Therefore, for the sake of praying for peace, the predecessors chose many traditional foods which meant auspicious, complete, safe and healthy, and passed them down from generation to generation. The traditional food customs in long summer all over the country have their own characteristics. I only selected six of them for you. Let's take a look:
Long summer is going to eat long summer rice this day. The so-called long summer rice, also known as "long summer five-color rice", as the name implies, is rice mixed with five colors of ingredients. In fact, there are many versions of the practice of five-color rice today. For example, many families in Ningbo still retain the most traditional ancient style, and cook "five-color rice" with five-color beans such as red beans, soybeans, black beans, green beans and mung beans. Another way is to cook "five-color rice" with broad beans, soybeans, bamboo shoots and mustard greens, plus pickles or bacon with rice. It is not difficult to see from the above formula that no matter what kind of five-color rice is, it is very rich in nutrition. Combining the tastes of various ingredients, it must taste delicious, and it also means good luck and perfection.
Long summer eats long summer eggs on this day, which should be the most unified traditional food in all parts of the country, because many places have the custom of eating long summer eggs, and long summer eggs were made the day before long summer. The method of making long summer eggs is similar to our usual snack "tea eggs", but it is actually more complicated, because besides tea leaves, there are walnut shells as accessories. Cooked long summer eggs, which are beautiful and delicious, are red and delicious, which means a complete life and can stimulate the appetite in summer.
Drinking long summer tea in long summer is also a traditional custom in most parts of the country, especially in Jiangxi. According to folklore, if you drink long summer tea in long summer, you can spend the whole hot summer safely. If you don't drink long summer tea, you will have a hard summer this year. At the same time, the production and drinking of long summer tea is very different from our usual tea making and drinking. It requires that no less than seven families of tea be put together and brewed together, and all people get together to drink together, which is the real meaning of drinking long summer tea.
Long summer wants to eat Junta cuisine, which is a traditional custom of Ningbo people. Because Junta vegetable is a seasonal vegetable in long summer, it is said that after eating this vegetable in long summer, people will not get prickly heat all summer, despite the hot weather. Everyone knows that when it is hot in summer, if there are no proper measures to cool down and avoid summer, it is easy to get prickly heat on your body, and the more you scratch it with your hands, the more itchy it is, which is very uncomfortable. Of course, whether eating Junta vegetables will grow prickly heat or not may be just a folk wish for blessing, so let's treat it as a traditional custom.
Eating bamboo shoots on foot bones in long summer is only a unique custom of local people in Ningbo, which is relatively rare in other places. The shape of the foot bone bamboo shoots is just like our human foot bones. According to folklore, long summer ate this kind of foot bone bamboo shoots, and the foot bones would be healthy and powerful. The method and material selection of this kind of foot bone bamboo shoots are exquisite. Not all bamboo shoots in our vegetable market can meet the requirements, but wild bamboo shoots or black bamboo shoots can be used to make foot bone bamboo shoots. When cooking, the bamboo shoots should be flattened with a knife and cut into lengths of about 4 cm. The shape looks like our foot bones, so this is the origin of the name "foot bone bamboo shoots".
It is a traditional custom in many places in China that long summer drinks Qijia porridge, but it is more common in Zhejiang. Legend has it that long summer drank seven congees this day, and the relationship between rural neighbors was harmonious, and there was no intrigue or quarrel between them. Everyone devoted their energy to summer sowing, Xia Geng, and had a good harvest every year. The specific method is that the neighbors who are not far apart each cook a pot of porridge with a little beans, rice and yellow sugar, which is vividly called "seven porridge", just like eating a pot of rice, symbolizing the unity and friendship of the neighbors.
On this day in long summer, besides eating the above six kinds of traditional foods, there are actually many, because China is vast in territory, rich in natural resources, with a long history and culture, and many ethnic groups. As the saying goes, "A hundred miles is different from the wind, and a hundred miles is not popular", so the eating customs and habits of each place are different and have their own characteristics. But in any case, these excellent folk customs handed down from the older generation are worth carrying forward and never lost!