Food culture of the Lantern Festival: 1. Tangyuan Tangyuan, also known as "Tangtuan" and "Floating Yuanzi", is made of glutinous rice balls with fillings. It is a traditional delicacy eaten by southerners during the Lantern Festival.

It is said that glutinous rice balls originated in the Song Dynasty.

At that time, Mingzhou (now Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province) developed a round cooked food stuffed with black sesame and lard, a little sugar added, and the outside was kneaded with glutinous rice flour. It could be eaten after being cooked. This was also the original glutinous rice ball.

Because of its round shape, people gradually endow glutinous rice balls with the meaning of reunion.

Boiling glutinous rice balls is the simplest way to make it, and it is also the healthiest way to eat it.

2. Yuanxiao In the northern region, it is popular to eat Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival.

Yuanxiao and glutinous rice balls look similar, and many people mistakenly think they are the same. However, the two are quite different in their production techniques.

Tangyuan is made by wrapping pieces of glutinous rice dough with stuffing and kneading it, while Yuanxiao is made by cutting the stuffing into small pieces, pouring it into glutinous rice noodles and rolling it into a big ball.

The Yuanxiao commonly eaten by northerners is stuffed with sesame and peanuts. In recent years, many new flavors have been introduced, such as fermented bean curd Yuanxiao, which is made of fermented bean curd, lotus paste filling, crushed peanuts, etc.

3. Yuanxiao Tea In Shaanxi, there is also the custom of eating Yuanxiao tea during the Lantern Festival.

Yuanxiao tea is a kind of "Yuanxiao porridge" made by adding various vegetables and fruits to the soup noodles. It is also called "Yuanxiao tea".

4. Lettuce In Guangdong, in addition to glutinous rice balls, it is also popular to eat lettuce during the Lantern Festival.

Since lettuce has the same pronunciation as "producing wealth", which means abundant wealth, lettuce is an indispensable food for Cantonese people on the Lantern Festival table.

5. Jiandui is popular in Panyu and Dongguan areas of Guangdong Province to eat "Jiandui" during the Lantern Festival. It is also called "Tongxin Jiandui" and "Ludui". It is a fried spherical glutinous rice ball.

"Jiandui" was called oil hammer during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

There is a record in "Shanfu Lu" written by Zheng Wangzhi of the Tang Dynasty: "Bianzhong is on a diet, Shangyuan Youchui." According to "Taiping Guangji" quoted a record of "Shangshi Ling" in "Lushi Miscellanies", Youchui

The method is similar to modern fried yuanxiao.