In every family, there are certain traditions and celebrations that are considered to be very special and important to the family. Traditions are important for keeping a family united and in tune with its history, as well as in passing down a family’s culture from one generation to the next. In my family, we have several of these foods that serve as traditions for us. We make and consume them each year, and they serve a purpose far beyond being delicious; they serve as something special about our family that connects us to our culture and our past. One of these foods is Laba Congee, a traditional Chinese porridge that is consumed as part of the Laba Festival
The Laba Festival is held on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, and so was held on January eighth in 2014, and will be held on the 27th of this month this year. This festival is traditionally both a celebration of the harvest and the Buddha’s enlightenment, but is really neither of those things for my family. While the Laba Festival is supposed to have multiple other components, in my family the celebration is mostly just the making and consumption of Laba Congee. The making and consumption of this sweet porridge is supposed to highlight the Chinese virtue of diligence as it takes some time to make, and so if it is made and eaten in the morning it shows that we have this diligence as a family. This is supposed to bring good luck.
Laba Congee is a porridge that is made of a variety of nuts, beans, dried fruits, and glutinous rice. This can include millet, rice, both red and black beans, raisins of different kinds of fruits, traditional Chinese foods such as the longan, dates, nuts like peanuts and walnuts, and sugar. In my family, we use both peanuts and walnuts, raisins, glutinous rice, and sugar. My grandmother does not like Chinese dates, so we omit them, and simply add more raisins. We also add more than the traditional small amount of sugar, as my grandfather has a sweet tooth. While it is supposed to be prepared and eaten in the morning, we tend to make it in the morning and eat it around lunchtime. As we are not farmers, I suppose the aspect of the holiday that honors the diligence of rising early to prepare and eat the traditional food has been lost.
Laba Congee is a delicious porridge that would probably be palatable even to those who have never before tried traditional Chinese foods. It generally uses fairly common foods that are tasty when cooked together. When the Laba Congee is cooking, it emits an aroma that is very earthy, savory, and nutty, because the beans and nuts are boiled first, with the rice for about an hour and a half. It smells almost like oatmeal, if oatmeal also had beans in it. Once the dried fruits and sugar are added, it smells much more like oatmeal, very sweet and nutty. It almost smells like a pecan pie, but with an undertone like black beans and rice.
After the Laba Congee is done cooking, which takes over two hours with all of the preparations, it is a delicious dark brown with beans, nuts, and fruit floating among the rice. The color is similar to a dark chocolate, although the consistency is very like soup. It is very sweet, due to the sugar and dried fruits. It also is very filling, because the beans and nuts add protein and fiber. My family’s Laba Congee is sweeter than most, because we do add extra sugar, raisins, and other dried fruits. This is just a preference, but it is a part of our tradition and reminds us of those who came before us who preferred to alter the recipe to account for their tastes. It also helps that the porridge is very sweet because we tend to eat it for the first meal of the day, even if we eat it around lunchtime. It would feel “off” if it was too savory, given our tradition.
Many families have different traditions and foods from their cultures and family preferences that they choose to cook every year. The Laba Congee is my family’s favorite traditional food, which we eat each year during our small celebration of the Laba Festival. While we alter it according to the tastes of the elders, namely my grandmother and my grandfather, this sweet and savory dish is something we all look forward to each winter. To me, the nuts, beans, and fruits smell like home, holiday, and family. Even though my grandparents are very elderly now, I know that this tradition will not die with them. When I have my own children, I will teach them this recipe, and they may change it to fit their tastes. I hope it continues on for many years to come.
