There are many kinds of jujube buns, such as jujube flowers, jujube hill, jujube rolls and jujube rings. People give jujube buns many interesting names according to their different shapes, but the main names are jujube hill and Jujube Flower. The method of jujube steamed bread is: roll the fermented wheat flour into a circle, cut it from the middle with a knife, place the two cut semicircles oppositely, and clamp it from the middle with chopsticks, and a four-petal flour flower will come out. Then put red dates on each petal, and it becomes a delicate jujube steamed bread. If jujube steamed bread is squeezed into a mountain shape, people call it jujube mountain. In some places, jujube buns are very delicate, layered, and decorated with noodles, red and white, which are very beautiful.
Different regions have different practices. In Zhengzhou area, jujube steamed bread is stacked on a big cake, from bottom to top, and gradually becomes smaller the second time, thus forming a mountain-shaped jujube steamed bread. Xinxiang is to roll the kneaded dough into long strips, roll the two dates sandwiched in the middle into the shape of "perfect ancient Chinese characters", and then pair them one by one. The base is a big round flower or a mountain-shaped jujube cake, taking the shape of "endless Chinese characters" and "perfect Chinese characters". Jujube hill in Linxian County, northern Henan Province, has a chassis under it, and the floor is made of various flower boxes. The small one is about half a foot in diameter and weighs five catties. The big one is more than a foot in diameter and weighs more than ten kilograms. Most local jujube flowers are lotus-shaped, with a red date in the middle, which can be divided into single lotus and double lotus (double layer). Generally speaking, the jujube flowers in western Henan are highly decorative, magnificent and delicate. Jujube hill of jujube flowers in eastern, northern and southern Henan is practical, simple in technology and huge in volume.
The time for steaming jujube buns is generally on the 28th and 29th of the twelfth lunar month. In some places, it will be steamed again on the fifteenth day of the first month, but in most areas, it is only steamed before the New Year, and the amount of steaming should be enough for the holidays. When steaming jujube buns, the atmosphere is quite grand and mysterious, and all housewives are careful not to gossip. If the steamer leaks, no one at home can make a fuss, and the housewife will quietly seal it. Words like "rotten", "finished", "unfamiliar", "black" and "empty" are all considered unlucky, so don't say them at this time. In these days, neighbors, relatives and friends don't visit. If you don't understand this custom, you violate the local taboo. Even the best friend, the host will not forgive you.