[Taste of China] Laba Garlic: Start the "Countdown" to the New Year

　　China News Agency, Changchun, December 29th, title: Laba Garlic: Start the "countdown" to the New Year

　　Author Li Dan

　　In northern China, Laba means the beginning of the Chinese New Year, and it’s time to peel garlic to make vinegar and soak Laba garlic.

　　Luan Ying, a 64-year-old Changchun native, sat on a bench with her wife, picked up purple-skinned garlic in a plastic basin, broke open the garlic head, and rubbed the garlic skin off. The white garlic petals quickly filled a ceramic basin.

"As soon as the Laba garlic is soaked and the Laba porridge is boiled, the New Year will come." Luan Ying said.

　　In ancient times, the word "La" has three meanings: "La Zhe, Jieye", which means the alternation of old and new; , Chase the epidemic and welcome the spring", which means eliminating disasters and welcoming the new year.

　　According to Shi Lixue, chairman of the Jilin Folklore Society, in ancient times, the twelfth lunar month was a time for businesses to take inventory.

All businesses have to collect accounts on Laba Day, and calculate the profit and loss of revenue and expenditure for the past year.

Of course, foreign arrears and debts must also be settled on this day, so there is a saying of "laba calculation".

　　Gradually, pickling a can of Laba garlic on Laba Day has become a festival food custom for northerners.

There is also a folk proverb circulating in Beijing: "Laba porridge, Laba garlic, those who put down the debt will deliver the letter, and those who are in debt will pay back the money."

　　"There is also a very magical folk saying that only the pickled garlic will turn green on the day of Laba," said Qiu Hairong, director of the Jilin Provincial Food Association Office.

　　"Put garlic cloves in high vinegar on this day (Laba) and seal them up for eating dumplings during the New Year." Lao She once wrote in "Spring Festival in Beijing", "By the end of the year, the garlic will be soaked in color like emeralds, and The vinegar also has a bit of spiciness, and the color and taste are delicious, making people want to eat more dumplings."

　　Pickling Laba garlic every year is a habit that Qiu Hairong inherited from her mother.

"The elders will prepare Laba porridge and soak Laba garlic for the whole family on this day, which is very ceremonial. Laba garlic has health-preserving effects, which can relieve greasy and fishy smell, refresh the spleen and appetize."

　　A pot full of white garlic cloves, washed with water, emptied until dry, cut off the roots, stacked in a glass jar layer by layer, then poured rice vinegar, added a little salt and rock sugar.

The jar for pickling Laba garlic is best to be a clean, oil-free and water-free container to avoid the growth of bacteria.

You can also boil the rice vinegar over a low heat, add rock sugar, let it cool, and pour it into the jar until the top layer of garlic cloves is covered, and then close the lid and seal it tightly.

　　"There are also people who pickle Laba garlic with mature vinegar, but the color of vinegar pickled is not as good as rice vinegar. The garlic pickled with rice vinegar is emerald green in color and has a more mellow taste. If you want to speed up, add a little sugar, rock sugar is better, another way to add sugar One advantage is that it will reduce the spicy taste of garlic.” Qiu Hairong said that purple garlic must be selected for marinating Laba garlic, “Purple garlic has a high allicin content, and the garlic cloves are firm, tender and juicy, and the taste is crisp and fragrant. It is easier to turn green, although white-skinned garlic can also be pickled, but the time to turn green may be slower.”

　　As the garlic cloves gradually turn emerald green, the vinegar also gradually turns a crystal clear orange-yellow, and the color is like amber when exposed to the winter sun.

On New Year's Eve, you can usher in the "beauty of color and taste" in Lao She's mouth.

　　The glass jar was unsealed, and the rich aroma of garlic and vinegar jumped out.

The garlic cloves are emerald green, warm and moist like jade, and the spicy taste has been removed a lot, while the vinegar smell has a little garlic fragrance.

Garlic, spicy, acetic and sour are blended together, and a hint of sweetness is brewed, which can be eaten alone or with other ingredients.

　　"La Qi, La Ba, your jaw will freeze." The peak of winter is also the beginning of spring.

Laba garlic, like a touch of "spring green" in the ice and snow, brings the taste of the new year, and also starts the "countdown" to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

(use up)