Data Map: Wuhan time-honored traditional handmade dumplings are selling well. China News Agency issued ZhangChang photo
Chinanews. com client March 2 (Reporter Shangguan Yun) Today is the Lantern Festival, people have started to buy according to their tastes, and merchants have launched various promotional activities according to the situation. Then, do you know why we eat glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival? What are the beautiful meanings in it?
Lantern Festival, also known as "Shangyuan Festival" or "Lantern Festival", appeared in the Han Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Lantern Festival, together with Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, was called the three traditional folk festivals in China, with a history of more than 2,000 years. The symbolic eating is "Tangyuan".
According to public information, in the Tang and Five Dynasties, you had to eat "cocoon flour" and "round without falling into the corner" at the Lantern Festival, and in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a "lactose dumpling". In the poem "Boiling a floating dumpling at the Lantern Festival", there was a sentence like "the stars are in the dark clouds, and the beads are floating in turbid water". These foods can be regarded as the predecessors of glutinous rice balls. By the Ming Dynasty, there were more names for "Yuanxiao".
Data map: Beijing time-honored brands are now shaking Yuanxiao, which is in short supply.
Dumplings are made in different ways from Yuanxiao, which is "shaken" and wrapped. The fillings can be vegetarian, sweet and salty, and there are many patterns. The sweet fillings generally include bean paste, jujube paste, nuts, etc., and the salty fillings generally include diced fresh meat and shrimp.
In addition, there are dumplings filled with vegetables, which are composed of mustard, onion, garlic, leek and ginger. They are called "Five-flavor Yuanxiao", which means hard work, long-term progress. In recent years, there have been various "trendy" flavors of glutinous rice balls, such as strawberries, mangoes, durians, flowers, chocolates, etc., and some merchants have even introduced frozen fruit Yuanxiao that does not need to be cooked in the pot.
Recalling the Lantern Festival when I was a child, Zhong Qin, who lives in Nanjing, said that there are different names for Lantern Festival and glutinous rice balls in Nanjing, and the boundaries are not so obvious. When I was a child, I always ate glutinous rice balls.
Data map: there are also skills in rubbing dumplings, otherwise they will bloom as soon as they are cooked. Photo by ZhangChang
"Whenever we approach the Lantern Festival, we begin to prepare noodles and fillings. Take boiled water and noodles first, and add water a little. " Zhong Qin said that every time the family made dumplings, they were very happy. "There are many kinds of fillings. The traditional flavors are sesame, bean paste, pure meat and vegetable meat. Later, white sugar with suet and peanuts with brown sugar were used, which was delicious."
How to eat dumplings? Many people may say "cooking", but in fact, there are many methods such as steaming, frying and frying, which are equally delicious. Zhong Qin said that when frying, the oil should drown the dumplings. Put the wrapped raw dumplings directly into the boiling oil pan, turn them gently, and then fish them out when they turn golden yellow. "Sometimes the fried dumplings will swell up and taste crispy and delicious.".
"The shape of glutinous rice balls is similar to that of a full moon, symbolizing reunion and good luck. Therefore, eating glutinous rice balls represents the wish of family reunion and harmony." Gao Wei, a folk expert, explained that no matter whether it’s called Tangyuan or Yuanxiao, no matter what kind of production method, people’s good wishes for their future life are pinned. (Zhong Qin is a pseudonym) (End)