China Shandong Network - Perception of Shandong, February 21 (reporter Lu Weixia correspondent Zhao Haiyan Liu Siqi) New Year, steaming, is one of the long-standing customs in Jiaodong region. As a provincial intangible cultural heritage of Shandong Province, Jiaodong Flower Dumpling has a history of more than 300 years, for the Spring Festival, it not only means that the day of the coming year is "thriving", but also the special food on people's holiday tables and gifts for people to visit relatives and friends.
Liu Rongrong, head of Yantai Jinxuantou Food Co., Ltd., told us that she grew up watching her grandmother and aunt steaming in Kangtou, "We have a family ancestral hall, and we have to steam and offer food during the New Year, and I heard that our grandmother's generation is in turmoil, life is turbulent, and it is very good to see a white-faced dumpling in the New Year." Later, the country was stable, life was too peaceful, and during the New Year, there were more tricks for the feast, in addition to the jujube dumplings, but also to make gourds, yuanbao, sacred insects, pig head shaped dumplings, giving a beautiful meaning to the life of the new year. ”
It is understood that in the folk culture of Jiaodong, the gourd is harmoniously pronounced Fluke, so there is a saying that "the gourd presses the window sill, and the fortune rolls in", and the steamed gourd-shaped and yuanbao-shaped food are placed on the windowsill, praying that it can bring wealth and good luck to the family. The sacred insect is to mold the noodles into the image of "little dragons" and "hedgehogs", steamed and cooled and placed in the rice noodle jar, because the "holy" harmonic sound "leftovers", people expect the holy insects to make the grain more and more, more and more every year. Pig's head is used to press the pot table, which means a rich life, happiness and health.
"Usually these different shapes of the dumplings, after being done, but also painted with color to show the festivities, so it is collectively called flower dumplings." Liu Rongrong said, "But the traditional flowers are colored with paint, and they can't be eaten if they look good." To this end, Liu Rongrong switched to the juice of various vegetables and fruits and colorful dough, such as yellow is pumpkin juice, green is spinach juice, red is red yeast rice, "with natural ingredients dyeing, not only let the food taste good, more nutritious, and the color is more elegant and soft, more in line with the aesthetics of young people." ”