What is the origin of the first day of the lunar month to eat popcorn?

The first day of the waxing moon, Qixian and other places in Jinzhong have eaten popcorn custom, take the intention to get rid of a hundred diseases. The proverb has: "the first day of the waxing moon do not eat fried, a up a down; the first day of the waxing moon a jump, and free from disaster to go to the disease". This is the first line of the ballad about Lunar New Year in the month of Lunar New Year. Here the pop is also the meaning of collapse. Popcorn in Qixian County is also known as "fried flowers". Because it is about to be the first day of the waxing moon, and the first day of the waxing moon is "biting disaster" days, every night in the waxing moon late, Qixian people eat to "popcorn", called "biting disaster". In order to peace and good luck in the coming year. First, in order to give the children to play the teeth, the second is through the stick flower in the pot popped "crackling" lively sound, heralding the end of the year the end of the year, the resignation of the old and welcome the new has begun. Hours always gathered around the popcorn in front of the heel, watching the master shake the black cocoon like tube while pulling the fan to blow the fire, waiting for him to take down the tube against the pocket, with a foot stomped hard, partners will go to grab the corn flower splashed on the ground around. Sometimes home with a big pot of their own fried, around the fireplace to help fry also take the opportunity to secretly fish a few hot hands red. However, you can't fry it yourself, but at most it will crack a few slits, like a budding flower. I believe that older friends have the same experience and feelings with me. If the rice flower is no longer a rarity, the daily market has a lightweight corn processor with cream and saccharin, but also specialized in sweet corn. It sure tastes good yet less pleasurable and expected.

Popcorn is corn kernels into an airtight container (popcorn machine) heated and pressurized to a certain pressure to let it instantly released, the first day of the waxing moon popcorn - Qixian Folklore and Culture Notes rely on the pressure of the changes in the rice into popcorn. Its processing does not put chemical raw materials, is a very environmentally friendly physical processing. Popcorn machine like a gourd, one end is connected to the pressure gauge and rotating frame, the other end of the opening, cover open with bolts bolted to the mouth side of the popcorn machine, sealing with the other side of a little bite, and there are organs to lock. The rice popper is placed horizontally on an iron stand, underneath which it is heated by a stove. Container preheating, you can put the rice into it, cover the lid, by the wind box on the furnace wind, and then heated, constantly rotating the rice popper left and right so that the rice does not burn, the pressure must be, the rice popper away from the source of the fire, sealing against the sacks of popcorn to start sealing, a blunt sound, corn rushes out into the popcorn. Popcorn machine processing is not only corn, but also can be sorghum, soybeans, wheat kernels, etc..

In recent years, I have seen people processed corn into popcorn, corn with a little fluffing agent, into the pressure cooker, the pressure cooker heating, plus ordinary lid, the lid of the pot with a stirring device, the pot of corn can be stirred constantly, a few minutes after the popcorn into the. Against the traditional popcorn process, the program is much easier, but there are fluffing agent, can still eat more? The same nature as the machine processed a food - fried rice, is the whole process by hand processed by the environmental protection of food, people will be placed in the rice soaked in brine for several days, filtered up to turn the sun, with sand heated frying, and then frying the rice sieve loaded up to filter the sand can be obtained from the fried rice. Popcorn (also known as fried rice) compared with the popcorn machine popping, hand-processed fried rice crispy and delicious, will not be softened by moisture, but the yield is low. Popcorn (fried rice) as raw materials for the product, when the fried rice sugar for the most delicious, especially hand-processed fried rice itself salty, crispy and delicious, add sugar, the flavor is more unique. On the street, processing fried rice sugar stalls are often connected with the popcorn machine, just popped out of the popcorn at this time crispy, processed immediately after sealing up, retained for a long time without moisture weakness. Processing fried rice sugar, first put a bowl of water in a large iron pot, some sugar, citric acid, heating the sugar water into a viscous sugar thin, into the fried rice, fried peanut rice, fried sesame seeds, stirring evenly after the pot, poured on the door of the pre-positioned mold frame, compacted with a roller, cut into small pieces, withdraw the mold frame, cut the fried rice sugar neat yards, into the gelatin bag or fruit box to save.

There are also people in the countryside who fry their own corn flowers. Outside the village of the mound of the shaded handful of a dustpan of fine sand, go home with a sieve to sieve the sand clean, and then take out the corn from the sack or from the front yard of the present house corn rack (many people put the corn in the yard on the wooden frame, air-dried, and so eat and then rolled into grains to grind the flour) to take a few full of corn cobs, rubbing down the corn kernels, ready to fry the corn flower. In fact, with a large iron pan fried corn flower is also a technical job, not very good fried, grasp the fire, corn kernels on the frying of not much, or paste or "dead" more. Frying corn flower is usually mom or dad's work, the first big iron pot burned dry, and then poured into a dustpan of fine sand, the sand is hot, spread out the sand, put the corn kernels in the middle of the sand, and then shovel around the sand is buried in the top of the corn kernels, and then burned slowly with a small fire, after a while, hear the sand, "pfft" ringing, a sound, a sound, two sound, three sound, wait until the sound is more and more dense, the sound is more and more dense. Wait until the sound is more and more dense, with the fastest speed with a shovel to stir around, sand with corn kernels rolling up and down, only to hear "crackling, crackling, crackling," focusing on the sound of explosions, with firecrackers about the same.

Popcorn on the first day of the Lunar New Year - Qixian County Folk Culture Notes Fast Lunar New Year's Day, the county's streets and alleys can be heard "bang bang" sound, which is in the popcorn. Children are also happy to follow the jump, that just entered the month of Lunar New Year to prepare for the festive flavor of the New Year also together in the explosion of corn flower with the cold wind and cold snow together with the diffusion of the opening. Two or three days before the first day of the Chinese New Year, the county countryside is sure to come to a middle-aged man with a popcorn machine, do not have to yell, in the center of the village at the intersection, set up a small fireplace, installed hair dryer and popcorn machine, through the pre-seen children a burst of surprise shouts, it quickly spread throughout the village. By this time it was mainly children or a few adults from every household who came to pop corn kernels in large bowls, enameled cylinders or plates. Families want to take advantage of the sound of corn flower explosions, to the upcoming New Year's luck, a red-hot year. Popping from the afternoon until dark, sometimes the sky also fluttered with snowflakes or blowing a cold wind, popcorn man or one hand not slow pulling the hair dryer, and sometimes there are enthusiastic and active older children to help pull the hair dryer, the other hand a circle a circle rotating popcorn machine, from time to time to look at the pressure gauge, and so the pressure gauge pointer to the specified position, they lift the popcorn machine, the popcorn machine outlet aligned with a black rubber mouth in front of a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long rubber mouth behind a long cloth bag, kicked the base of the popcorn machine, and then shouted: burst ah, timid cover your ears ah. Then use a wrench to move open the lid of the popcorn machine, some children may not have covered their ears, you hear a bang bang, the popcorn flew into the long cloth pocket. Then there was no need to care; the children of the main family themselves would go and pour the popcorn from the cloth pockets into the wicker baskets. At this point the man blew on the front rim of the popcorn maker with his mouth or wiped it with a rag, then took the corn handed over by the next child, measured the amount of corn to be put into the enameled jar he had brought with him, poured it into the iron belly of the popcorn maker, then put in a little bit of saccharin, screwed on the lid, placed the popcorn maker on the iron stand above the fire, pulled up the hair dryer, and began a new round of work. At that time, the rural children to be more naughty and more naughty, climbing trees in winter to poke magpies nest, ice skating to play brochette, donkey riding in the wheat field, fighting and cursing, it is really "three days do not get beaten up, on the house on the roof". So naughty children, waiting for popcorn, as long as a basket next to a basket put in place, the children's team rows of crooked also does not matter, surely know who is first and who is after, there is no one to add a plug, and are waiting patiently, at best, can not help but want to a handful of popping good people's home cornflakes in advance to relieve their hunger. And popcorn of the man also no matter how anxious the children, still not slow turn the popcorn machine, only to see the red fire reflecting the children's anxious deep feelings, the cold wind and snow frozen red face plate, waiting for a pot of corn in the pot of corn in the sound of the explosion flew out, followed by a burst of children and a burst of leaping cheers.