What traditional foods are eaten during the Qingming Festival? What traditional foods are eaten during the Qingming Festival?

In China, different places have different cuisines, and the food eaten on different festivals is also different. Qingming Festival is a traditional festival in China, and usually there will be some traditional foods during this traditional festival. So, what traditional food do we eat during Qingming Festival?

What traditional food do you eat during Qingming Festival?

1. Youth League

People in the Jiangnan region have the custom of eating Qingtuan during the Qingming Festival. Qingtuan is made by using a plant called wheatgrass to mash it with a tool and squeeze out the juice. The juice is then kneaded into a ball with glutinous rice flour. The green skin of the Qingtuan is ready. The middle is filled with red bean paste and then steamed in a steamer. After taking it out of the pot, a layer of vegetable oil is applied on the surface and the Qingtuan is ready.

2. Qingming Snail

Snails are very delicious during the Qingming Festival, and it is the season for eating snails again. Therefore, people in the north will eat snails during the Qingming Festival. Whether they are mixed, stir-fried, or eaten, they taste great. Delicious Qingming snails paired with a glass of wine, that's pretty much the joy of life.

3. Mugwort cake

There is a saying that goes, "Eat mugwort cakes around Qingming Festival and you won't get sick all year round." Mugwort cakes are a traditional food that Hakka people must have during Qingming Festival. Mugwort cake is made by boiling mugwort in water, draining and chopping it into grass paste. The finer the better. Then mix the mugwort paste, glutinous rice flour and the water used to boil the mugwort together and knead it into a ball. Then wrap sesame seeds, peanuts and other fillings in the middle, seal the mouth, pinch it into a square or round shape, and steam it in a steamer. The mugwort cake is now ready.

4. Sanzi

During the Qingming Festival, both the South and the North have the custom of eating Sanzi, which is a fried food. Although both the South and the North eat Sanzi, the preparation methods are different in the two regions. The Sanzi in the South uses rice flour as the main ingredient and is delicate and meticulous in its production, while the Sanzi in the North uses wheat flour as the main ingredient and is bold and casual in its production.

5. Zitui steamed bun

During the Qingming Festival, there is a food custom of eating Zitui steamed buns to commemorate Jie Zitui's quality of not seeking fame or wealth. The appearance of Zitui Mo is like the helmet of an ancient general. One weighs half a pound to one pound. It is also called Lao Mo. Red dates or eggs are wrapped in the middle of Zitui Mo, and the four sides of the top are covered with dough flowers. Dough flowers are small steamed buns made of flour that can be pinched into various shapes. There are some regulations for eating Zitui steamed bun. Zitui steamed buns of different shapes are eaten by different people. For example, the round Zitui steamed bun can only be eaten by men, the strip-shaped Suozi steamed bun is eaten by married women, and unmarried women eat Zhuaji steamed bun. Children eat dough flowers of different shapes.

6. Pu Zi Kueh

There is a dietary custom of eating Pu Zi Cake on the Qingming Festival. Pu Zi Cake is made by mashing the leaves and fruits of the Pu Zi tree and fermenting them with powdered rice. After fermentation, sugar is added and the cake is steamed in a mold. This is Pu Zi Cake. Pu Zi Cake generally comes in two shapes, peach shape and plum blossom shape. The steamed Pu Zi Cake is light green in color and tastes sweet because of the addition of sugar.

7. Qingming Festival

As the name suggests, Qingming rice is the rice eaten during the Qingming Festival. Qingming rice is made from various edible green herbs. Commonly used green herbs include shepherd's purse, wolfberry leaves, mugwort, hemp leaves, Cistanche deserticola, and Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae. After washing and cooking, knead these green herbs into rice balls with glutinous rice and brown sugar, and finally steam them.

8. Zifu

In the Jinzhong area, there is a custom of eating Zifu on Qingming Festival. In many places in Jinzhong, there is a custom of sharing sacrificial food after sacrifice, including Zifu. Zifu is a large steamed bun made of white flour, with red dates, walnuts, beans, etc. filled in the middle, and the outside is coiled into the shape of a dragon with an egg stuck in the middle of the dragon's body, hence the name Zifu.

9. Eggs

According to folk customs, eating an egg on Qingming Festival will ensure good health throughout the year. The origin of eating eggs on Qingming Festival is that there was a custom of banning fire in some areas in the pre-Qin period. During the many days of fire ban and cold food, boiled eggs were the best food reserve to get through this period. On the Qingming Festival, people can not only eat eggs, but also play with them. There are roughly two types of eggs: one is "painted eggs" and the other is "carved eggs." The colorfully painted eggs can be eaten, while the "carved eggs" are only for viewing.

10. Scallions and Omelette

During the Qingming Festival, many families in Qingdao eat green onions and egg pancakes, which symbolize cleverness and wisdom. This custom has continued to this day. In addition, in the old days, some families in Qingdao would make dough flowers, called "steamed little swallows", and eat white flour chickens and eggs. It means that the little swallows have come and the real spring has arrived. On the morning of Qingming Festival, the whole family must eat eggs and white flour chicken, so that they can have a clear mind and bright eyes and will not get sick. Many students bring eggs to their teachers to show their respect.

11. Warm Mushroom Buns

People in Taining have the custom of eating warm mushroom buns during the Qingming Festival. Warm mushroom buns are made from a kind of grass called warm mushroom by the locals. The scientific name of warm mushroom grass is Gnaphalium wilfordii, also known as Buddha's ear grass. The cooking methods of warm mushroom buns are different in different places. In the south, freshly picked warm mushroom grass is used, and the resulting warm mushroom buns are round in shape, while in the north, powdered warm mushroom grass is used, and the resulting warm mushroom buns are crescent-shaped and look like dumplings.