The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four traditional festivals in China. Not only does it include dragon boat racing, flying paper kites and other folk activities, the Dragon Boat Festival also has a rich food culture. Do you know the food customs of the Dragon Boat Festival? Let’s take a look at the Dragon Boat Festival delicacies from various parts of the country.
1. Zongzi
Among the traditional delicacies eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, zongzi is undoubtedly the most famous and has spread far and wide. The custom of eating zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival has been popular in China for thousands of years. , and also spread to North Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and other places. Due to the different eating habits of different places, rice dumplings have developed the flavors of the north and the south. In terms of taste, there are two types of rice dumplings: salty rice dumplings and sweet rice dumplings. In terms of fillings, there are Beijing jujube rice dumplings with jujubes in the north; mung beans and pork belly in the south. , bean paste, eight treasures, ham, mushrooms, egg yolk and other fillings, among which Guangdong bacon rice dumplings and Zhejiang Jiaxing rice dumplings are the representatives.
2. Salted duck eggs
Salted duck eggs are one of the most popular Dragon Boat Festival delicacies. The Dragon Boat Festival gift boxes in major supermarkets are also a classic combination of rice dumplings and salted duck eggs. . The production of salted eggs is very common and is produced all over the country. Among them, Jiangsu Gaoyou salted eggs are the most famous. They are large and have six characteristics: fresh, thin, tender, loose, sandy and oily. As the saying goes: "You have to eat salted egg rice dumplings to get rid of the cold." Because the Dragon Boat Festival heralds the coming of hot summer, the popular Dragon Boat Festival customs such as "five yellows" and "twelve reds" are to ward off evil spirits and avoid the heat. function, and salted duck eggs are certified delicacies everywhere.
3. Monopterus eel
Monopterus eel is one of the must-eat dishes during the Dragon Boat Festival, especially in the Jianghan Plain area of ??my country. This food custom has always been maintained. Whenever the Dragon Boat Festival is This is the time of year when eel meat is the most tender and nutritious, so there is a saying that "eel beats ginseng during the Dragon Boat Festival". Monopterus eel has always been a popular freshwater aquatic product due to its soft texture and no thorns. It is a good nutritional supplement especially for children and the elderly. Monopterus eel is warm in nature and sweet in taste. It enters the liver, spleen and kidney meridian and has the functions of tonifying qi, nourishing blood and fixing phlegm, warming yang and benefiting the spleen, strengthening essence and stopping bleeding, nourishing liver and kidney, dispelling wind and dredging collaterals.
4. Realgar wine
Realgar wine is a drink during the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. It was extremely popular in the Yangtze River Basin in the past. Realgar can be used as an antidote and insecticide, so ancient people believed that realgar can restrain snakes, scorpions and other insects. However, since the main component of realgar is arsenic disulfide, which can be decomposed into highly toxic arsenic when exposed to heat, it is not recommended to be taken internally. Generally, it is only made by adding a trace amount of realgar to white wine or home-brewed rice wine, and cannot be drunk pure. For children who are under the age of drinking, adults will smear realgar wine on their foreheads, ears, noses, palms, soles, etc., with the intention of disinfecting and preventing diseases and keeping away insects.