Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional stories - Reunion is the taste of Yuanxiao. What's the difference between glutinous rice balls and Yuanxiao?

Reunion is the taste of Yuanxiao. What's the difference between glutinous rice balls and Yuanxiao?

1. The difference in practice: the practice of glutinous rice dumplings is to mix the stuffing and wrap it in noodles, and the practice of Yuanxiao is to wet the stuffing with water and roll it into a ball on glutinous rice flour.

2. The second is the difference in cooking: Tangyuan can be used in water for 3-5 minutes, while Yuanxiao cooking takes about 10 minutes.

Tangyuan, also known as Yuanxiao, Tangtuan and Piao Zi Yuan, is one of the representatives of traditional snacks in China, and it is a spherical food made of glutinous rice flour. There are usually fillings, which are cooked and eaten with soup. At the same time, it is also the most distinctive food of the Lantern Festival with a long history.

According to legend, Tangyuan originated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, Mingzhou (now Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province) began to eat a novel food, which was filled with black sesame seeds and lard, with a little sugar, and wrapped in glutinous rice flour. After cooking, it tastes sweet, delicious and interesting. Because this kind of dumpling is floating and heavy when cooked in a pot, it was originally called "floating Zi Yuan", and was later renamed as dumpling in some areas.

Yuanxiao is one of the traditional snacks in China, which belongs to the eating custom of Lantern Festival. The practice of Yuanxiao is mainly stuffing, which is mixed first, then spread into large round pieces, dried and cut into squares smaller than table tennis. Then put the stuffing into a machine like a big sieve, pour the rice flour on it and "sieve" it. As the fillings collide with each other, the rice sticks to the surface of the fillings and becomes spherical, which becomes Yuanxiao. The North "rolls" Yuanxiao and the South "wraps" Tangyuan, which are two foods with different practices and tastes.

This legend is related to the custom of eating Yuanxiao: According to legend, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a favorite named Dong Fangshuo, who was kind and funny. One winter, it snowed heavily for several days, and Dong Fangshuo went to the Imperial Garden to fold plum blossoms for Emperor Wu. As soon as I entered the garden gate, I found a maid-in-waiting in tears ready to throw herself into the well. Dong Fangshuo rushed forward to help and asked her why she committed suicide.

It turns out that this maid-in-waiting is named Yuanxiao, and there are parents and a sister at home. She has never seen her family since she entered the palace. Every spring comes, I miss my family more than usual. I think in front of my parents, I would rather die than be filial. Dong Fangshuo expressed deep sympathy for her suffering and assured her that she would try her best to reunite with her family.

One day, Dong Fangshuo left the palace and set up a divination pavilion on Chang 'an Avenue. Many people are scrambling to find him for divination. Unexpectedly, what everyone wants is the signature of "burning us on the 16th day of the first month". Suddenly, there was a panic in Chang 'an. People are looking for a solution to the disaster. Dong Fangshuo said, "On the 13th night of the first month, Vulcan will send a goddess in red to visit the earth. She is the messenger who ordered the burning of Chang 'an. I'll give you the copied poem and let the emperor do something. " Say that finish, then dropped a red pillar and roared off. The people picked up the red post and quickly sent it to the palace to report to the emperor.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took it and read: "Chang 'an is robbing, and the imperial palace is being burned. It has been burning for fifteen days, and the midnight snack is red." He was so scared that he hurriedly invited resourceful Dong Fangshuo. Dong Fangshuo thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Vulcan likes to eat dumplings. Don't Yuanxiao in the palace often make dumplings for you? Let Yuanxiao package jiaozi on 15th night.

Long live the incense and offerings, and order every family in Kyoto to pack jiaozi and worship Vulcan together. Then tell the subjects to hang lights together on the fifteenth night and set off firecrackers and fireworks all over the city, as if the whole city were on fire, so that the jade emperor could be fooled. In addition, the people outside the city were informed that they would go to the city to watch the lights on the fifteenth night, and they would eliminate disasters and solve problems in the crowd. Emperor Wu was very happy, so he ordered to do it according to Dong Fangshuo's method.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, Chang 'an City was decorated with colorful lights, crowded with tourists and very lively. The parents of the maid-in-waiting Yuanxiao also took their sister to the city to see the lights. When they saw the big palace lantern with the words "Yuanxiao" written on it, they shouted in surprise: "Yuanxiao! Lantern Festival! " When Yuanxiao heard the shouts, she was finally reunited with her relatives at home.