Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, also known as the Lantern Festival and Spring Lantern Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called it "Xiao", and the fifteenth day is the first full moon night in a year, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. Also known as the first lunar month, Yuanxi or Lantern Festival, it is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. China has a vast territory and a long history, so the customs of Lantern Festival are different all over the country, among which eating Lantern Festival, enjoying lanterns, dancing dragons and lions are several important folk customs. Lantern Festival and dumpling are two different things. It can be said that it is caused by the different origins of the north and the south. Yuanxiao made in Beijing is based on stuffing. The operation process of making Yuanxiao by the machine is as follows: first, mix the stuffing, spread it into large round slices, cool it, and then cut it into cubes smaller than table tennis. Then put the stuffing into a machine like a big sieve, pour the glutinous rice (called glutinous rice in the south) powder, and the machine will "sieve". As the fillings collide with each other and become spherical, glutinous rice also sticks to the surface of the fillings to form Yuanxiao. The layer of Yuanxiao River rice flour is very thin, and the surface is dry, so the rice flour absorbs water and becomes paste when it is cooked in the pot. The southern dumplings (which Beijingers call dumplings according to Sichuan custom) are completely different, but they are a bit like Bao jiaozi. First, add water to glutinous rice flour and make it into dough (the same as when making jiaozi), and let it "wake up" for several hours. Then mix all the ingredients for stuffing and put them in a big bowl for use (you don't have to cut them into small pieces like Yuanxiao). The water content of dumpling stuffing is more than that of Yuanxiao, which is one of the differences between them. The process of making dumplings is also like jiaozi's, but without a rolling pin. Wet glutinous rice flour is very sticky, so we have to pull a small group of wet noodles by hand and squeeze them into a round shape. Use chopsticks (or thin bamboo tools) to pick a ball of stuffing and put it on the glutinous rice slices, and then turn around with both hands to make dumplings. The surface of the well-made dumplings is smooth and shiny, and some of them still have a tip, like a peach. The skin of the dumpling contains enough water, which is sticky and difficult to preserve. It is better to cook it now and eat it now. Now with the quick-freezing technology, dumplings appear in shops. There are many "schools" of dumplings in the south, and now the most famous one is "Black Ocean Crisp" dumplings in Ningbo. The so-called "black ocean crisp" is a mixture of lard and black sesame powder, and lard is not boiled pure oil, so "suet" from the original block in the pig's stomach should be used. Tear off the net film outside the "suet", squeeze and knead it by hand, and then add black sesame powder bit by bit. This thing is absolutely dross from the point of view of modern health care, and it tastes excellent: it is slippery, waxy, soft and hot, and it is worth a try. The softer and smoother the dumplings, the better, so the raw materials of glutinous rice are very particular. Choose a variety with strong viscosity. There is also a saying in the processing technology that "water mill powder" should be used. That is to say, after the glutinous rice grains are soaked in water, they are ground together with the water (like soybean milk), and it is best to grind them with a stone mill. The ground powder can be hung with gauze bags and drained, and can be refrigerated for three or four days (it will be sour after a long time). It can be seen that good dumplings are difficult to be produced industrially, which is another characteristic that is different from Yuanxiao.