9 traditional foods during the Dragon Boat Festival:
1. Zongzi
"Eating Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival" originated in 340 BC. The patriotic poet Qu Yuan faced In the pain of national subjugation, he threw himself into the river on May 5th. Fishermen and people on the shore came to the river to salvage his body. In order to prevent the fish and shrimp in the river from eating his body, people packed rice and eggs in bamboo tubes and threw them into the river. Some doctors also poured realgar wine into the river to stun dragons and water animals and protect Dr. Qu Yuan from harm. From then on, in order to commemorate him, people went to the river to throw rice dumplings and row dragon boats on the fifth day of May every year. To commemorate the great patriotic poet.
2. Eel
The Dragon Boat Festival is not only a time to eat rice dumplings, but also the time when eel meat is the most tender and nutritious in the year, so there is a saying "Dragon Boat Festival eel versus ginseng" " proverb. Monopterus eel has always been a popular freshwater aquatic product due to its soft texture and no thorns. It is a good nutritional supplement especially for children and the elderly. Monopterus eel is warm in nature and sweet in taste. It enters the liver, spleen and kidney meridian and has the functions of tonifying qi, nourishing blood and fixing phlegm, warming yang and benefiting the spleen, strengthening essence and stopping bleeding, nourishing liver and kidney, dispelling wind and dredging collaterals.
3. Making cakes
4. Duck eggs
In addition to commemorating Qu Yuan, the Dragon Boat Festival also has to avoid the five poisons, because the legendary five poison monsters come to the Dragon Boat Festival These five poisonous monsters are snakes, centipedes, spiders, geckos and scorpions. Folks use five red vegetables to symbolize the blood of these five poisons. When eating these vegetables, the five poisonous monsters will be scared away. That is to say, eat the five reds, which are roast duck, amaranth, duck eggs with red oil, lobster, and realgar wine. It is said that if you eat these five reds during the Dragon Boat Festival, you can ward off evil spirits and avoid the heat throughout the summer.
Similar to the five reds, there is also a folk custom of eating five yellows during the Dragon Boat Festival in the south of the Yangtze River. Five yellows refer to eel, yellow croaker, cucumber, salted duck eggs and realgar wine. Whether it is five reds or five yellows, duck eggs are included, so eating duck eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival can ward off evil spirits and relieve heat.
5. Moxa steamed buns
In many places during the Dragon Boat Festival, rice flour or flour is fermented and steamed together with 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.
6. 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 eggshells are painted red, packed in colorful mesh bags, and hung around the child's neck, which means to wish the child good luck and safety.
7. Garlic eggs
On the Dragon Boat Festival in rural areas of Henan, Zhejiang and other provinces, housewives get up very early and put the garlic and eggs prepared in advance Boil it and serve it 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.
8. Jiandui
In Jinjiang area of ??Fujian Province, every household also 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.
9. Rice wine
"Qing Jia Lu" records: "Grind realgar powder, shavings of Pu root, and drink it with wine, it is called realgar wine." In other words, realgar wine is made from white wine. , blended with realgar. Why is such a simple drink so famous? This is probably related to the story of Bai Niangniang and Xu Xian. Bai Niangniang drank realgar wine on the Dragon Boat Festival and appeared in the original form of a snake. Therefore, people probably believe that poisonous insects such as snakes, scorpions, centipedes, etc. can be detoxified by realgar wine, and drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival can exorcise evil spirits and detoxify.
However, modern people have discovered that realgar wine contains arsenic, a highly toxic substance, so they basically no longer drink realgar wine. However, because realgar has antibacterial, detoxifying, and dehumidifying effects, on the Dragon Boat Festival, some people will use realgar as the main ingredient, add angelica, lavender and other spices to make sachets, and some will also make realgar smoked strips. I hope Used to ward off evil spirits and prevent damage from insects and snakes.