Legends of Guangxi: Dietary Characteristics of Guangxi Ethnic Minorities

Guangxi ethnic minorities mostly to rice as the staple food, corn, potatoes, followed (lack of paddy fields in the mountainous areas of ethnic minorities also have corn as the staple food). Guangxi ethnic minorities mostly love to eat glutinous rice, festivals are also made into five-color flower rice or rice, wheat, cassava and other processed into powder, made into patties and other food. Most of them love to drink wine, and some of them make wine in every household, and even can't live without wine every day. The Miao, Dong, Muo, Maonan, and Shui ethnic groups are fond of sour food and love to pickle all kinds of sour vegetables, sour meat, and sour fish. Rongshui Miao people also have a unique custom of "vinegar soaked rice", and some ethnic groups like spicy food and smoking. "Chili bone" is a famous dish loved by many ethnic minorities. The Jing people who live by the sea like to eat sea food, and their meat is mainly fish and shrimp. Some ethnic minorities retain various special dietary customs such as drinking blood wine. Dietary habits with national characteristics include: playing oil tea, making five-color rice, Yao bird vinegar and Maonan vegetable beef and special dried sweet potatoes and so on. There are also many different dietary practices of various ethnic groups in different regions. For example, Zhuang, Jing and other ethnic groups have the traditional custom of chewing betel nut, which is still popular among Zhuang women in Longzhou and other places. In some places, betel nut is still a must for entertaining guests. Dong, Yao and other ethnic groups have "chicken head to honor the guest" ritual. In the Yao region, if the matchmaker can't eat the chicken head when asking for marriage, it means that the marriage may fall through. Some Yao people avoid eating dog meat. The Hui avoid eating pork, lard, dead animals and animal blood, and are not allowed to drink or smoke. Part of the Zhuang region, as well as Yao, Muoi, Maonan, Yi and other minority groups, still retain the custom of drinking blood wine.

Yao:

Bird vinegar

"Bird frying" is part of the Yao Mountain Yao people pickled a special flavor of food. Every year in the late fall and early spring, in the mountains installed "bird pots", migratory birds were lured to the pots to drink water, that is, pre-painted in the pots on the side of the bird glue stuck. After the birds are slaughtered, they are mixed with rice flour and salt and sealed in altar jars to be made as a delicacy for guests. There are also fish and meat fry, which can be aged for several years or even decades, reserved for major festivals and entertaining guests.

Miao:

Miao diet, mainly rice, mixed with corn, millet. Generally love to drink, addicted to chili peppers and all kinds of pickles. There is a morning and afternoon " oil tea " habit, and the Dong ethnic group is basically the same.

Playing oil tea

Playing oil tea is a unique dietary habit of the Dong, Miao, Yao and other ethnic groups living in mountainous areas with the tradition of planting oil tea. Playing oil tea is tea with a small hammer up to broken fried yellow, with a small pot to cook into a thick soup, and then add salt to taste, and then used to brew fried rice flowers, fried soybeans or fried peanuts, fried fruits and other things into, crispy and delicious, a unique flavor. You can also add pig's jowl or dumplings, glutinous rice, garlic leaves, etc., or made sweet, depending on the prepared ingredients and personal preferences. Oil tea is not only an indispensable diet in the life of these ethnic minority people, but also a kind of ceremonial hospitality to relatives and friends, especially visitors from afar, which can be made at any time of the day, regardless of morning, noon and night. Sanjiang, Longsheng and other places of the Dong, where you are invited to eat hit "oil tea", is your respect, if you speak politely do not drink, is disrespectful to the host.