Laba Congee
Laba congee originated as a Buddhist offering in Han Chinese monasteries, also known as the Seven Treasures Five Flavors Congee. The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month marks the day Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment, celebrated in Buddhism as the Dharma Treasure Festival, commonly called Laba Festival. Monasteries traditionally prepared this congee with fragrant grains and fruits to honor the Buddha.Later, this custom spread beyond monasteries, evolving into a folk tradition where people eat Laba porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to celebrate the harvest. This custom continues to this day. The earliest Laba porridge was made with red beans, but over time, regional variations and additions have enriched its ingredients.
Tianjin's Laba porridge preparation resembles Beijing's, with more elaborate versions incorporating lotus seeds, lily bulbs, pearl rice, adlay, barley kernels, glutinous millet, glutinous yellow rice, mung beans, red beans, longan flesh, lychee flesh, ginkgo nuts, red dates, and osmanthus-infused syrup. The result is a dish distinguished by its vibrant colors, enticing aroma, and exquisite flavor.In recent years, black rice has also been incorporated. This Laba porridge serves as a dietary remedy, offering benefits such as strengthening the spleen, stimulating appetite, replenishing qi, calming the mind, clearing the heart, and nourishing the blood.
Laba Festival Food Customs
1. Laba Tofu
Laba tofu is a folk specialty of Qian County, Anhui Province. Around Laba, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month preceding the Spring Festival, every household in Qian County sun-dries tofu. This naturally sun-dried tofu is known locally as Laba tofu.
2. Laba Rice Porridge
Ingredients: 500g japonica rice, 50g glutinous rice, 250g cured pork, 50g peanuts, 40g dried tofu, 20g rehydrated kelp, 80g white radish, 50g Chinese cabbage stalks, 3g ground pepper, 10g ginger slices, 10g salt.
Method:
(1) Rinse cured pork and cut into small pieces. Wash daikon radish, rehydrated kelp, dried tofu, and Chinese cabbage stalks; cut into bite-sized chunks. Rinse japonica rice, glutinous rice, and peanuts separately.
(2)Place a cast iron pot over high heat. Add water, cured pork, and ginger slices. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then add kelp and peanuts. Stir gently with a ladle. After about 5 minutes, add japonica rice and glutinous rice, stirring to combine. Add dried tofu, white radish, and Chinese cabbage stems, stirring again. Simmer until all ingredients soften. Sprinkle with ground pepper and salt, stirring to blend. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the liquid evaporates and the rice is fully cooked.
Tip: When cooking the rice, first boil the cured pork, then add kelp and peanuts. After a brief simmer, add rice, dried tofu, white radish, Chinese cabbage stems, and seasonings to ensure even cooking.
Characteristics: This rice dish features abundant ingredients, a savory aroma, and rich nutrition.
3. Laba Garlic
In old Beijing households, the festive atmosphere intensified daily as the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month approached. Across much of North China, this day marked the custom of pickling garlic in vinegar, known as Laba Garlic.
Elders explain that "garlic" (蒜) in Laba Garlic shares the same pronunciation as "calculate" (算). On this day, merchants would settle accounts, tallying annual income and expenses to determine profits or losses—including debts owed and owed to them—all to be settled precisely on Laba Day. Creditors would send messengers to debtors' homes, signaling repayment was due.A Beijing folk saying goes: "Laba porridge, Laba garlic—creditors send their messages; debtors repay their debts." Later, those owing money began substituting garlic for the word "calculate" to avoid the taboo of the accounting term. Yet debts owed must ultimately be repaid.In old Beijing, as the New Year approached, spicy pickles were sold in streets and alleys, but never Laba garlic. Why? Think about it: vendors would have to hawk their wares. How could they shout "Laba garlic, come buy!"?Debtors hearing the call would feel a pang of dread—how could someone be openly demanding payment on the street? Besides, who would a small vendor dare confront? It was fortunate if creditors didn't come after them. Thus, Laba garlic couldn't be hawked publicly. Instead, each household prepared their own batch, settling their own accounts first to determine how they would weather the coming year.
To make Laba garlic, use purple-skinned garlic and rice vinegar. Peel off the tough outer layers, submerge the cloves in vinegar, seal them in a small jar, and open it on New Year's Eve. The cloves turn a deep emerald green, their pungent garlic and tangy vinegar aromas blending into an irresistible fragrance. It's the perfect condiment for dumplings and also works wonderfully in cold dishes, offering a uniquely delightful taste.
Why purple-skinned garlic for Laba garlic? Its smaller cloves soak thoroughly, remaining firm and crisp—yielding crunchy, aromatic pickled garlic.
Why use rice vinegar? Its pale hue preserves the garlic's original color—vibrant orange and emerald green—while delivering perfectly balanced acidity and spiciness with a rich, subtly sweet aroma. Aged or smoked vinegars darken the garlic, dull its green hue, and compromise texture. Smoked vinegar even carries a faint burnt note—perhaps its defining characteristic.
4. Eating Ice
On the day before Laba, people typically freeze water in steel basins. By Laba Festival, they remove the ice and break it into chunks. Legend holds that ice from this day possesses magical properties—consuming it ensures freedom from stomachaches throughout the coming year.
5. Wheat Kernel Rice
In Xining, Laba Festival doesn't involve porridge but wheat kernel rice. On the evening of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, freshly milled wheat kernels are simmered overnight with beef or mutton, seasoned with rock salt, ginger peel, Sichuan pepper, cardamom, and star anise. The resulting dish emits an enticing aroma and is exceptionally delicious.Qinghai folklore holds that the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month marks the day Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment. Before his enlightenment, a shepherdess offered him milk porridge made from fragrant grains and fruits as an offering to the Buddha. This porridge was wheat kernel porridge, which later evolved into Qinghai's Laba porridge. Following this tradition, Qinghai locals created this distinctive dish, which has since gained popularity in restaurants.
Wheat kernels are prepared by either milling the husks off that year's new wheat or by carving ice into mortars. The kernels are then repeatedly pounded in these ice mortars to remove their outer skins and winnowed.The night before, wheat kernels were simmered with beef (or mutton, pork) overnight. Seasoned with rock salt, ginger peel, Sichuan pepper, cardamom, fennel, and other spices, the mixture was gently boiled until the meat, wheat, and spices formed a creamy paste. The ginger peel and Sichuan pepper, known for their warming properties, helped dispel the cold.In Qinghai, due to high altitude and daily temperature swings exceeding 20 degrees Celsius, mornings and evenings are particularly cold, necessitating warming foods. This explains why Sichuan pepper is widely used in Qinghai cuisine.
6. Laba Beans
Ingredients: Soybeans, salt, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger.
Method:
(1) Rinse soybeans, removing any hollow or damaged beans. Soak in cold water until plump, then drain. Place in a pot with water (enough to cover beans by 1 inch). Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer until tender.
(2) Drain the beans (reserve the cooking liquid with added salt for later use), spread them to cool in a cloth bag,
(3) Place the bag inside a straw sack or other container, wrap with straw or cotton batting for insulation, and store at approximately 20°C.After 2-3 days, the beans will become warm and develop white mold from fermentation. Remove and cool. (4) Transfer beans to a clay pot, add the reserved cooking liquid, and mix in seasonings: 50g salt per 500g beans,2 grams of Sichuan peppercorns, and finely chopped fresh ginger to taste. For those who enjoy spicy flavors, add 5 grams of chili powder and mix thoroughly. If the mixture lacks saltiness during mixing, add more salt. Finally, add a splash of white wine and mix well.
(5) Take a jar and wipe the inside with white wine. Transfer the mixed bean mixture into the jar, seal the opening tightly, and it will be ready to eat after 10 days.Laba beans can be used in various dishes—steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or deep-fried. They complement both meat and vegetarian meals as a delicious accompaniment. 7. Jade-Green Laba Garlic Soaking Laba garlic is a custom in northern China, particularly in North China. As the name suggests, garlic is pickled on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The ingredients are remarkably simple: vinegar and garlic cloves.The method is remarkably straightforward: place peeled garlic cloves in a sealable jar or bottle, pour in vinegar, seal it, and store in a cool place. Gradually, the garlic soaking in vinegar will turn green, eventually becoming entirely emerald-green, resembling jade.
8. Laba Noodles
In northern China's rice-scarce regions, people substitute Laba porridge with Laba noodles. The day before, they prepare a topping with various fruits and vegetables. On the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the whole family gathers to eat Laba noodles.
Laba Noodles evolved from Laba Congee. Historically, in areas like Dali, Lintong, and Fengxiang in Shaanxi, people cooked noodles to honor the gods on Laba Festival Day, hence the name Laba Noodles.Initially, Laba noodles in Guanzhong villages were made by boiling millet and soybeans into porridge with noodles. Later, a sauce made from eight kinds of vegetables and meat was added to the noodles. Nowadays, with improved living standards, people combine beans with various vegetable dishes. Walnut kernels, sesame seeds, peanuts, lotus seeds, greens, spinach, daylilies, and wood ear mushrooms are cooked together with noodles to make a nutritious and delicious soup noodle dish.As the twelfth lunar month arrives, the countryside fills with the aroma of the New Year. This fragrance wafts from the fragrant Laba dishes and Laba noodles.
9. Boiling Five Beans
In some regions, the Laba porridge is called "boiling five beans" instead. Some prepare it on Laba Day itself, while others start as early as the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. They also mold flour into sparrow heads and boil them together with rice and beans (five varieties). Legend holds that when sparrows eat these sparrow heads, they develop headaches and thus refrain from damaging crops the following year.Beyond personal consumption, these Five Beans are also gifted to relatives and neighbors. They are reheated daily and eaten alongside meals until the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, symbolizing abundance year after year.
Beyond Laba porridge, the foods described above are also enjoyed during Laba Festival. If you don't care for Laba porridge, you can choose from these alternatives—with so many options, there's bound to be one you'll love.