臘八粥
「臘八」即農曆臘月初八日。臘八粥據說原為佛家食品,後傳入宮廷乃至民間。元代《燕京遊覽志》中記載:「十二月八日,賜百官粥,以米果雜成之,品多者為勝。此蓋循宋時故事。」說明吃臘八粥之習俗相沿已久,上至宮廷百官,下至平常百姓之家,皆吃此粥。
《紅樓夢》第19回寫賈寶玉為林妹妹講故事:揚州有座黛山,山上有個林子洞,裡面有一群耗子精煮臘八粥,一個耗子去偷米,又一個耗子去偷豆,一個極小極弱的小耗子變化了去偷香芋,結果一變卻變出一個林小姐,引的林黛玉從床上翻身爬起來 寶玉。這則故事說明貴族之家的賈府到了「臘八」也要吃臘八粥。
臘八粥初叫七寶粥、五味粥,又稱七寶五味粥,各地風俗不同,所產豆類不一,故做法、原料也不盡相同。清末《燕京歲時記》中說:「臘八粥者,用黃米、白米、江米、小米、菱角米、栗子、紅豌豆、去皮棗泥等,合水煮熟,外用染紅桃仁、杏仁、瓜子、花生、榛穰、松子及白糖、紅糖、瑣瑣葡萄以作點染…..」。做好了的臘八粥色彩鮮豔,晶瑩潤滑,氣味芳香,富有營養。
‧主料︰
大米150克、小米150克、江米150克、紅小豆250克、芸豆250克。
‧配料︰
蓮子100克、栗子100克、花生100克、紅棗250克、杏仁100克、桃仁100克、桂圓100克、瓜仁50克。
‧調料︰
白糖適量。
‧製作方法︰
把各種米洗淨,放在鍋裡加水熬粥。將豆類洗淨煮熟,待鍋內米類六成熟時放入豆類同煮,待豆類八成熟時,再放入各種果料煮至粥有黏性即成(各種乾果要去皮、核,蓮子要去芯,各種配料塊形的大小要盡量保持一致。)
"LABA" GRUEL
Rice Porridge with Nuts and Dried Fruits
Eaten on the Eighth Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month
"Laba" refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It is said that "laba " congee is a food of Buddhism and transmitted from the palace to common people. The book Yangjing Visiting records written in Yuan Dynasty described as follows: "On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor gives congee to the officers. It is cooked with rice and dried fruits. The one who eats the most congee is the winter. This custom is followed from Song Dynasty". It means that this custom has long been followed from the officers of nalace to the common people. In chapter 19 of A Dream of Red Mansions , it is described as follows: Jia Bao-yu told story to Lin Dai-yu. He said "In Yang zhou ther' s a hill called Mount Dai, in the side of which is cavern call Lin Carven. In Lin Carven, a number of rat spirits are cooking 'Laba' gruel. One rat is stealing rice another one stealing bean. A very small, weak rat is going to change into a sweet taro to steal taro. But, at last, it changes into Lady Lin". Dai-yu scrambled over and pinched Bao-yu. This story shows that even in the noble's family as Rong Mansion, they ate "Laba" congee as well on the eifgth day of the twelfth lunar month.
"Laba" congee was said to be "Seven treasures congee" "Five tastes congee" and "Seven-treasure and Five taste congee. " The ingredients and cooking methods are different because of the different custom and different kind of beans produced at different area. (The Years Records of Yanjing) recorded that the "Laba" congee is cooked by polished glutinous millet, polished rice, lotus seeds, chestnut, red bean, date paste with water to ripe, and embellished with coloured peach kernel, apricot kernel 9, peanut 9, melon seeds, hazelnut, pine nut, white sugar red sugar and raisin...... "
The cooked "Laba" congee is bright-coloured ,flavour in taste and sinfully rich.
‧Main Ingrdients︰
150g rice, 150g millet, 150g polished glutinous rice, 250gred bean, 250 g kidney bean.
‧Subsidiary Ingrdients︰
l00g lotus seeds, l00g chest nut, l00g peanut, 250,a red date, I00g apricot kernel , l00g peach kernel, l00g longan, 50g melon seeds.
‧Seasonings︰
White sugar (depend on your own likeness)
‧COOKING METHOD︰
Wash the rice and decoct congee in pot. Wash the beans and cook to ripe. When the rice are cooked to medium (60 %to ripe). Put in beans and cook continuously. When the rice nearly well -done (80%to ripe), put in fruits and go on to cook until the congee becomes sticky.
NOTE: The skin and kernel of the dried fruits, the heart of the lotus seeds should be taken away . The sizes of the subsidiary ingredients should be kept nearly the same.