Why do you eat stewed seeds on February 2nd? The origin of eating stewed seeds on February 2nd

Wei Zuizi. February 2.

Eat stew. China is a traditional agricultural civilization country, the sun feeds all creatures, directly affects the cultivation and harvest of crops, and the Chinese people have been full of worship for the sun since ancient times.

In the Qing Dynasty, the people of Beijing and other places used white rice flour and sugar to make sun chicken cakes, and sacrificed to the sun on the first day of the second lunar month, praying for good weather and good crops. In the Qing Dynasty's "Trivial Notes of the Year of Spring and Ming Dynasty", it is said that the first day of February is the birthday of the true monarch of the sun, and people want to burn incense and bow to the sun, and offer the candy cake with the appearance of dried cakes, and there is a pattern of chickens on the cake surface, which is called the sun cake. In this way, it is not difficult for us to understand the reason for the name "Sun Chicken Cake".

In the minds of the ancients, the chicken is a sacred bird that symbolizes yang energy and vitality, so the image of the chicken printed on the sun cake should be the psychological reason why people cherish the sun and love life. Until the 30s of the 20th century, there were still vendors selling sun cakes in the Beijing and Tianjin markets, and then gradually disappeared.

The second day of the second month of February is the Zhonghe Festival, and on this day of "the dragon raises its head", Tianjin people eat fried stewed seeds, pancakes, scrambled eggs and bean sprouts. Fried stewed seeds are commonly known as fried dragon scales, which are used to fry pests; The baked cake is called dragon scale cake, which has the meaning of protecting the dragon's body, and the old people also sprinkle stove ash and grain bran in the direction of the house from the gate of the courtyard to "attract money dragon".

The white stews are cut into flat pieces and arranged together to resemble dragon scales, and each piece is fried golden brown on both sides to show punishment for the "lazy dragon", hoping that it will work hard to control the water and bless the harvest year. Tianjin stew also belongs to the cold powder food, but pay attention to the use of very fine mung bean starch, after frying, while hot poured sesame sauce, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce and other ingredients, fragrant and refreshing, long aftertaste. In early spring, the hot and cold are uncertain, and the hot food is a yin stew, which is balanced and creative.

The origin of eating stewed seeds on the second day of the second month of February.

On the second day of the second lunar month, the day of "the dragon raises its head", the food on the second day of February, the east, west, north, south, and central places are very different, and there is everything to eat.

Braised seeds, a special snack in the northern region, the main ingredient is cold skin made of starch, cold powder, etc., and is made with sesame paste. It is prevalent in Jiaoliao, Hebei, Henan and Tianjin, and is distributed in Dalian, Yantai, Dandong, Xingtang, Dingzhou, Tianjin and other places. Dingzhou people "went up to ninety-nine, down to just go, and they all ate stewed seeds".

Different places have different ways to make stewed seeds. Yantai and Dalian stewed seeds are made of sweet potato starch, Hebei Xingtang and Dingzhou stewed seeds are filled with lean pork and yam flour, Henan Yuzhou stewed seeds are made of semi-finished vermicelli made of special sweet potatoes and pressed, and the raw materials of Dandong stewed seeds are starch; Seasonings include shrimp oil, sesame paste, garlic juice, etc. Yuzhou stewed has formed an industry, assembly line large-scale production, there are "Shengtian stew", "good sister-in-law stew", "old Yu County stew" and other brands.

According to legend, Jing Dongyang, who was a celebrity in the Qing Dynasty, was a celebrity, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites and the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites was poor when he was a child, and his mother had no money to buy meat during the New Year, so his mother put the powder into the boiled bone broth, and added minced meat, vermicelli, and five ingredients, so it was boiled and became a delicacy of stew.

The food on February 2nd is very different from each other in the east, west, north, south, and middle, and there is everything to eat, but Tianjin eats fried stewed seeds. Why? A few days ago, I sought advice from Mr. Zhang Zhong, a folklore expert, who was quite particular about this, and listened to your broad discussion, so that he knew the origin of the connection between the stewed son and the dragon.

Mr. Zhang Zhong said that when looking at dragons, Tianjin people still have a critical eye, and there are "diligent dragons" and "lazy dragons" in their minds. The earth is rejuvenated, everything is revived, all the stings are rising, and the pests are also out of the cage. On the second day of February, the old ladies in Tianjin used brooms and pimples to knock on the edge of the pit, which means to deter and drive away pests.

And the food on this day is also directly called by the various parts of the dragon's body, such as noodles called dragon whisker noodles. Tianjin fried stewed seeds are also called fried dragon scales, fried on both sides of the yellow ga, but also the punishment of the harmful "lazy dragon". In this regard, I found from other sources that the fried beans were eaten in Hebei and Shandong on February 2, and the sound of stir-fried soybeans was used to repel insects and eliminate pests, which is similar to the custom in Tianjin.

The second day of the second lunar month is commonly known as the Green Dragon Festival, which is said to be the day when the dragon raises its head. The tradition in Tianjin is to eat stewed seeds on the second day of February, also called fried dragon scales.

Fried stewed seeds are a famous traditional snack in Tianjin, which belongs to the traditional festival food. The stew is made of mung bean flour and fried with seasonings. Mixed with sesame paste and garlic, it is very delicious.

Ingredients: Ingredients: 500 grams of stewed seeds, 30 grams of garlic, 70 grams of sesame paste, appropriate amount of salt, 3 grams of light soy sauce.

1.Cut the stew into mahjong cubes.

2.Put oil in a frying pan, heat it, put it in the stew, and fry slowly over medium-low heat.

3.Now to make the dipping sauce, first add a little salt to the tahini, and add water to dilute it in multiple sections.

4.Mash the garlic into a minced garlic paste.

5.Fry until there is zha on one side and turn over.

6.Fry on both sides until there is zha, and the stew becomes transparent, put a little salt, light soy sauce and mix well.

7.Mix the sesame sauce with the garlic and stew well and serve.

On this day of "the dragon raises its head", Tianjin people eat fried stews, pancakes, scrambled eggs and bean sprouts. Fried stewed seeds are commonly known as fried dragon scales, because the silvery-white stews are cut into flat pieces and arranged together to resemble dragon scales. Both sides of each "dragon scale" are fried with yellow scabs to show punishment for the "lazy dragon" and urge it to do its best to control the water so as to bring a good harvest.

It also means to fry pests, the baked cake is called dragon scale cake, there is the meaning of protecting the dragon body, and the old people also scatter stove ash and chaff "lead dragon" from the gate of the courtyard to the direction of the house.

Tianjin's stewed seeds belong to the same kind of food as the cold powder and flour skin in various places, which are boiled in starch and water to form a liquid form and cooled. Tianjin stew pays attention to the use of extremely fine mung bean starch. Use a flat-bottomed pan to fry the stew, add less oil, and fry over low heat until both sides are slightly browned.

Put it on a plate and pour sesame sauce, garlic paste, vinegar, soy sauce and other ingredients while hot, and serve it with staple flatbread or baked cakes, which is fragrant and refreshing, and has a long aftertaste.

Preparation of fried stews.

Ingredients: 300 grams of stewed seeds, 1 teaspoon cooked sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 2 teaspoons salt, 10 grams of garlic, 1 4 teaspoons monosodium glutamate, appropriate amount of green and red peppers.

Method: 1. Cut the stew into domino pieces, and mince the garlic and green and red peppers.

3. Put light soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt and monosodium glutamate into a small bowl and mix thoroughly.

4. Heat the pot and add a little oil, put the stewed seeds into the pot one by one, and fry over low heat until both sides are slightly yellow.

7. Put the fried stewed seeds on a plate, pour in the seasoned sauce, sprinkle in minced garlic, minced green and red peppers and white sesame seeds.

The origin of eating stewed seeds on the second day of the second month of February.

On the second day of the first month of February, the dragon raised its head, Tianjin people fried stewed seeds, commonly known as fried dragon scales, fried out of both sides of Huangga, fried to remove pests, and punished the harmful "lazy dragon".

The origin of eating stewed seeds on the second day of the second month of February.

The origin of eating stewed seeds on the second day of the second month of February.

Speaking of February 2, it has something to do with the dragon raising its head. There is a record, the legend is that on the second day of the second month of February, the dragon god is going to wake up from his slumber, people burn incense and sacrifice, pray for the dragon god to raise his head, spring is coming, the clouds are prosperous, the grains are abundant, and the country is safe and peaceful. It is also the expectation of the Chinese people for a better life!

China's festival activities are very rich, and the corresponding food is designed and arranged. On the second day of February, some places eat noodles, called dragon beard noodles, pancakes called dragon lin, and dumplings are also called dragon tooth ......All close to the dragon's body. Only Tianjin, on this day, eats fried stuffy seeds, and its name is fried Longlin.

There is a female writer in Taiwan named Liu Fang, who wrote "The Art of Eating" and has a monograph on Tianjin cuisine, saying that "cooking prawns, stewed fish, pasting dumplings and boiling small fish, fried grasshoppers, stir-fried vegetables and noodles, pot vegetables, fried stuffy seeds, pancake buns, and steamed buns" are Tianjin dishes. It seems incomplete and inaccurate. I carefully read the "Tianjin Recipes" compiled by the old-timers of Tianjin Cuisine in 1977, and there are as many as 1,117 kinds of cold, hot and soup dishes, of course, excluding pot dishes, fried stuffy seeds, etc., which are just snacks with unique flavors in Tianjin.

But in any case, it is certain that fried stuffy seeds are a unique and famous food in Tianjin.

The stuffy is a "frozen seed" made of starch. High-quality stuffy seeds should be boiled with mung bean flour, which is translucent and bright, not sticky or scattered. There is no need to use too much oil to fry the stuffy seeds, otherwise it is difficult to fry them into yellow on both sides.

Mix the seasoning with sesame sauce, vinegar, salt and appropriate water, and add the garlic paste. Eat fried stuffy nuts with baked flatbread, and pancakes are even better; A plate of fried eggs, a plate of greens, mung bean vegetables, spinach or dried vegetables is a refreshing and fragrant meal.