The family dinner of Fuzhou Dragon Boat Festival must be at noon, and there must be zongzi, realgar wine, lotus leaf buns, rice flour meat and so on. After the family dinner, children wear new clothes, red Chinese-style chest covering, fragrant bags with unique shapes and bright colors, such as zongzi and lanterns, woven with various silk threads, and wash calamus soup. Some children even put a piece of realgar smoked fat between their noses and mouths, and then adults take them to the river to watch the dragon boat race.
In Jinjiang, Fujian, every household has to eat "fried piles" during the Dragon Boat Festival. The so-called frying pile is to use flour, rice flour or sweet potato powder and other ingredients to make a thick paste and fry it in an oil pan into a large piece. According to legend, in ancient times, it was rainy season in southern Fujian before the Dragon Boat Festival, and it rained continuously. People said that God had pierced a hole and wanted to "mend the sky". The rain stopped after eating "fried piles" on the Dragon Boat Festival. People say that the sky has been mended. This food custom comes from this.
2. Chongqing
Chongqing is known as the "land of Ba and Yu", and the so-called "Ba" is a snake. In ancient times, Chongqing people worshipped snakes and worshipped them as totems. In the past, snakes were not allowed to eat, but since the 1980s, Chongqing people have chosen to cook snake soup on the Dragon Boat Festival in a year and eat it to protect themselves.
Chongqing people eat snakes because of the influence of fertility culture. As a symbol of totem worship, women believe that after eating snakes, they will breed offspring, similar to "There is a daughter of Tai's, Jiang?" , stepped on the giant's footprints gave birth to Hou Ji "legend. Others also believe that after eating snakes, ancestors will be with themselves when they enter the body. But snakes can't kill indiscriminately, and they can't be cooked in their own homes. Under normal circumstances, they cook a pot of snake soup on the threshing floor and share it with the whole village.
3. Guangxi
In southern Guangxi, such as Ningming, Chongzuo, Longzhou and other places, it is necessary to wrap cool brown during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is called "grey water dumplings". Before making zongzi, cut back some branches and leaves of trees such as melia azedarach on the mountain, pile them in the flat ground when they are half dry in the sun, and then put the ash in a bamboo container and filter it with clear water. Finally, soak the prepared glutinous rice with the filtered brown water.
After soaking, the glutinous rice will reveal a unique fragrance of plant ash in the original aroma, and the wrapped dumplings are mostly pale yellow or brownish yellow after cooking.
4. Guangdong
Guangdong Zongzi is a representative variety of southern Zongzi, which is large in size and unique in shape, like a cone. There are many varieties, such as egg yolk zongzi, assorted zongzi and roasted duck zongzi, which have a unique southern flavor and have a long-standing reputation. Chaozhou's double-dumpling rice dumplings are unique, with salty materials at one end and sweet materials at the other, so they are called "double-dumpling rice dumplings".
After washing your hands and eyes with burning water at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival in Conghua County, it is called "sending disaster". On the Dragon Boat Festival in Xinxing County, people advocate the tour of welcoming and guiding idols from their neighboring temples. Wizards also use dharma water and stickers to expel evil spirits. During the Dragon Boat Festival in Shicheng County, children fly kites, which is called "letting off disasters".
5. Jiangsu
On the Dragon Boat Festival, Yangzhou people eat "Twelve Red" for fun. Which "Twelve Red"? Braised fish, braised pork, braised chicken, braised goose, stewed cucumber, stewed lettuce, stewed radish, bean, amaranth, salted duck eggs, potherb mustard, roasted rice flour or vermicelli.
Besides "Twelve Red", there are many others. For example, on this day, people who open bathrooms use calamus and mugwort leaves to boil water. Acorus calamus and Folium Artemisiae Argyi were put in the pool, and the water gave off bursts of fragrance, which made people feel refreshed and smelled of being relaxed and free. It was called "Ai Xi Shui" among the people. Some bathrooms of this custom still exist today. Ordinary people also want to buy calamus and mugwort leaves and put them on the door. It is said that they can drive away plague and filth.
6. Anhui
Throughout Anhui province, zongzi is eaten in the Dragon Boat Festival in urban and rural areas, and it is a gift from relatives and neighbors. Huaining area in western Anhui also eats "Dragon Boat Festival Ba". This kind of Dragon Boat Festival Ba is made of fine flour and wine, put on tung leaves or lotus leaves, steamed after fermentation, sweet and fragrant, and has a unique flavor. In the area around Hexian County, lunch during the festival is called "enjoying the afternoon", and you should drink ale and eat meat such as shad and dried goose. At noon, put chopsticks in the court to test noon.
In Dangtu area, we eat zongzi and "five red" dishes, namely shrimp, eel, salted duck eggs, amaranth and realgar wine. In some places, fry broad beans for children on this day, saying that they are "fried insect ants", so that children will not be disturbed by insects and mosquitoes. There is a proverb in Shucheng, Lu 'an, western Anhui: "Eat an apricot at Dragon Boat Festival, and you will not get sick when you are old;" Eat a peach at the Dragon Boat Festival, and don't worry when you get old. "
7. Zhejiang
Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi has a long history. Jiaxing Zongzi is rectangular, with fresh meat, bean paste, eight treasures, chicken dumplings and other varieties. In many places in Chun 'an, in addition to eating zongzi, more places eat pasta like steamed buns, because during the Dragon Boat Festival, when the local wheat is ripe, the previous conditions were not good and there were many children, so it is best to make steamed buns with wheat flour, and it is only available during the Dragon Boat Festival.
In some places, eating eggs, killing chickens and ducks is also to eat better during the holidays and eat something that is rarely eaten. An old saying in Ningbo says, "Be busy, don't forget May Yellow". In the past, during the Dragon Boat Festival, Ningbo people used to eat "wuhuang Six Whites" to celebrate the festival. Every year on Dragon Boat Festival, housewives get up very early and cook garlic and eggs prepared in advance for breakfast.
What to eat in the southern Dragon Boat Festival? There are also some Dragon Boat Festival cuisines in the south with local characteristics. The following small series will introduce them to you.
8. Shanghai
Shanghai people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, and the customs they pay attention to are similar to those in Jiangnan area. There is a folk custom of eating "wuhuang" on the Dragon Boat Festival in the south of the Yangtze River. "wuhuang" refers to Monopterus albus, yellow croaker, cucumber, salted egg yolk and realgar wine.
There is also a saying in the Dragon Boat Festival, which is called: "On May 5th, the Dragon Boat Festival will be celebrated in five colors and three whites." May is also called May Yellow Moon, so we should eat realgar wine, yellow croaker, cucumber, eel and salted duck egg yolk during the Dragon Boat Festival. I also want to eat water bamboo, salted duck egg white and boiled meat. In addition, we should also eat "one red", which refers to sweaty vegetables (the soup is red after frying with garlic).
9. Hubei
Before the Dragon Boat Festival, the married daughters in Zigui County, Hubei Province basically rushed back to their parents' homes for the holidays, which is a major local custom. In Jiuwan Creek Village, many people put up couplets on the Dragon Boat Festival, and hung wormwood and calamus at the door. Everyone sat around making zongzi, boiling salted eggs and soaking realgar wine, talking and laughing, and they were very busy.
In Bahe Town, Huanggang City, Nuo people are greeted at the Dragon Boat Festival, with a tattoo of a corolla and a golden bell to drive away the epidemic. In Zigui County, Yichang City, the Dragon Boat Festival is held on May 13th, 14th and 15th, and there are other activities to commemorate Dr. Qu, such as offering sacrifices and evoking spirits. On this day, there is also the custom of bathing children in the sun, that is, putting a basin of water in the sun and bathing children when the water is hot. It is said that it can wash away the filth and illness. May 15th is also called "Daduan Yang", and May 25th is also called "Terminal Yang". Eating zongzi and drinking Pu wine is the same as the Dragon Boat Festival.
10, Hunan
Apart from hosting family banquets, eating zongzi, hanging calamus with mugwort, drinking realgar wine, racing dragon boats, watching dragon boats, going back to one's parents' home and saying goodbye to the Dragon Boat Festival, the custom of dragon festival and offering sacrifices to the ancestors, which have unique cultural connotations, also includes stealing Shenmu, carving dragon heads, singing praises, launching dragon boats, making the dragon heads red, and worshipping temples. At the same time, it also leaves behind the custom of "Better to be barren for one year, better to be cultivated for one year".
Phoenix people will also drink realgar wine and eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that drinking realgar wine can be toxic, and children who can't drink it will also write a king on their foreheads, which also shows that they are toxic. The habit of sending zongzi is a multiple of 6, which means good luck!
1 1, Jiangxi
In Nanchang, Jiangxi, tea eggs and salted eggs should be cooked during the Dragon Boat Festival. Eggs include eggs, duck eggs and goose eggs. The eggshell is painted red, packed in colorful net bags, and hung around the child's neck, which means wishing the child good luck and safety.
Jianchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province bathed in herbal water at noon to prevent scabies, and Xinchang County drank it in realgar and cinnabar wine, which was called "eye opening".
12, Yunnan
It is a tradition of China people to row dragon boats and eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. However, in Pu 'er, Yunnan, the local people do not eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival, but take medicine roots. Everyone knows that Chinese herbal medicine is used to treat diseases, but in Pu 'er, after skillful collocation and processing, the root of medicine has become an irresistible food during the Dragon Boat Festival.
In fact, due to superior natural conditions, lush vegetation, abundant sunshine and rain during the Dragon Boat Festival, wild Chinese herbal medicines are everywhere in Pu 'er, and there are hundreds of species.
13, Guizhou
During the Dragon Boat Festival in Guizhou, you can taste and experience the grass-gray black zongzi of Buyi people. It is said that this grass-gray black zongzi is first dried and burned with a local herb called "Aneurolepidium japonicum", then stirred in white glutinous rice to become gray-black, then stuffed with pork and spices, wrapped with zongzi leaves and cooked in a pot, and it becomes dark and clear. Can be made into pillow dumplings, triangle dumplings, square dumplings, cone dumplings, back sister dumplings, padlock dumplings and so on.
References:
People's Daily Online-What to Eat at the Dragon Boat Festival? The Dragon Boat Festival food market in various provinces and cities (Figure)