The origin of the Laha Festival, and Laha congee is how to do?

The eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Lahai Festival of the Han Chinese people in China, and on this day most regions in China have the custom of eating Lahai congee. Laha congee is cooked with eight kinds of fresh grains and fruits harvested in that year, and it is usually a sweet porridge. While many farmers in the Central Plains prefer to eat Lahai salty porridge, porridge in addition to rice, millet, mung beans, cowpeas, peanuts, jujubes and other raw materials, but also to add radish, cabbage, vermicelli, kelp, tofu and so on.

LaBa Festival, also known as LaRi Festival, LaBa Festival, the Marquis of La or the Buddha's day, the original system of ancient harvest celebration, thanks to the ancestors and the gods (including the door god, house god, house god, god of the stove, the god of the well) of the sacrificial rites, in addition to the activities of the ancestors and God, people have to be by the epidemic. This activity comes from the ancient exorcism (ancient rituals to drive away ghosts and epidemics). One of the medical methods in prehistoric times is to drive away ghosts to cure diseases. As sorcery activities in the waxing moon drums to drive out the epidemic custom, now in Hunan Xinhua and other areas still have survived. Later, it evolved into a religious festival to commemorate Buddha Shakyamuni's attainment of enlightenment. Xia dynasty called the waxing day for the "Jia Ping", the Shang dynasty for the "clear sacrifice", the Zhou dynasty for the "big wax"; held in December, it is called the month for the waxing month, the day of the wax festival for the waxing day. Pre-qin wax day in the winter solstice after the third into the day, the north and south dynasty began to be fixed on the eighth day of the wax month.

Saying Wen: "After the winter solstice, three garbage days after the wax sacrifice to all the gods." It can be seen, after the winter solstice, the third garrison day was once the day of wax. Later, due to the intervention of Buddhism, it was changed to the eighth day of the twelfth month, and has been customized ever since.

Why the end of the month called "wax" has three meanings: First, "wax, take also", meaning that there is a change of the old and new ("Sui book - rituals," recorded); Second, "wax with the hunt ", refers to the field hunting to get beasts and animals good ancestral sacrifice to God, "wax" from the "meat" side, is to use the meat "winter sacrifice"; three says "Waxing, by the epidemic to welcome the spring", ("Jing Chu chronicle)) in the record). Lapa Festival is also known as the "Buddha into the Road Festival", also known as "into the Road will", in fact, can be said to be the first eight days of December for the origin of the Day of Lapa. According to legend, the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, practiced in the mountains, meditated for six years, starved to the point of being as thin as a bone, and wanted to give up this suffering, but he met a shepherdess who gave him milk and rice, and he ate it and then sat cross-legged under the Bodhi tree, and became a Buddha on the eighth day of the twelfth month, which was commemorated with the "Festival of the Achievement of the Way of the Buddha". Chinese believers from the pious, so with the "waxing day" fusion, the square into the "Lapa Festival", and the same held a grand ritual activities.

[edit]Legends of Lahai Festival

Lahai Festival, most popular folk drink Lahai congee. About the origin of drinking Laha congee, there are still many stories circulating in the folklore.

One says that Laha congee came from India. The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was the son of King Jinyi of Gavilavi country in the north of India (now in Nepal), who saw all beings suffer from the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death, and was dissatisfied with the theocratic rule of the Brahmins at that time, gave up his throne, and went out to cultivate his own home. After six years of asceticism, he attained enlightenment and became a Buddha under the Bodhi tree on the eighth day of the waxing moon. During these six years of asceticism, he ate only one flax and one rice a day. The descendants did not forget his suffering and ate porridge on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year every year to commemorate him. "The eighth day of the eighth month of the Lunar New Year has become the "anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment". "Lapa" is a grand festival of Buddhism. Before the liberation of all over the Buddhist temple for the bathing will be, held chanting, and follow the example of Sakyamuni before he became a Taoist, shepherdesses offer the legendary story of milk, with fragrant grain, fruit and other congee for the Buddha, called "Lahai congee". And Laha congee will be given to the disciples and the good men and women, and then it will be in the folk custom. It is said that in some monasteries, before the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the monks hold the bowl and go along the streets to collect rice, chestnuts, jujubes, nuts and other materials to be cooked into Laha congee and distribute it to the poor. Legend has it that after eating it, they can get the blessing of Buddha, so the poor people call it "Buddha congee". Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote in his poem: "The Buddha's congee is given to each other this day, and the festival in the river village is new." It is said that the famous Hangzhou Tianning Temple has a storage of leftovers in the "stacks of rice building," usually the temple monks daily leftovers dried in the sun, the accumulation of a year's surplus, to the eighth day of the eighth month of the Lunar New Year into Lahua congee distributed to believers, known as "Fukushou congee" "Fude congee "It means that after eating it, you can increase your happiness and longevity. Visible at that time the monks of the temple love the virtue of food.

One says that the Laha Festival comes from the custom of "beating ghosts with red beans". Legend has it that Zhuan Xu, one of the five ancient emperors, had three sons who died and became evil spirits, specializing in scaring children. In ancient times, people generally believed in superstition and were afraid of ghosts and gods, believing that adults and children who suffered from strokes and illnesses and were in poor health were all due to epidemics and ghosts. These evil spirits are not afraid of the world, single afraid of red (red) beans, so there is a "red beans to beat the ghosts," said. Therefore, on the eighth day of the first day of the lunar month to red small beans, red small beans porridge, in order to get rid of the epidemic to welcome the good luck.

It is said that the Qin Shi Huang construction of the Great Wall, the world's workers were ordered to come, can not go home for many years, food by the family to send. Some workers, home away from home, food can not be sent, resulting in a number of workers died of starvation in the Great Wall site. One year on the eighth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, no food to eat the migrant workers have accumulated a few handfuls of grains and cereals, put in a pot of gruel, each person drank a bowl, and finally died of starvation under the Great Wall. In order to commemorate the death of starvation in the Great Wall site workers, people eat every year on the eighth day of the eighth month of Lunar New Year "Lahai congee", in order to commemorate.

It is said that the Western Jin Dynasty, there is a very lazy young people, plain idleness, sitting and eating, his newlywed wife repeatedly persuade the ineffective, however, to the end of the year on the eighth of December, the family cut off the cooking, the young man hungry, all the search of the rice tank, noodle bag and the family's altar pots and jars, the leftover particles of the leftovers together with the edible debris, over the wash into the pot, boiled a bowl of pasty porridge and drink it down from now on, the bitter thought of remorse, determination! Change their past mistakes. Local people will take this to educate their children, every Lahai are cooking porridge to drink, both said Lahai day not forgetting the virtues of thrift and hard work of the ancestors, but also look forward to the gods to bring a good year of plenty of food and clothing.

One said, Lahai Festival out of people's nostalgia for the loyal minister Yue Fei. That year, Yue Fei led the Department of Jin in Zhu Xianzhen, when the nine winter, Yue's army food and clothing, starvation and freezing, the people have sent porridge, Yue's army full of a meal sent by the people of the "thousands of porridge", the results of the great victory and return. This day is the eighth day of the twelfth month. After the death of Yue Fei, the people in order to commemorate him, every Lunar New Year's Eve, they will be mixed grains, beans and fruits porridge, and finally become a custom.

There is also a saying that the Lunar New Year's Day originated at the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang fell in prison suffering, when it was cold, cold and hungry Zhu Yuanzhang even from the prison of the rat holes shaved out of some red beans, rice, jujubes and other seven or eight kinds of grains and cereals. Zhu Yuanzhang these things into a porridge, because that day is the eighth day of the eighth month of the waxing moon, Zhu Yuanzhang will be beautifully named this pot of miscellaneous grain porridge for the waxing gruel. Enjoy a beautiful meal. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang pacified the world, sitting in the north towards the south as the emperor, in order to commemorate that special day in prison, he then set the day as Lahai Festival, the day he ate mixed grain congee formally named Lahai for Lahai congee.

[edit]Laha Festival Customs

On the Laha Festival, the ancient books have recorded: "December 8 for Laha Day. Village people and play fine drums, wearing Hu head, and as a diamond force earth to expel the disease. The "wax festival" is the original ancestors to celebrate the agricultural harvest of the reward of the gift, is an important festival of farming culture. Ying Shao, "Customs" cloud: "Rites of Passage": the wax, hunting, said the field hunting for birds and animals, in order to sacrifice to their ancestors. Or said: the wax, also, the new and the old handover, so the big sacrifice to report the success." Its origin is very early, "Rituals - Suburban Special Adoption" records: "Ijian clan began for the wax. Wax is also known as "Suo" (索), which is the term for the twelfth month of the year, when all things are gathered together for the purpose of offering food and drinks." The Records of the Grand Historian (史记-补三皇本纪) also says, "The Shennong clan of Emperor Yan Di, with its first field affairs, made wax sacrifices to repay heaven and earth." Xia dynasty called the wax day sacrifice for "Ka Ping", Yin said "clear sacrifice", Zhou said "big wax", the Han dynasty changed to "wax". The object of the sacrifice of all eight: the first stingy God? Shennong, the Secretary of the god of misery? Houji, the god of agriculture, the god of the field, the god of the post table. God of the field officials, post table border God? Beginning of the field hut, open road, delineate the boundaries of the people, cat tiger God, the Square God dike, water Yong God? Ditch, insect gods. Pre-qin wax festival day in the winter solstice after the third eleventh day, after the north and south dynasty gradually fixed in the eighth day of the wax month. To the Tang and Song dynasties, this festival is covered with the color of God and Buddha. According to legend, before Shakyamuni became a Buddha, he was starving and fainted. A shepherdess woke him up by cooking congee from a clear spring with mixed grains and wild fruits. Siddhartha Gautama contemplated under the Bodhi tree and finally attained Buddhahood on December 8th. From then on, the Buddhists set this day as the "Buddha became a day", reciting scriptures to commemorate the day, and it became a festival. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, honoring the gods and Buddha was the main theme of the Lapa Festival instead of sacrificing to ancestral spirits, celebrating good harvests and driving away epidemics and avoiding disasters. The main custom of the festival is to boil, give and taste Lapa congee, and hold the celebration of abundant family realities. At the same time, many people since the beginning of the Spring Festival, busy killing the New Year's pig, playing bean curd, glue making wind fish and preserved meat, purchasing New Year's goods, "New Year's" atmosphere is gradually thickening.

[edit]Laha Festival food customs

Laha congee is also called "seven treasures and five flavors of congee". China's history of drinking Laha congee, has been more than a thousand years. The earliest began in the Song Dynasty. Every Lahai day, whether it is the court, the government, the temple or the people's home to do Lahai congee. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laha congee was even more prevalent. In the court, the emperor, the empress, the emperor's son and so on to the civil and military ministers, court ladies give Laha congee, and to the various monasteries to distribute rice, fruit and so on for the monks to eat. In the folk world, families also make Laha congee to worship their ancestors; at the same time, families get together to eat it and give it to their friends and relatives. All over China, the pattern of Laha congee, competition, a variety of varieties. One of the most elaborate in Beiping, mixed in the white rice in more items, such as dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, cinnamon, hazelnuts, grapes, white fruits, lignum vitae, green silk, roses, red beans, peanuts ...... no less than a total of twenty kinds. People in the evening of the seventh day of the first month of the lunar calendar, began to get busy, washing rice, soaking fruit, plucking skin, remove the core, fine picking and then in the middle of the night to start cooking, and then stewed with a slight fire, has been stewed to the early morning of the next day, Lapa congee is considered to be simmering well.

More elaborate families, but also the first fruit carved into human figures, animals, patterns, and then placed in the pot to cook. One of the more distinctive features is the "fruit lion" in the congee. Fruit lion is made of several kinds of fruit in the shape of a lion, with picking out the pits of jujube roasted dry crisp jujube as the lion body, half of the walnut kernel as the lion's head, peach kernel as the lion's feet, and sweet almonds used for the lion's tail. The sweet almonds are used for the lion's tail. Then they are stuck together with sugar and placed in a bowl of congee, resembling a small lion. If the bowl is bigger, you can put double lions or four small lions. The more elaborate ones are made of date paste, bean paste, yam, hawthorn cake, and other foods with various colors, and are pinched into the figures of the Eight Immortals, the Longevity Star, and the Lohan. This kind of decorated Laha congee can only be seen on the offering table of big temples in the old days.

The following is a list of some famous recipes:

The recipe recorded in "Chicken Ribs": "On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year in Ningzhou (around Fuxian County in Liaoning today), people went so far as to make white congee, on which they dyed it in a multitude of colors with the likes of forest chestnuts and other things as flowers and birds and elephants, and even gave it away to each other."

"Jinpingmei" recorded the recipe: "(Northern Jiangsu) round-grained rice thrown with a variety of hazelnut, pine, chestnut, nuts, plum gui, sugar porridge."

"Ming Palace History" recipe: "(Ming Palace) a few days before the dates pounded broken bubble soup, to the early morning of the eighth, and then add round-grained rice, white fruits, walnut kernels, chestnuts, diamonds, rice porridge, offered to the Buddha in front of the Sacred and the room and lattice, the garden tree, wells and stoves, each distribution of the porridge cooked."

"Qingjia Records" recorded recipe: "(Suzhou) residents to vegetables and fruits into the rice porridge, adjusted to the congee; or there is a debt from the monks and nuns, the name is Buddha porridge."

The recipe recorded in "Dream of the Red Chamber": various colors of rice and beans plus five kinds of vegetables and fruits (jujubes, chestnuts, peanuts, mongoose, taro).

Song dynasty Wu Zimu wrote "Meng Liang record" volume six: "eight days, the temple is called 'Lapa'. Dasha Temple and other five-flavored porridge, called 'Laha congee'." At this time, the congee has become a folk custom, however, the emperor at that time also used to enlist the ministers. Yuan Sun Guozhi made "Yandu Tourism Zhi" cloud: "December 8, to give the hundred officials porridge, to rice and fruit mixed into the. The one who has more products is the winner, this cover follows the story of the Song Dynasty." Yongle Grand Dictionary, "is the eighth day of the month, the Zen family called the eighth day, cooking the scripture porridge for the Buddha rice monks". On the eighth day of December, Kaifeng, Tokyo, the major temples to send seven treasures and five flavors of porridge, that is, "Lapa congee". Meng Yuanlao "Tokyo Dreaming Records" recorded that on the eighth day of the twelfth month, each temple to send seven treasures and five flavors of porridge for the disciples to drink, called "Lapa congee", also known as "Buddha congee". Lu You, a great poet of the Song Dynasty, said in a poem: "This day, the Buddha porridge more feed each other, and realize that the festival of the village is new." It is also said that the congee is sent on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. Zhou Mi, a literati of the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote "The Old Story of Wulin", which said, "Congee made from walnuts, pine nuts, milky Qin, persimmons, chestnuts and the like is called Laha congee."

To the Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng three years (1725 AD) Shizong will be the Beijing Andingmen in the east of the State Prison House into the Yonghegong, every Laha day, in the palace Wanfu Pavilion and so on, with pots of congee and invited to the Lama monks chanting, and then will be divided into porridge to the ministers of the royal palace, tasting and eating in order to spend the holiday. "Guangxu Shuntianfu Zhi" and the cloud: "the eighth day of the eighth lunar month of each year, Yonghe official congee, customized, sent ministers to monitor, cover for the meal." Laha congee is also called "seven treasures porridge", "five flavors porridge". The earliest congee is red beans to cook, and then evolved, plus local characteristics, gradually colorful up. Qing people Fucha Dun Chong in the "Yanjing times" in the said "Laha congee, with yellow rice, white rice, rice, millet, lingzhi rice, chestnuts, peeled jujube mud, and water to cook, outside the use of dyed red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnut, pine nuts and white sugar, brown sugar, Zuo Zuo grapes for dyeing and cutting can not be used with lotus seeds, lentils, rice, cinnamon, with the taste is hurt. Each to wax seven days, is stripped of fruit polyester, skill night operation, to dawn when the porridge is cooked. In addition to sacrifices first for the Buddha, feed friends and relatives, shall not pass the noon. And with red dates, peach kernels, etc. made of lions, children, etc., to see the ingenuity", quite characteristic of the capital.

Tianjin people cook congee on the 8th day of the month, similar to Beijing, more elaborate and add lotus seeds, lilies, pearl rice, Italian rice, barley kernel, glutinous millet, sticky yellow rice, kidney beans, green beans, cinnamon meat, longan meat, white fruit, red dates and sugar water cinnamon, etc., color, aroma and taste excellent. In recent years, there are also added black rice. This kind of Laba congee can be used for therapeutic purposes, and has the effect of strengthening the spleen, appetizing, replenishing qi, tranquilizing the mind, clearing the heart and nourishing the blood.

Shanxi's congee, also known as eight treasures porridge, millet-based, additional cowpeas, small beans, mung beans, jujubes, and sticky rice, rice, rice, rice and other cooking. Jin Dongnan area, the fifth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year with small beans, red beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, glutinous rice, persimmon cake, water porridge, also known as sweet rice, is also one of the food customs.

Shaanxi Plateau in the day of the eight, porridge in addition to a variety of rice, beans, but also to add a variety of dried fruits, tofu and meat mixed into. Usually cooked in the morning, or sweet or salty, according to people's tastes, choose your own discretion. If it is eaten at lunchtime, but also in the congee cooked on some noodles, the family reunion **** meal. After eating, but also the porridge will be smeared on the door, stove and outside the door on the tree to drive away evil spirits to avoid disasters, to meet the next year's bumper crop of agriculture. Folklore, Lahai this day avoid eating vegetables, said to eat Lai crop weeds. Southern Shaanxi people Lahai to eat mixed porridge, divided into "five flavors" and "eight flavors" two kinds. The former with rice, glutinous rice, peanuts, white fruit, beans cooked. The latter with the above five ingredients in addition to adding diced meat, tofu, radish, in addition to add flavorings. In addition to eating congee on the day of Lapa, people also have to use the congee to worship ancestors and granaries.

Traditionally, Gansu people cook congee with grains, vegetables, cooked in addition to family members to eat, but also sent to neighbors, but also used to feed livestock. In Lanzhou, Silver City area, Lahai congee cooked very carefully, with rice, beans, jujubes, white fruit, lotus seeds, raisins, dried apricots, dried gourds, walnuts, green and red silk, sugar, diced meat and so on. After cooking, it is first used to honor the gods of door, stove, earth and wealth, praying for good weather and good harvests in the coming year; then it is distributed to relatives and neighbors, and finally enjoyed by the whole family. Gansu Wuwei region to pay attention to the "vegetarian Lahai", eat rice thick rice, lentil rice or thick rice, cooked with fried loose seeds, sesame flowers with food, folklore called it "lentil congee bubble loose".

Ningxia people do Lahai rice generally with lentils, soybeans, red beans, fava beans, black beans, rice, potatoes, porridge, plus wheat flour or buckwheat noodles cut into rhombus-shaped willow leaf blade "wheat spike", or made into a small round egg "bird head", out of the pot! Before serving, it is fried with green onion oil. The whole family eats only Laha rice on this day, not vegetables.

The people of Xining in Qinghai, though mostly Han Chinese, do not eat congee on Lahai, but eat rice with wheat kernels. Will be newly milled wheat kernels, and beef and mutton with cooking, plus green salt, ginger, pepper, fruits, seedling incense and other condiments, after a night of simmering fire, meat, wheat mingled into a creamy, early in the morning, uncovering the pot, the aroma of the nose, eat delicious.

Shandong "Kongfu food system", the provisions of the "Lapa congee" in two kinds, one is with rice kernels, cinnamon, lotus seeds, lilies, chestnuts, jujubes, round-grained rice, etc. boiled, into a bowl and also add some "congee fruit! ", mainly carved into various shapes of fruits, is a garnish. This kind of porridge is exclusively for the master of the Confucius House and the master of the twelve houses to eat. The other is cooked with rice, meat, cabbage, tofu, etc., is for the Confucius House when they drink.

Henan people eat rice on the eighth day of the month, is millet, green beans, cowpeas, wheat nuts, peanuts, jujubes, maize, such as eight kinds of raw materials with the boiled, cooked with some brown sugar, walnuts, porridge thick flavor, a metaphor for the coming year of the five grains of abundance.

Jiangsu region to eat Lapa congee sweet and salty two, the same cooking method. Just savory porridge is to add vegetables and oil. Suzhou people cook Laha congee to put mushrooms, water chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, gravy, jujubes, chestnuts, fungus, bok choy, enoki mushrooms and so on. Li Fu, a Suzhou literati in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem, "The congee on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year is passed down from the kingdom of Van, the seven treasures are beautifully blended, and the five flavors are fragrantly mixed in."

Zhejiang people cook congee on the eighth day of the month generally use walnut kernel, pine nut kernel, fructus cornutum, lotus seed, red dates, cinnamon meat, lychee meat, etc., sweet and savory, eat to pray for a long life. It is said that this method of cooking porridge from Nanjing, which contains a number of legends.

Sichuan, a large number of people, Lapa congee practice a variety of sweet, salty and spicy, while rural people eat more savory, mainly with soybeans, peanuts, diced meat, white radish, carrots boiled into. Strangers come here to taste, although into the local customs, but it is difficult to get used to, nowadays city people eat sweet porridge is also a lot of, can be called different flavors. Lapa and porridge can be said to be closely related, and porridge drinking in Lapa, is also considered to drink out of the pattern, drink out of the level.

Hebei Lahai congee production method: the big white cloud beans in advance (preferably the first night soak, the next day with) soak to fat; white lotus seeds with hot water, go green core, with white cloud beans first into the cooking pot to cook for 20 minutes, and then add rice, glutinous rice, wheat kernel, Ge Xun rice, jujube and rice beans, chestnuts to remove the hard shell and underwear. Wash the above ingredients, put them into a pot, add enough water, boil over high heat, change to low heat and cook slowly for 40 minutes, until the porridge is thick and sticky beans, jujube rotten when it stops. When the porridge is cooked, add honey cinnamon, brown sugar (or brown sugar first boiled into sugar juice, added to the porridge) mix well that is to become.

From the nutritional effect, Lapa congee has the spleen, appetizer, tonic, tranquility, clear the heart, nourishing the blood, and have the effect of cold, is a winter tonic, so it can be inherited for hundreds of generations and does not decline.

La Baigi garlic

Old Beijing people, the first eight days of the lunar month, the atmosphere of the New Year day race over the day, most areas in northern China on the first eight days of the lunar month, there is vinegar soaked garlic custom, called "La Baigi garlic".

According to the old man, the word garlic, and the word "count" homophone, this is a family of merchants to close the books on this day, the year's income and expenditure out of the calculations, you can see the profit and loss, including foreign debt and foreign debt, are to be counted on this day, "Lahai calculations". That's how it is. Lahai this day to debtors, to owe him money to send a letter to the family, should be ready to pay money. There is a folk proverb in Beijing: "Laha congee, Laha garlic, send a letter to the debtor; the debtor pays the money." Later, those who owed money to others used garlic instead of the word "count" to show that it was taboo to avoid the word "count", but in fact, those who owed money to others had to pay it back after all. Old Beijing near the end of the year, the streets and alleys of Hutong sell spicy vegetables, but no sale of Lapacho garlic. Why? You think ah, selling Laha garlic have to yell it, how to yell? How do you do that? You just yell, "Garlic!" Debtors hear the yelling heart thumped, how the streets and shouting debt collection ah! Besides, you are a small business with whom to count which! People do not count with you is good, so Lahai garlic can not be down the street yelling, are a family of their own hands to soak Lahai garlic, their own first to their own calculations, this year, how to live in this year.

Soak Lahai garlic have to use the purple skin garlic and rice vinegar, garlic cloves to the old skin, immersed in rice vinegar, installed into a small altar sealed tightly, to the New Year's Eve to unseal the garlic cloves Zhanqing emerald green, garlic spicy acetic acid aroma dissolved in the nose together, pungent, is to eat dumplings the best condiments, mixing gazpacho can be used, the flavor is unique.

Why do you need purple garlic? The garlic cloves are small and soaked through, the garlic cloves are hard and solid, and the garlic is crispy and fragrant.

Why should I use rice vinegar to soak garlic? The color of rice vinegar is light, the color of garlic is like the first time, orange and green, the taste is sour and spicy moderately, the aroma is strong and slightly sweet. That old vinegar smoked vinegar soaked garlic color black, garlic cloves are not green enough, taste is poor, especially smoked vinegar, slightly paste, perhaps this is its characteristics,

LaBaTouFu

"LaBaTouFu" is the Anhui Qianxian folk flavor specialties, in the Spring Festival on the eve of the Lunar New Year Lahai, that is, before and after the eighth of December on the Lunar calendar, Qianxian families will make sun-dried tofu, and then make the tofu. Every family has to make tofu in the sun, and the people call this natural sun-dried tofu "Laha tofu".

Jade Jasper Lahai Garlic

Bubbling Lahai Garlic is a custom in the north, especially in northern China. As the name suggests, it is to soak the garlic on the day of the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. In fact, the material is very simple, is vinegar and garlic cloves. The practice is also extremely simple, the peeled garlic cloves into a can, bottle or other container can be sealed inside, and then poured into the vinegar, seal the mouth to a cold place. Slowly, soaked in vinegar garlic will become green, and finally will become a body turquoise, as jade jasper.

Cooking "five beans"

Some places over the Lahai porridge, not called "Lahai porridge", but called cooking "five beans", some in the day of Lahai cooking, some in the first five days of Lahai cooked. On the fifth day of the first month of Lunar New Year was cooked, but also with the surface pinch some "birds head", and rice, beans (five kinds of beans) with cooking. It is said that people ate the "bird head", sparrow headache, the next year does not harm the crops. The "five beans" were cooked, and in addition to self-consumption, they were also given to relatives and neighbors. Every day at dinner to get hot with food, eat until the twenty-third of the waxing moon, symbolizing a year of surplus.

La Bao noodles

Some places in the north of China do not produce or less rice, people do not eat La Bao congee, but to eat La Bao noodles. Every other day with a variety of fruits and vegetables into a bashful, the noodles rolled out, to the morning of the eighth of Lunar New Year, the whole family to eat Lunar New Year's noodles.

Selecting ingredients for Laha congee is important

Today, there are ingredients for Laha congee in supermarkets, but you can also choose the ingredients for Laha congee according to your own dietary habits as well as your health condition, so that your Laha congee will have a unique flavor.

The main ingredient of Laha congee is cereal, commonly used japonica rice, glutinous rice and barley. Japonica rice contains protein, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron and other ingredients, has a tonic in the qi, nourish the spleen and stomach, and the five viscera, in addition to annoyance and thirst, and benefit the function of essence. Glutinous rice has the effect of warming the spleen and benefiting the qi, suitable for those who have low function of the spleen and stomach to eat, for the deficiency of cold and discharge, deficiency of thirst, urination, etc. has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect. Chinese medicine believes that Job's tears have the function of strengthening the spleen, tonifying the lungs, clearing heat and dampness, often eaten on chronic enteritis, dyspepsia and other diseases also have a good effect. Dietary fiber-rich Job's tears have the effect of preventing hyperlipidemia, hypertension, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Beans are "Lapa congee" ingredients, commonly used soybeans, red beans. Soybean protein, fat, carbohydrates, crude fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, etc., very nutritious, and has a lower blood cholesterol, prevention of cardiovascular disease, inhibition of a variety of malignant tumors, prevention of osteoporosis and a variety of health care functions. Red beans contain protein, fat, carbohydrates, crude fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, etc., Chinese medicine believes that this product has the spleen and dry dampness, diuresis and swelling of the function of the spleen deficiency diarrhea, as well as edema has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect.

Not to underestimate the therapeutic effect of "Lapa congee" in the nuts, peanuts and walnuts are indispensable ingredients. Peanuts have a "fruit of life" reputation, with moisturizing the lungs, and stomach, cough, diuretic, under the breast and many other functions. Walnut kernel has a tonic kidney gas, brain, strong bones, but also to enhance appetite, hair, walnut kernel contains vitamin E is recognized by the medical profession of anti-aging drugs.

If you add lamb, dog meat, chicken and so on in the "Lapa congee", it will make Lapa congee nutritional and tonic value doubled. For patients with high blood pressure, may wish to add some white radish, celery in the congee, for patients with frequent insomnia, if the congee with some longan meat, jujube nuts will play a very good role in nourishing the heart and tranquility of the mind, He Shouwu, goji berries have the effect of prolonging life, the role of blood lipids also have auxiliary regulating effect, is the old man's therapeutic good food. Oats have the effect of reducing blood cholesterol concentration, consumption of oats can slow down the rise of blood glucose value, add oats in carbohydrate food can inhibit the rise of blood glucose value, so for diabetes and diabetes combined with cardiovascular disease patients, may wish to put some oats in the porridge. Jujube is also a kind of beneficial qi and blood, spleen therapeutic good, on the spleen and stomach weakness, blood deficiency atrophy and lung deficiency cough and other diseases have a certain effect.