What are the dietary customs of various places during the Dragon Boat Festival?

1. Eating Zongzi

Zongzi was called "corner millet" in ancient times. Legend has it that it was invented to commemorate Qu Yuan, who threw himself into the river. "Record"; and the rice dumplings that have been circulated orderly and have the longest history are Xi'an's honey cold rice dumplings, which are recorded in "Recipes" by Wei Juyuan of the Tang Dynasty.

Generally speaking, the customs of people celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival are similar in various places, and eating rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival has been the same throughout China throughout the ages. Today's rice dumplings are even more diverse and colorful. Nowadays, the rice dumplings made in various places are generally made of glutinous rice wrapped in Ruo shells, but the color of the rice dumplings depends on the local specialties and customs. Heating the rice dumplings before eating them is not only safe and hygienic, but also reduces the burden on digestion.

2. Eating "Five Yellows"

There is a custom of eating "Five Yellows" during the Dragon Boat Festival in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Wuhuang refers to cucumber, eel, yellow croaker, duck egg yolk from Gaoyou, and realgar wine. In addition, there is also the custom of eating tofu during the Dragon Boat Festival in northern Zhejiang.

3. Eat tea eggs

In the Nanchang area of ??Jiangxi Province, boiled tea eggs and salted eggs are eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. Eggs include chicken eggs, duck eggs, and goose eggs. The eggshell is painted red, packed in colorful mesh bags, and hung around the child's neck, which means to wish the child good luck and safety.

4. Drinking realgar wine

The custom of drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival was very popular in the Yangtze River Basin in the past. An old saying once said, "Drink realgar wine, and all diseases will go away." Realgar is a mineral, commonly known as "cockscomb stone". Its main component is arsenic sulfide and contains mercury, which is toxic. Many people drink realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival. However, since the main component of realgar is arsenic disulfide, which can decompose into highly toxic arsenic when exposed to heat, it is not recommended to take it internally. Generally, only a trace amount of realgar is added to white wine or home-brewed rice wine. Yes, there is no pure drink.

Generally, realgar wine has the effect of killing bacteria, deworming and detoxifying, and is also used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat skin diseases. For children who are under the age of drinking, adults will smear realgar wine on their foreheads, ears, noses, palms, soles, etc., with the intention of disinfecting and preventing diseases and keeping away insects.

5. Eat oil cakes

In addition to eating rice dumplings, you also eat oil cakes on the Dragon Boat Festival. The oil cake is made of hot oiled noodles, stuffed with sugar, cinnamon, rose, walnut kernels, and lard, and deep-fried in an oil pan. The skin is loose and foamy, the filling is sweet, and the appearance is beautiful.

6. Eat garlic eggs

On the Dragon Boat Festival in rural areas of Henan, Zhejiang and other provinces, the housewives get up very early and put the garlic and eggs prepared in advance. Cook together and serve as breakfast for the whole family. In some places, a few pieces of moxa leaves are added when cooking garlic and eggs. Eat garlic, eggs, and fried steamed buns for breakfast. This method of eating is said to avoid the "five poisons" and is good for health.

7. Eating Jiandui

In Jinjiang, Fujian Province, every household eats "Jiandui" during the Dragon Boat Festival. The so-called jiandui is made of flour, rice flour or sweet potato flour and other ingredients into a thick paste, and then fried into a large piece in a pan. Legend has it that in ancient times, it was the rainy season in southern Fujian before the Dragon Boat Festival, and it rained continuously. Folks said that God had penetrated a hole and wanted to "repair the sky." After eating "Jiandui" during the Dragon Boat Festival, the rain stopped, and people said that the sky was repaired. This food custom comes from this.

8. Picking tea and making herbal tea

In some northern areas, people like to pick young leaves and wild vegetable leaves during the Dragon Boat Festival and steam and dry them to make tea. In the Chaozhou area of ??Guangdong, people go to the countryside to collect herbs and make herbal tea to drink. It's also good for health.

9. Glutinous rice with dates and dates

On Dragon Boat Festival, the Naxi people eat glutinous rice with dates and dates. Glutinous rice can warm and nourish the spleen and lungs, and replenish deficiency and coldness. Moreover, glutinous rice contains glutinous rice, which contains a lot of vitamins, a large amount of phosphorus, calcium, iron, protein and fat, and will increase the blood content of the human body. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the fact that people with diabetes should not eat.

10. Eating whistle noodles

Shaanxi people must eat whistle noodles on the Dragon Boat Festival. Saozi noodles are a Shaanxi snack with dozens of varieties, among which Qishan Saozi noodles are the most famous. The characteristics of saozi noodles are slender noodles, even thickness, fresh and fragrant saozi noodles, and shiny and rosy noodle soup. The local flavor of Qishan Saozi Noodles is particularly strong. It has the characteristics of thin, gluten, light, chewy, sour, spicy and fragrant, and its mouth is soft and smooth.

11. Eat leaf dumplings

Leaf dumplings are a festival food for Yulin people, especially during the Dragon Boat Festival and Double Ninth Festival. There are many legends about leaf cake that cannot be verified. One thing is certain that it has a long history. Later, leaf cake gradually evolved into a popular local traditional snack in Yulin.

12. Eating cakes

The Dragon Boat Festival is a grand festival for the Korean people in Yanbian, Jilin Province. The most representative food on this day is the fragrant cake. Da Gao is a rice cake made by placing mugwort and glutinous rice in a large wooden trough carved from a single log and using a long-handled wooden hammer. This kind of food is very ethnic and can add to the festive atmosphere.

13. Eating mugwort steamed buns

In many places during the Dragon Boat Festival, steamed steamed buns are steamed with fermented rice flour or flour and mugwort. Moxa contains a variety of volatile oils, which have an aromatic smell, can repel insects and sterilize, and have inhibitory effects on a variety of bacteria and certain skin fungi. Therefore, in ancient times, moxa was indispensable for treating diseases and dispelling plague during the Dragon Boat Festival, whether eaten or used.

14. Eating noodle fans

In Minqin County, Gansu Province, people steam "noodle fans" on the Dragon Boat Festival.

The noodle fan is made of steamed dough and is fan-shaped with 5 layers. Sprinkle each layer with finely ground cooked pepper, knead the surface into various patterns, and dye it with color, which is very beautiful. This food custom is said to have evolved from the custom of holding, selling and giving fans during the Dragon Boat Festival.

15. Eating pancakes

In Wenzhou area, every family still has the custom of eating pancakes during the Dragon Boat Festival. Pancakes are made from refined white flour and mixed into a paste. They are baked in a large, flat iron frying pan into translucent pancakes shaped like a full moon and as thin as silk. They are then made with mung bean sprouts, leeks, shredded pork, and shredded eggs. , mushrooms, etc. are used as fillings, rolled into a cylinder, and you can taste a variety of flavors when you bite into it.

16. Eat peaches, eggplants and beans

Sichuan folklore says that eating peaches, eggplants and beans during the Dragon Boat Festival is believed to be healthy and longevity. As the saying goes: Eat eggplant until it shakes, eat beans until you are old." Hakkas in the Miaoli area also eat eggplants, long beans, peaches and plums during the Dragon Boat Festival. However, the symbolic meanings of these foods may be different for southerners. Eat Eating plums means the growth of offspring, and some people also believe that eating long beans is to prevent being bitten by snakes (because the shape of long beans is like a snake), and eating eggplants can prevent mosquito bites. Eggplant is called "diacai" in Hakka, and "bite", the native pronunciation is "ㄉ一ㄠ", which is the homophony).

——Excerpted from "China Food Science and Technology Network"