People in my hometown often say, "During Laba 7 and Laba 8, you will freeze to death if you go out." Entering the twelfth lunar month, there are nine cold days in the sky, and there is also a saying that "on the first nine and twenty-nine, hold the door open and call the dog." That is, it is too cold, so you can only hold the door tightly and open it a little to call the dog. On days when the weather is freezing and the dripping water turns into ice, eating Laba porridge is fragrant, sweet, and warm. That feeling is still fresh and unforgettable.
My hometown pays attention to affordability. Laba porridge is thick porridge, not thin porridge like Hebei or other places.
The Laba porridge in my hometown is also very simple. It is made by simmering millet and red beans over a slow fire.
On the night of the seventh day of the lunar month, my mother poured out two or three bowls of red beans from the bag, and then carefully selected the plump and unbroken beans for making porridge. I often help my mother with these delicate tasks. Wash the selected red beans several times, then soak them in a pot. You also need to add some alkaline noodles and a little saccharin. The effect of adding alkaline noodles can make the red beans redder, and also make the dried red beans easier to noodle. Most people in my hometown like the color red, probably because it means that life is prosperous. Saccharin is a food that seems to have disappeared from people's memory forever.
Around four o'clock in the morning, my mother and sometimes my father get up early. The red beans that have been soaked overnight are ripe and soft. Add water. After the water boils, add millet. At that time, everyone had to grow millet, more or less, which was enough for the whole family to make thin or thick porridge for at least a year. Therefore, the millet for Laba porridge was all self-produced. It was large and golden, and the taste was naturally sweet and delicious, with endless aftertaste.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for more than an hour. Mother will control the heat and water volume very well. When the water is finished boiling, the porridge is cooked and will no longer be cooked. This is not done yet, the last step is very important. You need to use a large iron spoon to mix the cooked red beans and millet together. The bright red color of the beans covers the golden yellow color of the millet, and a pot of Laba porridge is ready.
At this time, mother shouted at us one by one. He kept saying, "Baby, get up, get up and eat porridge, or else you'll fall asleep with red eyes." With gentle urging, we bid farewell to the warm and nostalgic bed, got up and enjoyed the delicious Laba porridge.
In the early morning, a red sun slowly rose, opening a beautiful smiling face. The small mountain village had already become warm, and the faint green smoke from the chimneys of every house slowly rose. At that time, every household had farmhouse plant ash . People piled up burned cinders, kang ashes or livestock manure, and fermented them in spring and summer to be used as fertilizer for farming. I don’t know when or where the custom was passed down. On the day of Laba, people in their hometown set up a large piece of ice on the ashes, and then put a small piece of Laba porridge on the top of the ice. It is said to be an offering to the gods. Naturally, the earlier in the morning of Laba, the better. As for what kind of gods should be worshiped, whether it is Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism, there are different opinions, and there is no consensus. Who cares, you feel at ease, don’t you? Mother often said.
As the days change and the stars move, the years pass by, and the colorful world originally seems like a dream.
After I left home, I rarely ate Laba porridge, probably because I felt it lacked the taste of my hometown.
The Laba porridge I had when I was a child will probably be deeply etched in my memory forever. There will never be such deliciousness, such warmth, and such joy again.
pictures from the Internet
skating
hometown summer
