According to custom, Laba porridge should be eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Laba porridge is a kind of porridge made from a variety of ingredients during the Laba Festival. It is also called Qibao and five-flavor porridge. Eating Laba porridge to celebrate the harvest has been passed down to this day.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chinese Han people have a popular custom of eating "Laba porridge" (or "Laba rice" in some places). In Henan, Laba porridge, also known as "everyone's meal", is a festive food custom in memory of the national hero Yue Fei.

"Yanjing Chronicles·Laba Porridge": "Laba porridge is made from yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut rice, chestnuts, red cowpeas, peeled jujube paste, etc., boiled with water, and used externally. Dye red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar, and grapes for dyeing." Laba porridge, like Laba rice, is a remnant of the ancient wax festival.

"The Book of Sacrifice: Jiao Te Sheng" says that the wax sacrifice is "in the twelfth month of the year, when all things are gathered together for a feast." Laba porridge is a combination of food from all directions and cooked with rice. The pot means gathering all things and harmonizing thousands of spirits.