The origin of Laba Garlic is: Pickled Laba Garlic is a traditional snack mainly popular in northern China, especially in North China. It is a custom of Laba Festival. Make garlic on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In fact, the ingredients are very simple, just vinegar and garlic cloves. Laba garlic usually refers to garlic pickled in vinegar. The finished product is green in color and tastes sour and slightly spicy. Because it is usually pickled on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, it is called "Laba garlic".
The method is also extremely simple. Put the peeled garlic cloves into a container such as a jar or bottle that can be sealed, then pour vinegar into it, seal it and put it in a cold place. Slowly, the garlic soaked in vinegar will turn green, and eventually it will become completely green, like emerald jasper. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in northern China, the New Year atmosphere becomes more intense day by day. In most areas of northern China, there is a custom of soaking garlic in vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is called Laba garlic.
The food culture of Laba Garlic:
The word garlic in Laba Garlic has the same pronunciation as the word "suan". This is the day when various businesses will settle accounts and calculate the harvest of the year. After calculating the expenses, you can see the profit and loss, which is what "Laba calculation" is all about. On Laba day, a creditor who wants to pay a debt has to deliver a message to someone who owes him money, so he should be prepared to pay back the money.
There is a folk proverb in Beijing: "Laba rice porridge and Laba garlic are used to deliver letters to those who settle accounts; those who owe debts pay back money." Later, some people who owed money to others used garlic instead of the word "count" to show taboo , avoiding the word "settling" in this settlement of accounts. In fact, what you owe others must be paid back after all.
Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Laba Garlic