? What does everyone eat for the first meal on the first day of the Lunar New Year in the vast China?
As far as I know, in many places, we eat jiaozi during the Spring Festival, but in Luoyang, on the first day of the first month, besides eating jiaozi, we have to eat another special food, that is, "brain".
? Although I have been away from my hometown for many years, I still have the habit of drinking "brains" on New Year's Day, just like when I was a child.
? Luoyang is located in the mountainous area, and there are differences in customs among counties. The "Luoning County Records" of the Republic of China said: "On New Year's Day, we will follow the old habits and worship the gods and light firecrackers. Or burn it with cypress leaves, and the aroma is dense. Worship parents and their parents in turn, which is called New Year's greetings. Eating persimmons is called forbearance. Boil the juice with bean flour to coagulate, cut it into small cubes and cook it with meat soup, which is called brain, which means the first meal. After eating flat food again, I went out to celebrate the New Year. According to the Tang Dynasty and the early dynasty, all the ministers were given a soup, which is called the brain soup, which is the legacy. "
? "Luoyang Folk Records" records that Luoyang has the custom of drinking brain soup on the fifteenth day of the New Year's Day. Drinking brain soup is the beginning of the new year, and now this custom continues in Mengjin County, Xin 'an County, Yiyang County, Songxian County and Luanchuan County.
Usually, on the morning of New Year's Day, people get up before dawn, burn cypress branches, worship gods and ancestors, set off firecrackers, then drink brain soup, and then eat jiaozi before going out to celebrate the New Year.
Different places make brain soup with different materials, but the main ingredients are bean jelly and broth, and the broth should be stewed with pig bones or sheep bones in advance. On the morning of New Year's Day, scoop a pot of broth, add meatballs, pig blood, shredded pork, radish, fungus, cabbage and other ingredients to stew together, and finally add bean jelly to cook for a while, then hook in the glutinous rice flour, sprinkle some spices, salt and other ingredients to make it. There is no fixed standard for ingredients, and different families will make them according to their family's preferences. When eating, grab a handful of coriander and put it in, add some Chili oil, which reveals a red and attractive color and exudes a hot fragrance. It is still a favorite food for many Luoyang people.
In some places in Luoyang, there are four meals on the New Year's Day. The first meal is brain soup, which is drunk before dawn at about 5 o'clock. The second meal is jiaozi, which is eaten around 9 am; The third meal is lunch, commonly known as eating a table, and usually several dishes are fried, which is more abundant; The fourth meal is dinner, usually with porridge and steamed bread.
Old Luoyang people are also particular about drinking brain soup. In Luoyang custom, the knife is not used for the first meal on New Year's Day, so the materials for making brain soup should be prepared on the first day, and only the fire should be used for cooking on the morning of the first day. In the past, every year on New Year's Eve, housewives at home had to carefully prepare the materials for making brain soup, boil a pot of bean jelly with sweet potato starch and let it cool, cut it into small pieces, and cut all kinds of side dishes, and get up early the next day to make brain soup.
In rural areas of Luoyang mountainous area, in order to win the first prize, housewives often have to get up early to cook, make brain soup before others' homes, and then wake up children or men to hang big whips, which means winning the lottery, which bodes well for lucky strike in the coming year. Therefore, the firecrackers in the whole village often ring into one piece, and the sound is endless, and there is a deafening sound everywhere.
In some places, brain soup should be cooked by men at home. There is a saying that women have been cooking for a year, and they should take a break on New Year's Day, and men who don't usually cook will cook it. Drinking brain soup is often associated with worshipping gods and ancestors. In the past, there were people who worshipped the kitchen god at home. Because the kitchen god "returned to the fifth watch of the first lunar month", it was necessary to prepare the brain soup before the fifth watch and put it as an offering. Those who worship other gods and ancestors' tablets are similar. First, give a bowl of prepared brain soup to the immortals and ancestors, and then drink it yourself.
In some places in Luoyang, the word "brain" is also called "having fun together" and "having fun together". After the brain soup is made, neighbors end up with each other. You end up with a bowl for my family, and I end up with a bowl for yours. When visiting relatives to pay New Year greetings, the host also ends up with a bowl of brain soup for the guests, which means "having fun together" and also means competing with each other in cooking skills.
There are several different opinions about why you should drink brain soup on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Some people say that you have to eat four meals on the first day of the Lunar New Year because you were poor in the past and didn't have enough to eat all the year round, which means "plenty of food and clothing". It is also said that in poor days, people eat less, and there are not many jiaozi packages every year. In the morning, they should drink a bowl of brain soup to fill their stomachs, and then when they eat jiaozi, they can eat less jiaozi. There is also a saying that drinking brain soup can clear the mind, which means that a family will have good luck in the New Year and win the first prize in everything, or pray for the wisdom of their children and grandchildren, so that they can be a brain-level figure, especially children who drink it will be smart. All these are entrusted with the simple feelings of Luoyang people.
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when I was a child, I didn't know the meaning of "brain". What impressed me the most was that on the night of New Year's Eve, the family stayed around the stove and listened to Grandpa's story. I threw a small firecracker into the stove while everyone was not paying attention, and gave a loud "cry", which startled everyone. At the end of the festival, adults take stock of the ingredients cooked on the morning of the first day. Because knives and scissors are not allowed on the morning of the first day, all meat and vegetables should be cut and the warm sleeves on the cotton-padded clothes should be sewn. We watched our mother put the new clothes on the bed before we went to sleep.
On the morning of the first day of junior high school, grandpa and father began to be "brains", and uncle set off 2 firecrackers. Listening to the firecrackers, we got up, freshened up, and the children went out to show off their new clothes. However, my sister and I were quickly called home, and then there was the most annoying procedure.
? There is a unique custom in our hometown, that is, thinking in the morning on the first day of junior high school. Neighbors and family uncles and brothers give each other a bowl of brains, and this task usually falls on the younger generation at home. My family is a big family, there are thirteen uncles and brothers of my grandfather, and dozens of brothers and sisters of my father's generation. It is a physical activity to visit New Year's greetings during the New Year.
? Thus, in the town on the first day of the Lunar New Year, you will see such a scene: villagers are walking around the streets, shouting auspicious words, and men are carrying "strips" with five or six bowls, seven or eight bowls of brains neatly placed on them, and some of them are mixed with jiaozi. The children followed, always ready to end up at other people's homes. People happily took it, poured it into their own pots, and gathered it together. Some directly scooped out a bowl as a "return gift". The excitement of going from house to house will last until the day is completely bright. In each small courtyard, families sit around a big table and officially have dinner!
? In today's hometown, the villagers are no longer thinking. However, every household still starts a year of good luck with a pot of mind. I called my mother in the morning and asked, "Are you still at home?" "She said," It was a long time ago, and I brought jiaozi to your uncle's house last night. "
My father sent me bean jelly, flat dumplings, pimples, meatballs, fried fruits and braised pork on the 28th of 28. I started to cook my mind this morning, and I accidentally made a big pot. My husband said it tasted good.
In addition to the Chinese New Year, I also have the opportunity to drink brain soup at ordinary times. Many restaurants selling bean jelly soup on the street and rural markets also sell brain soup. There are two smoky facades and a large pot with a mouth facing the window. The sheep bones, vermicelli and celery in the pot are cooing in the water, and the hot steam is rushing up, so I can smell the fragrance from a distance. There is mutton, fungus, pig blood, chopped green onion, seasoning, etc. in a big white bowl on the table. Just fill the bowl with vermicelli and soup when eating.
? In Luoyang city, the custom of drinking brain soup on New Year's Day is rare, but many people, like me, still have the memory of drinking a bowl of brain soup in their hometown when they were young, trying to stick to the unique taste and long homesickness ...