The Lantern Festival is here again, this day full of warm New Year's flavor, the most memorable thing is the scene of reunion and eating Lantern Festival food together. Dumplings, lanterns, and riddles, these reunion elements seem to be transformed into a kind of flavor, bringing our big family together.
When it comes to the Lantern Festival, the first thing that comes to mind must be the fragrant, round and lovely rice balls. The round shape makes people feel fulfilled and satisfied. Red bean dumplings imply red red and prosperous, and black sesame dumplings have the meaning of "good things come in pairs", with white dumplings, doesn't it also symbolize the black and white, and everything is ready? Every time you eat a glutinous rice ball, you seem to be making a wish for yourself - hope that the circle will be fulfilled and good things will happen again and again.
In addition to the traditional must-have tangyuan, the Lantern Festival delicacies from all over the world also have their own flavors, enriching the taste bud experience of this night. The south is full of dim sum made of glutinous rice, such as the Lantern Festival in Guangdong, the hometown of Tang Yuansheng, which is at the forefront, with peanuts, sesame seeds and other fillings, Q bomb delicious. Looking at the three-color zongzi in Xiangxi, the fillings are wrapped in purple bud grains, green mugwort leaves and light yellow glutinous rice, which are distinct in color but harmonious and unified. In the north, snacks are the mainstay, such as Shaanxi's mutton steamed buns, which are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the mutton is fragrant. The old saying sugar painting in the Northeast has a colorful appearance and is full of childlike innocence.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, lanterns are hung high everywhere, which is very lively, and these lanterns will be accompanied by some lantern riddles, guessing lantern riddles with family and friends, and tasting various snacks, which is also a great pleasure. There are spring cakes in the north and rice cakes in the south, and the taste is unforgettable. You can eat the sugar paintings of the Northeast while guessing the riddles, and you can enjoy it sweetly. Shanxi also has osmanthus cakes made of osmanthus flowers, which are sweet and soft and glutinous. No matter what kind of snack it is, it will make this night's lantern riddle more colorful.
Whether in the north or in the south, most of the main dishes of the Lantern Festival come from one ingredient - glutinous rice. This kind of ingredient that allows people to recall childhood memories as soon as they eat it turns out to be not only a pleasure for taste buds, but also a transmission of emotions between people.
The rice balls and rice cakes all over the south often let outsiders taste them, and they will be full of praise from the bottom of their hearts. In fact, these snacks are not complicated to make, but they require a lot of time and thought. It is family and friends who invite each other to sit around to make fillings and cook rice balls, busy and warm. When the night fell, everyone sat around and tasted the fruits of their own making, full of not only the fragrance of rice, but also a strong sense of nostalgia and human touch.
In this way, the simple little glutinous rice balls convey hard work and warmth, making strangers who have never met seem to become a family. This may be the charm of Lantern Festival food.