Origin of Laba garlic: In the past, most families didn't have refrigerators. Only at low temperature can garlic cloves pickled with mature vinegar break the dormancy of garlic and activate garlic enzymes, thus making garlic cloves green as jade. Therefore, pickling must be chosen before and after Laba, because the temperature is the lowest at this time.
Over time, this has evolved into a custom in the north. Every year around Laba Festival, every household will pickle several cans of garlic cloves soaked in vinegar, from which Laba Garlic comes.
The origin of Laba Garlic II: According to the old man, all firms that used to do business have to settle their accounts on this day to calculate this year's income and expenditure. It can be seen that profits and losses, including foreign debts and foreign debts, must be accounted for on this day. This is how Laba computing works. Creditors will write to those who owe him money on this day to remind him that it is time to pay back the money. Because "garlic" and "calculation" are homophonic, the firm sent "Laba garlic" to the debtor and replaced "calculation" with "garlic", which implicitly indicated debt collection.
There is a popular saying in old Beijing, "Laba porridge, Laba garlic, the messenger who pays the bill, the messenger who pays the debt." So Laba garlic can't be drunk in the street. Each household makes laba garlic by itself, and calculates how to spend the year first. This is the origin of Laba garlic.
Laba garlic is made of vinegar and garlic cloves. Pickled Laba garlic is a traditional snack of Han nationality, which is mainly popular in North China, especially in the north. This is the eating custom of Laba Festival. Make garlic on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In fact, the materials are very simple, namely vinegar and garlic cloves.
The method is also extremely simple. Put the peeled garlic cloves in a sealable container, such as a jar or bottle, then pour in vinegar, seal the mouth and put it in a cold place. Slowly, the garlic soaked in vinegar will turn green, and finally the whole body will turn green, like jade and jasper.
Is laba garlic the greener the better? Everyone who has eaten garlic knows that garlic has an unspeakable taste, so some people don't like it because it will cause embarrassment. This unpleasant smell is actually a sulfur-containing substance. Garlic turns green because this sulfur-containing substance has undergone structural changes under acidic conditions, resulting in blue and yellow sulfur pigments, which are superimposed to form the green color of Laba garlic.
Some people like to eat Laba garlic, but also value its "green" as an antioxidant, and think that "the greener Laba garlic is, the better the health care effect is". The pigment in Laba garlic does have antioxidant effect, but there is not enough evidence to show that it can help the human body to fight cancer or lower blood fat, and the conclusion that "the greener the better" cannot be drawn.