Steamed bowls of New Year's Eve in Xianyang, Shaanxi

Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, with beautiful scenery, is located in the hinterland of Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi Province and has been a strategic town in western China since ancient times. In the long thousands of years, not only many ancient monuments have been preserved here, but also many customs with a long history have been passed down to this day. Then let Lao Huangli introduce you to the New Year's Eve dinner in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province: steamed bowls.

Steamed bowls are rich food for Xianyang people's families, named after being steamed by fire. Common steamed bowls include crispy pork, steamed pork with rice flour, braised pork with plum, braised chicken, braised hairtail, Four Joy Meetballs, crispy beef, braised mutton, red taro fragrant rice and eight-treasure rice. Steamed bowls are all vegetarian, healthy and less oily, with rich fragrance, suitable for all ages.

In many Xianyang people's childhood memories, steaming bowls are a sign that New Year's Eve is coming. After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, adults start steaming steamed bread, burning meat and fried meatballs, and cook the dishes that need time at the banquet into semi-finished products first, so as not to panic at that time. Making steamed bowls began at this time, which is called "filling bowls".

The so-called "bowl-filling" means that raw materials and ingredients are put into bowls one by one according to different tastes, steamed in cages until half-cooked, and left to dry. On the New Year's Eve of family reunion, take out a half-cooked steaming bowl and steam it, and buckle it on a plate to enjoy.

After "filling the bowl" first, the steamed bowl dishes made are simple and affordable. Even if the family is reunited and there are many people gathered, it does not seem to be in a hurry, but it seems to be very rich. At this time, the whole family came back from all directions to reunite, hoping that the family would be safe and auspicious in the coming year. The steaming bowl symbolizes rich days and harmonious and prosperous families.

Steamed bowls are not only delicious for family members, but also the staple food for Xianyang urban and rural guests in the first month, especially in rural areas. Steamed bowls are the main course, followed by cooking. Steamed bowls are mostly made by men at home, which is the heritage of a self-sufficient farming society, reflecting the dominant position of men in the family and the solemnity of facing the Spring Festival. With the development and progress of the times, making steamed bowls is no longer a man's patent, and more and more housewives are making steamed bowls.

The most unrepeatable thing about steaming bowls is to use a large steamer to steam different kinds of steaming bowls layer by layer, so that the aroma of various ingredients and seasonings can soak each other in the cage. Beef has the taste of mutton, mutton also has the taste of chicken, chicken has the taste of glutinous rice, and the steaming bowl has the taste of "steaming". Even what steamed bowls are put on each floor affects the final quality of the steamed bowls.