9 must-eat foods during the Dragon Boat Festival

1. Zongzi

"Eating Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival" originated in 340 BC In 2007, the patriotic poet Qu Yuan faced the pain of subjugation and committed suicide by drowning himself in 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 shrimps in the river from eating his body, people used bamboo tubes to prevent him from eating his body. Rice and eggs were packed and thrown 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, dispelling wind and unblocking collaterals.

However, it should be reminded that the eel must be killed and cooked immediately. The eel body contains a lot of histidine. The histidine in the eel body will turn into toxic substances after death, so the processed eel must be cooked immediately. The eel must be alive. Blanching the eel in boiling water can wash away the outer mucous membrane, and the cooked soup can reduce the fishy smell.

3. Making 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.

First soak the rice in water for a period of time, then take it out and steam it in a pot. Place the steamed rice in a wooden or stone trough and beat it repeatedly with a wooden mallet. Usually, two people stand face to face by the trough, beating each other alternately, or one person beats and the other turns the cake dough underneath to beat it evenly. Afterwards, a sweet, delicate and chewy cake was completed.

4. Duck eggs

In addition to commemorating Qu Yuan, Dragon Boat Festival also requires avoiding the five poisons, because the legendary five poison monsters will harm the world during the Dragon Boat Festival. , the five poisonous monsters are snakes, centipedes, spiders, geckos and scorpions. Folks use five red vegetables to symbolize the blood of the five poisons. When eating these vegetables, the five poisonous monsters will be scared away, that is, eating the five poisonous monsters will scare away the five poisonous monsters. The red ones 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 various 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, 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

In rural areas of Henan, Zhejiang and other provinces, every Dragon Boat Festival day, the housewives get up very early and prepare them in advance. garlic and eggs are boiled together for breakfast for the family. In some places, a few pieces of mugwort leaves are added when cooking garlic and eggs. Eat garlic, eggs, and fried steamed buns for breakfast. This eating method is said to avoid the "five poisons" and is good for health.

8. Jiandui

In the Jinjiang area of ??Fujian, 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.

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 revealed her original snake body. Therefore, people probably believe that poisonous insects such as snakes, scorpions, centipedes, etc. can be detoxified by realgar wine. Drinking realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival can drive away 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.