The traditional delicacy of Xiaohan season is Laba porridge.

Laba porridge, also known as Qibao and five-flavor porridge, Buddha porridge, everyone's rice, etc., is a kind of porridge made from a variety of ingredients. "Drinking Laba porridge" is a custom during the Laba Festival. The traditional ingredients of Laba porridge include rice, millet, corn, barley, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, longan and various beans. The custom of drinking "Laba porridge" on Laba day began in the Song Dynasty.

When processing ingredients, different ingredients must be washed, soaked, peeled, cored, sorted and other operations based on their characteristics. For example, ingredients that are not easy to cook, such as beans, need to be fully soaked before cooking so that they will become softer and more delicious after cooking. Folks have the habit of adding edible alkali when cooking Laba porridge, thinking that it will cook faster and the porridge will have a better consistency.

A brief introduction to the background of the Laba Festival

The Laba Festival is one of the grand Buddhist festivals. According to Buddhist records, Sakyamuni practiced asceticism for many years before he became enlightened, and his body was broken and his bones were broken. Then he discovered that asceticism was not the path to ultimate liberation, and decided to give up asceticism. At this time, he met a shepherd girl who presented him with milk. After eating, he regained his strength, sat under the bodhi tree and meditated, and became enlightened on December 8. To commemorate this event, Buddhists held a ceremony on this day and cooked porridge with rice and fruits as offerings to the Buddha.

Since Buddhism was introduced to China, various monasteries have used fragrant grains and fruits to make porridge and give it to disciples and devotees. On Laba day, various temples hold ceremonies, imitating the allusion of shepherdess offering chyle before the Buddha became enlightened, and cooking porridge with fragrant grains and fruits to offer to the Buddha, which is called Laba porridge. Legend has it that after drinking this kind of porridge, you can get the blessing of Buddha. Therefore, Laba porridge is also called "Fushou porridge", "Ford porridge" and "Buddha porridge".