Laba porridge can be translated as Làbā congee[?k?nd?i?] or Làbā rice porridge.

Laba porridge, also known as "Seven Treasures and Five Flavors 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 (such as red beans, mung beans, soybeans, black beans, kidney beans, etc.).

The custom of drinking "Laba porridge" on Laba day began in the Song Dynasty. Xu Ke's "Qing Bailei Chao" says: "Laba porridge began in the Song Dynasty. On the eighth day of December, the major temples in Tokyo used the seven treasures and five flavors and glutinous rice to make porridge. It has been followed to this day, and others are imitating it."

Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" of the Southern Song Dynasty records: "On the eighth day of this month, temples call it Laba. Temples such as Dasha and other temples all serve five-flavor porridge, which is called Laba porridge."

The custom of Laba is also influenced by Buddhism. According to legend, the Buddha Sakyamuni practiced hard for six years before becoming a Buddha. He only ate very little food every day and became very weak. When two shepherdess by the Nilian River saw it, they made it with milk. The chyle was given to the Buddha to restore his energy.

From this, the Buddha realized that hard work could not lead to Buddhahood. He went to the Nilian River to bathe and wash clothes, and then came to Bodh Gaya under a Bodhi tree. After sitting for forty-eight days, he became enlightened and became a Buddha on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Therefore, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month has become an important Buddhist festival. Believers bathe the Buddha and eat Laba porridge to express their commemoration of the Buddha.

The "Customs" in Volume 11 of "Fang County Chronicles" of the Qing Dynasty said, "On Laba Day, rice, wheat beans and various fruits and vegetables are used to make porridge, which is called Laba porridge. If the fruit and trees are not solid, they are cut with an axe. The porridge is in the hole, and the question is: "If the knots are not knotted, the branches are broken." This is called "feeding the tree."