Doing red during the New Year is unique to Xianyou folk. Fuzhou, Quanzhou and other cities and counties adjacent to Xianyou do not have this custom. It is unclear when the folk custom of Xianyou originated. However, it is The product of folk beliefs. In ancient times, Xianyou folk worshiped gods during the New Year, and red first appeared as an offering.

The Chinese New Year is a festival that welcomes the new with the old. No matter whether your life was prosperous, average or unsatisfactory in the old year, you all hope to have a good life in the coming year, so everyone wants to be lucky. And "red" is a symbol of auspiciousness, such as pasting Spring Festival couplets, hanging red lanterns, (women) wearing red clothes, etc. Of course, the offerings must also be red. The red balls are red and round, which means the whole family will be reunited and have good luck. Italian meaning.

The red dough consists of two parts: skin and filling. There are generally three types of fillings: glutinous rice filling, mung bean filling, and glutinous rice and mung bean filling. Glutinous rice stuffing is made by steaming glutinous rice into dry rice, then boiling it in sugar water, and turning it into sticky and soft rice balls over a slow fire; mung bean stuffing is made by boiling mung beans, adding sugar, drying them over a slow fire, and then mashing the mung beans with a spoon. The glutinous rice and mung bean stuffing is made by frying the glutinous rice first and then grinding it into powder, and then mix it with the boiled and mashed mung beans and sugar to form a dough. When making, knead the stuffing into a ball with a diameter of about 5 cm, which is the "red dumpling stuffing".

The general raw material of glutinous rice flour is glutinous rice flour, which can also be replaced by flour in modern times. When making it, first mix the glutinous rice flour with red food, then add an appropriate amount of warm water, knead it into rice or dough, and then scoop out a piece of it. Shape a small portion into a thin pancake shape with your hands to become a "red dough skin". Wrap the "stuffing" with "skin" and put it into a wooden rice dumpling (commonly known as red dough seal), which is printed into a red ball-shaped ball with an arched top and a flat bottom. The curved surface has patterns, and the words "Fu", "Lu", "Shou" and "Xi" are usually printed in the middle. Words or patterns such as , Cai, Ding, Gui and twin children, celebrating harvest, etc.

Put the printed red dumplings on the bottom with washed and cut into round chicken leaves (called chicken banana leaves in Xianyou) or a large castanopsis leaf (commonly known as red dumpling leaves), and place it in the steamer , steam over high heat. After about 20 minutes, I opened the steamer, and the bright red, fragrant and shiny red mass immediately appeared in front of my eyes.

Red dumplings are usually made on the 27th and 28th of the twelfth lunar month. Except for white dumplings for those who are under mourning clothes, every household must make red dumplings. Therefore, from the day of making red balls, the atmosphere of the New Year begins to thicken.

Although the red dumplings are made from ordinary ingredients, they are an offering of extremely high quality. In addition to the Chinese New Year, it is only done during major celebrations such as weddings and thanking heaven and earth. In this case, red balls are not only offerings, but also gifts, such as weddings, weddings, celebrations, etc. When relatives and friends congratulating them leave, they must give one or two pairs of red balls to express their gratitude. I also regard this as a good thing and am happy to receive it.

Red dumplings are not only a great gift, but also a delicious snack. It is not only sweet but also fragrant, especially the red dough stuffed with mung bean filling or glutinous rice mung bean filling is more fragrant and softer. The cooled red dough has a hard surface, but as long as it is slightly heated, it will soften immediately and taste very good. There is a popular saying among the people: "If you don't eat the red dough and mung bean stuffing, you will be making a big mistake."

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