"Children, don't be greedy, it will be the New Year after Laba." When this familiar voice sounds around, we know that the New Year is approaching again. Laba Festival, also called Laba Festival, refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year. There are also common sayings about Laba in Fuping's hometown: "Laba, Lanianha, the New Year will be celebrated in twenty days", "On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, cut the window grilles" and so on.
? There are many theories about the origin of Laba Festival. The Laba Festival in Buddhism is to commemorate the enlightenment of Sakyamuni Buddha. On this day, temples of all sizes will hold porridge-giving ceremonies to show that they can save all sentient beings. The porridge cooked by Buddhist temples in Han Chinese areas to worship Buddha is called "Laba porridge". The fathers who lived in Fubei firmly believed that the Laba Festival was related to the loyal minister Yue Fei and the commoner emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
The second master is knowledgeable and memorized, and people call him sir. He often said: The Laba Festival originates from people's memory of the loyal minister Yue Fei. At that time, Yue Fei led his troops to fight against the Jin Dynasty in Zhuxian Town. It was the severe winter of the ninth month. The Yue family army was suffering from lack of food and clothing, and was hungry and cold. People sent porridge to the Yue family army one after another. The Yue family army had a full meal of "Qianjia porridge" sent by the people, and the result was great Return victoriously. This day is the eighth day of December. After Yue Fei's death, in order to commemorate him, the people cooked porridge with grains, beans and fruits every eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which finally became a custom.
? The second master also said: Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, had a very poor family when he was a child. He often went hungry for many days in a row and had no food to eat. One day, it was freezing cold, and Zhu Yuanzhang was so hungry that he huddled in a broken house, shivering. He stumbled against the broken wall, and a piece of the wall peeled off. He suddenly found a large handful of rice, beans, red dates mixed with soil particles rolling down. It turned out to be a granary for mice. Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly put these things together and cooked a pot of porridge, which tasted very sweet and delicious. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he remembered this incident again and asked the imperial chef to cook a pot of porridge mixed with various grains and beans. The day it was eaten happened to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so it was called Laba porridge.
? Fuping is located in the Guanzhong Plain. It grows corn in the summer and wheat in the autumn. It also grows grain and harvests millet. People in Fubei rarely eat Laba porridge on Laba day, but Laba noodles are indispensable.
In rural areas of Fuping, people generally have two meals a day, commonly known as two meals. Breakfast is around nine o'clock, mainly rice porridge and steamed buns, and lunch is called midday lunch around fifteen o'clock, which is mainly pasta. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household in Fubei makes special Laba noodles.
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Laba noodles are also called "Jiajia noodles" and "Hundred families noodles". There is a saying that "if you eat Laba noodles, your courtyard will be full of food in the coming year." On the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, housewives in every household will carefully cook a large pot of corn grits for breakfast, which is more abundant and thicker than usual. It is better to have enough leftover corn grits after the family is full. As one of the raw materials to make Laba noodles in the afternoon, it symbolizes having more than enough for many years. After noon, aunts and aunts start to be busy, and my mother is no exception. They cleaned the pot and stove again, scooped out flour from the noodle vat with shiny porcelain bowls, and poured it into the basin. Then add a small amount of refined salt and alkali powder to the warm water and stir evenly. Slowly pour the warm water into the basin with your left hand and stir slowly with chopsticks with your right hand to ensure uniformity and avoid flour flying out. Stop adding water until it becomes powdery and flocculent. Then put in the chopsticks, put your hands in, and knead repeatedly. After a while, it becomes a large shiny dough. They will cover the dough with a washed white rag and leave it for a while to wake it up. The aunts then select millet and soybeans and wash them thoroughly. Rich people will add peanuts, almonds, peach kernels, or walnut kernels, and red dates to symbolize everything and a good harvest. They washed green onions, ginger, garlic, cabbage, and shepherd's purse, chopped them, added some lard and fried them into five-spice chopped green onions. At this time, the dough is ready. The aunts and mother will take out the dough, place it on the chopping board, sprinkle some flour, knead the dough repeatedly with your hands, then pat it hard with your right hand, take out the rolling pin with your left hand, and turn left Press right, turn right, press left, hold it with both hands, push it out and pull it back, just like this, practice it over and over again. After a while, the dough was as thin and tough as cowhide and covered the chopping board.
Mother used the rolling pin as a roll, rolled it up, and then gently slid the knife along the rolling pin. Thousand-layer roll-like dough spread out in an orderly manner from both sides of the rolling pin. Mother cut it horizontally and diagonally, and cut it into noodles. piece. After putting down the knife, the mother picked up the dough with both hands and shook it gently. The rhombus-shaped noodles spread all over the chopping board like a goddess scattering flowers. At this time, the water in the pot was also boiling, just below. After a while, the steam was rising and the aroma of noodles filled the room. Fill a bowl, white with red inside, red with yellow inside, silk vermicelli, glistening green leaves, stir it up, the oily flowers on the surface will spread, pearl soybeans, and jade radish will be turned up, refreshing and making your mouth water. My mother is both the eldest sister-in-law in the family and the eldest daughter of my grandmother. She is good at making noodles. The noodles she makes are famous for being "thin, stringy, smooth, thin, and long." She can also hold the seasonings and master them. Depending on the heat, the Laba noodles made have the characteristics of "tough, spicy, fried, chewy, and numb".
Since the Laba noodles in Fubei are called Baijia noodles, they cannot be enjoyed alone. When the noodles are ready, the first bowl is dedicated to the Kitchen God, who is the most important person for the people. The second bowl is dedicated to the God of Wealth, praying for wealth and blessings. The third bowl is dedicated to the ancestors, wishing prosperity for the family and a full family of children and grandchildren. Then pour the three bowls of noodles back into the pot and stir evenly. Mother then filled out many more bowls and asked us brothers to carry them with both hands and share them with the neighbors. Sometimes my own noodles are slow in making, and before I go out, other friends have sent their own Laba noodles to my house. Everyone said to each other that the harvest was abundant, and they exchanged hot noodles and began to enjoy them. My family members will eat in an orderly manner according to their age and age. Girls and young wives would sit at the door of the kitchen to eat. From time to time, they would check whether the old man and the children had finished their meals, and serve them in time. With a bowl of steaming Laba noodles, the family would sometimes gather around the stone table and enjoy it in the sun. Sometimes they would squat on the mound at the door with their neighbors and chat while eating. When encountering strangers passing by, the villagers will fill a bowl of Laba noodles to warm them up and ward off the cold, and send them blessings and friendship. Just as the poet described:
When the pot is opened, the aroma of vegetables will be appreciated.
It doesn’t cost much sugar to use the grits and salt.
Sitting together in the morning sun and sipping together,
Everyone is warm-hearted.
p> ? Hungry before tasting.
? Calling guests at the foot of the stairs,
? Pouring rich soup together.
This year’s Laba Festival coincides with the severe cold, and snowflakes are also falling in some places. "The three white days of the great cold will ensure a good year." Come and have a bowl of warm Laba noodles to savor the season's deep feelings of hometown and wish you a bumper harvest, peace and prosperity for the country and the people in the coming year.