He Jin
Today is the eighth day of the first lunar month, which is often called "Lapa Eight" in the folk, and this month is also the last month of the year of Gengzi in the lunar calendar. At the end of the year, the meaning of "la" is three: one is "laver, followed by also", which means that the old and the new alternate (recorded in the Sui Shu Liturgical Chronicle); the second is "laver hunting", which refers to the hunting of animals and animals in the field to sacrifice ancestors to the gods, "lak" from the "meat" side, that is, the use of meat "winter sacrifice"; the third is "waxer, chasing the epidemic to welcome spring". The Shaanxi people's New Year flavor has a unique delicacy related to the Wax Moon - La Beef and Mutton.
"Lapa Porridge", "Lapa Rice", "Lapa Noodles"
On this day, "Lapa Ba" should drink "Lapa Porridge", not only at home to drink porridge, but also in the monastery will also give porridge. In ancient times, most of the temple porridge was to save the suffering and fill the stomachs of poor people, and now the temple porridge is more of a good will to send blessings, and the major monasteries in Xi'an, Lapa Eight day porridge has been a tradition for many years. "On the day of Lapa Ba, the people of southern Shaanxi should cook mixed porridge to eat, and at the same time teach young people to be diligent and thrifty, and when eating mixed porridge, they must freeze some porridge left, and add a spoonful to the rice every day, which means that the grain is surplus, not suffering from famine, and it is inexhaustible to eat all year round. After eating the porridge, the waxing moon is over, and the New Year solstice.
In northern Shaanxi, people not only drink "Laba porridge", but also eat "Laba stewed rice". In the Chronicle of Yansui Town, it is said: "December 8 is called Daodela. Use yellow millet as millet, and put oil and salt in the middle, which is called rice. It also uses eight kinds of rice beans as porridge, also known as Lapa Eight Porridge. "Lapa rice is made from soft grain rice, soft yellow rice, red dates, cowpeas, brown sugar, etc., and slowly simmered over low heat.
The vast Weibei Plateau is rich in wheat, and the customs of the Guanzhong people in the past, especially in the Chengcheng area around Weibei in Shaanxi Province, do not drink porridge and eat Lapa Noodles instead. Radish, tofu, diced meat, etc. are made into a bun, rolled out the noodles and then poured with the noodles for the whole family to eat, in order to ensure that the next year will be rich in grains and family peace. (See [He Dahu's Rumors on Qin Customs] Shaanxi people are very colorful!) ）
Shaanxi's unique wax food - wax beef and mutton
According to records, as early as 2,000 years ago, Zhang Lu called himself the King of Hanning, and when he was defeated and went south to Bazhong, passing through the Red Temple Pond in Hanzhong, the Hanzhong people entertained him with high-grade beef and mutton. The tradition of buying bacon in southern Shaanxi is handed down from household to household, and every winter waxing moon, that is, before "Xiaoxue" to "Lichun", every household kills cattle and slaughters sheep, in addition to leaving enough fresh meat for the New Year, the rest are used with salt, with a certain proportion of peppercorns, fennel, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and other spices, pickled into the jar. After seven to fifteen days, it is hung with palm leaf rope strings, dripped with water, and slowly smoked with cypress branches, sugarcane bark, tsubaki bark or firewood fire, and then hung up and slowly smoked with fireworks. The method of waxing has a history of thousands of years in China, and the I Ching mentions bacon for the first time: eating bacon, encountering poison; small miserliness, no blame. Northern Wei Jia Sixun's "Qi Min Zhi Shu" is more specifically about the production methods of various kinds of bacon, which gradually evolved into Sichuan flavor, Xiang flavor, Jiangsu and Zhejiang flavor, Tujia flavor and so on. In general, the ingredients and processes of these popular bacon in various places are similar, and the finished products are raw meat, but the Table of Shaanxi people has a bacon unique to the country - Baht beef and mutton in Xi'an Huifang.
Xi'an "Huifang" beef and mutton, the selection of fresh cattle and sheep, slaughtered with green salt, glauber's salt, star anise, cinnamon, grass fruit, peppercorns, cumin and other spices, through the process of making blank ingredients, brine and coloring and other processes; when curing meat, the skin surface is relatively folded and discharged in a large vat, add well water, sprinkle green salt, manganese salt, marinate for 2-5 days; when cooking meat, first pour the old brine soup into the pot, add the same amount of water, put in the seasoning package, boil it with high heat and then add green salt, put it on the meat plate dagger with heavy weights, and then use a low heat to simmer for 3-4 hours. When the meat crispy bones are separated, put them on the plate, rinse the meat noodles with the original sauce soup, remove the original juice, and drain with a clean cloth. The meat is browned and ruddy, crispy, mellow and delicious, and the meat is tender, which is a famous snack in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
Legend has it that in 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled to Xi'an, passing through West Avenue and Guangji Street, and were driving the old Tongjia's wax beef and mutton out of the pot, Cixi sniffed the taste of the stop (pick), tasted the old Tongjia's wax lamb and praised it greatly, and assigned xing Tingwei, the teacher of the Shangshu Zhao Shu of the Army, to make a plaque to hang at the door, and since then the old Tongjia's wax lamb has been famous and has flourished for nearly a hundred years. In the "Huifang" in Xi'an, there are more than 10 according to the name of Jia, Liu, Sun, Tie, Hua, Tong, Ma, Wu, Li and so on.
Nowadays, these surnames, the most well-known is the Jia family, ask The locals of Xi'an, will definitely recommend "Qiaozikou Jia Yongxin". The "Jia family" is the old household of Xi'an", according to the xi'an Daxue Lane mosque inscription has a history of more than 300 years, after reading the article "[Old Brand] Xi'an Jia San Guan Tang Bao", I believe that I understand the development history of the "Jia Clan" family (see [Old Brand] Xi'an 'Jia San Guan Tang Bao'). Starting from Jia Yulin, the seventh generation of the Jia family, the Jia family began to start the business of beef and mutton, which has a history of more than 180 years. Jia Yongxin learned skills and did business with his father since he was a child, and when he became an adult, he set up his own portal under the encouragement of his father Jia Chengyuan, and in 1928, he successively set up the four characters of Xinzhen, Xincheng, Xinchang and Xinfeng in Xi'an West Avenue Qiaozikou and Zhuzhen City, and then he asked to take over the family's beef and mutton business. In 1928, Jia Yongxin expanded the beef and mutton business, and set up a halal Jia Yongxin beef and mutton shop on West Avenue, so that his five brands were connected: "Yongxin Sincere Changfeng", which also became his lifelong business purpose and family training, and the beef and mutton shop on the West Street is what we know as "Qiaozikou Jia Yongxin".
In the early 1960s, it was extremely difficult to make beef and mutton, and people could only buy meat by relying on the government's four or two meat tickets per person per month, and it was precisely because of the shipment that the skills of beef and mutton became more and more refined. For historical reasons, Jia Yongxin's beef and mutton was closed for ten years, but the old Shaanxi people did not forget the taste of this memory, and in 1978, the reform and opening up, Jia Yongxin beef and mutton shop was the first to allow the resumption of operation.
As a unique taste, Xi'an's beef and mutton have become a unique local cuisine. Every New Year's Festival, cut a plate of feast cold plate, the aftertaste is endless, chopped and sandwiched in the hot dumplings, the oil is rotten, the steamed buns taste good, and it is a delicious dish.
Waxing moon, hunting animals, using meat for winter sacrifices, and chasing epidemics to welcome spring, the taste of wax can really have a taste in the new year taste of Shaanxi people.