Traditional Dragon Boat Festival eats five reds.

Nanjing people have the custom of "eating five reds during the Dragon Boat Festival". The so-called "five red dishes" usually refer to roast duck, amaranth, duck eggs in red oil, lobster and eel. It is reported that the "auspicious" time of the Dragon Boat Festival is noon, and at least 80% families in Nanjing get together for lunch at this time, which is called "enjoying the afternoon" and eating "five reds" to resist viruses and ward off evil spirits. Legend has it that a long time ago, the jade emperor announced that the poison in the sky would not come down to earth until the first spring thunder, so people called that thunder. But some poisons are afraid of cold, so we have an appointment to go to harm the world together after the warm weather on the Dragon Boat Festival. These five poisons are snakes, spiders, scorpions, centipedes and geckos. They came to this world on the Dragon Boat Festival. Just arrived at the door of a family, I heard the hostess of that family say, eat quickly, this is the five poisons of frying. Wudu was surprised, so he looked out of the window and saw five red dishes in five basins on the table. The hostess ate and said, this five-poison dish is really delicious. "Five red vegetables" became their blood in the eyes of the five poisons. Frightened out of her wits, the five poisons fled this house in a hurry and never dared to go again. In the future, people will eat five kinds of red dishes on the Dragon Boat Festival to scare away those poisonous animals, hoping that they will not enter their homes. "Five red dishes" are not only the holiday dishes of Dragon Boat Festival, but also the seasonal delicacies in early summer. Among them, amaranth contains a lot of red pigment, which can clear away heat and fire and is beneficial to health; Monopterus albus has high nutritional value and medicinal value, and is rich in vitamin A. Eating more can improve eyesight and remove fire. Shrimp can tonify kidney-yang and nourish poison; Duck meat can clear away heat, promote diuresis and detoxify; Duck eggs are sweet in taste and cool in nature, and have the functions of nourishing yin, clearing away lung heat, nourishing tendons and moistening skin. "Five Red Dishes" is not only a simple meal, but also reflects the traditional ideas and good wishes of China people: reunion and health.