accepted them happily and merged the four bowls into one. In order to commemorate the Buddha's enlightenment on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and receive the rice porridge offered by the four heavenly kings, some Buddhist temples will cook Laba porridge as an offering to the Buddha on this day and distribute it to devotees from all over the world. Therefore, Laba porridge is also called "Buddha porridge". It is also hoped that people who enjoy Laba porridge can share the joy of the Buddha's enlightenment and receive blessings from the Buddha to grow in happiness and wisdom.

The custom of eating Laba porridge was popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties. "Tokyo Menghua Lu" written by Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty recorded: "On the eighth day of the lunar month, there were three or five monks and nuns in the streets and alleys, forming a team to chant Buddha... All major temples During the Buddha Bathing Ceremony, the disciples were given porridge with seven treasures and five flavors, which was called Laba porridge. People in the capital also cooked porridge with fruit and other ingredients. "In addition, Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" also said: "Ten. On February 8, the temples call it Laba porridge, and all temples serve five-flavor porridge, which is called Laba porridge, also known as Buddha porridge. "

During the Qing Dynasty, people prepared Laba porridge to worship their ancestors and gave it to relatives and friends as a token of appreciation. Blessings are like giving out porridge to the poor, especially for poor families. Eating Laba porridge is a grand event in the palace. The emperor and empress gave laba porridge to civil and military ministers, and rice crackers were also distributed to major temples. In the old days, eating Laba porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was considered a custom among households. Even the owner would feed a few spoonfuls to the chickens and dogs at home, and smear a few on the branches of flowers and fruit, believing that this would ensure the prosperity of the animals and a bumper harvest, as in a nursery rhyme. Li said: "Laba porridge, Laba rice, the chickens will lay eggs after eating them." Fucha Dunchong's "Yanjing Years' Records: Laba Porridge": "Laba porridge is made of yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut rice, chestnuts, red beans, peeled jujube paste, etc., boiled with water, and dyed red peach kernels, Almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar, and grapes are used for dyeing."

Introduction to Laba porridge from various places

Shanxi Laba porridge, also known as eight-treasure porridge, is made of millet. It is mainly cooked with cowpeas, adzuki beans, mung beans, jujubes, sticky yellow rice, rice, glutinous rice, etc. In the southeastern Shanxi region, on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, adzuki beans, red beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, glutinous rice, persimmons, and water are used to cook porridge, also called sweet rice, which is also one of the food customs.

On the Laba Day in Northern Shaanxi Plateau, in addition to using a variety of rice and beans, various dried fruits, tofu and meat must be added to make porridge. It is usually cooked in the morning and can be either sweet or salty, depending on one's taste. If it is eaten at lunch, some noodles should be cooked in the porridge and the whole family can have a meal together. After eating, the porridge should be smeared on the door, the stove and the trees outside the door to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters and welcome a bumper agricultural harvest in the coming year. According to folklore, it is forbidden to eat vegetables on Laba day. It is said that if you eat vegetables, there will be many weeds in the crop fields. People in southern Shaanxi eat mixed porridge during Laba, which is divided into "five flavors" and "eight flavors". The former is cooked with rice, glutinous rice, peanuts, ginkgo nuts and beans. The latter uses the above five raw materials plus diced meat, tofu, radish, and condiments. On Laba Day, in addition to eating Laba porridge, people also use the porridge to worship ancestors and granaries.

Gansu people traditionally cook Laba porridge with grains and vegetables. After cooking, it is not only eaten by the family, but also distributed to neighbors and used to feed livestock. In Lanzhou and Baiyin City areas, Laba porridge is cooked very carefully, using rice, beans, red dates, ginkgo, lotus seeds, raisins, dried apricots, dried melons, walnut kernels, green and red shreds, white sugar, diced meat, etc. After cooking, it is first used to worship the door god, kitchen god, earth god, and wealth god, and pray for good weather and abundant harvests in the coming year; then it is distributed to relatives and neighbors, and finally the whole family enjoys it. The Wuwei area of ??Gansu Province pays attention to "vegetarian Laba", eating thick rice, lentil rice or thick rice. After cooking, it is eaten with fried rice dumplings and twists. The folk custom calls it "lentil porridge soaked rice".