Food: Taking the twins to kindergarten to be chefs

Time is like a book that turns pages quietly. Before we know it, the calendar has already reached the Laba Festival which is full of traditional flavor.

Laba Festival, also known as "Laba Day", is one of the rich and colorful traditional festivals of the Chinese nation. It not only solemnly announces the approaching end of the lunar year, but also indicates that the Spring Festival is about to come with light steps.

On this day full of ritual, every household will be busy cooking a pot of fragrant Laba porridge, which is a delicious dish that combines a variety of selected grains and beans. Every grain of ingredient contains gratitude for the harvest and deep anticipation for family reunion.

Doraemi Kindergarten will naturally not miss the celebration of this traditional festival.

The teachers started the preparations for Laba Festival early on, using their skillful hands and love to create a unique festival feast for the children.

now.

The classroom of Class 4 was decorated with a new look, and the walls were covered with colorful Laba Festival decorations full of festive atmosphere.

Festive and warm!
The children sat in a neat row, their eyes fixed on the podium without blinking.

At this time, Yang Yuxi walked to the podium with a picture book about Laba Festival, smiling, intending to tell the children the story of Laba Festival and let them feel the traditional cultural atmosphere of the festival.

Yang Yuxi's eyes gently swept across the faces of each child, and she asked softly, "Children, do you know what special day today is?"

"I know!"

"I know it too!"

"Teacher, I! I know!"

The children instantly became like ants on a hot pan, raising their hands one after another, vying to answer the question.

"Okay, okay, the teacher already knows. Everyone please be quiet and sit down. The teacher will call on the children to answer."

Yang Yuxi gently raised her hand and made a soothing gesture, and the children gradually quieted down.

When the classroom was quiet again, she smiled and called on students, "Then let little Liu Yuanyuan answer first!"

Yuanyuan was so happy that she almost jumped up and shouted excitedly: "It's Laba Festival!"

"Yes, today is indeed Laba Festival. Little Liu Yuanyuan's answer is absolutely correct. It's great!"

Yang Yuxi gave Yuanyuan encouraging praise and then asked the next question: "So, which child can tell the teacher what is the origin of Laba Festival?"

This question made many children look puzzled. They all shook their heads and said they didn't know.

However, several children bravely raised their hands, and Lin Yipeng couldn't wait to shout, "Teacher, I know, it's to commemorate a deity called 'La'!"

"Lin Yipeng's idea is really interesting, but unfortunately, this answer is not accurate."

Yang Yuxi couldn't help but laugh: "Although the name of Laba Festival contains the word 'La', it is not to commemorate a certain god named 'La'. In fact, Laba Festival is related to our ancient sacrificial activities. People will thank the harvest of the year on this day, and pray for peace and harvest in the coming year. Therefore, Laba Festival is a festival full of gratitude and hope..."

The children were fascinated by the music.

"Oh, so that's how it is!" Lin Yipeng scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

"Teacher, I know!"

Qingqing raised her little hand high, her eyes sparkling as she said, "Laba Festival is a time for us to thank nature and the God of Land for giving us so many delicious foods, right?"

"That's right, Qingqing is really smart!"

Yang Yuxi smiled and praised: "Just like Qingqing said, Laba Festival is a festival of gratitude. We should thank nature for its gifts, thank farmers for their hard work, and thank everyone around us for their help and support. So, does anyone know what fun things to do on Laba Festival?"

Weiwei waved her little hand and said anxiously: "Teacher, I know, we need to eat Laba porridge!"

"Yeah, Vivi is great too!"

Yang Yuxi nodded, and then briefly explained: "There are a lot of rice and beans in Laba porridge. Eating it means that our family will be reunited and have plenty of food. Today, our kindergarten will also cook Laba porridge for everyone to eat!"

Yuanyuan's eyes lit up immediately, and she couldn't wait to ask: "Teacher, teacher, is today's Laba porridge also made of Qingqingbaba?
Yang Yuxi smiled and nodded to confirm: "Yes! It was Qingqing's father who did it."

"Yeah, that's great!"

The classroom was suddenly noisy, and all the children were smiling. Some shouted, "The Laba porridge cooked by Qingqing Baba must be delicious. I like the Laba porridge cooked by Qingqing Baba the most."

What a bunch of greedy cats...

Yang Yuxi smiled helplessly and changed the topic, "Besides Laba porridge, do you know what other customs there are for Laba Festival?"

Qingqing thought for a moment, then raised her hand and said, "Teacher, I heard from my father that in some places, people pickle garlic on Laba Festival. Why do they pickle garlic?"

"That's a good question!"

Yang Yuxi looked at Qingqing with admiration in her eyes: "Pickled Laba garlic is a traditional snack in the north, especially in North China, and is also a special custom of the Laba Festival. Do you know? Laba garlic is not only delicious, but also has a deeper meaning behind it.

In the past, at the end of the year, adults would calculate the accounts of the year to see whether they had made a profit or a loss, how much money they still owed others, or how much money others still owed them. However, people were too embarrassed to ask for debts directly, so what should they do? So, smart people came up with a good idea, which is to give Laba garlic as a gift.

Think about it, if someone owes you money, and you give him a can of Laba garlic, he will immediately understand, oh, this means I need to pay you back. So, Laba garlic is also called "Laba Suan", isn't it smart?
Moreover, during the Laba Festival, in addition to eating Laba porridge and soaking Laba garlic, some places also eat Laba tofu and make Laba noodles, which are all very special foods..."

The children listened with great interest, their eyes sparkling with excitement, and cheered in unison: "Wow, Laba Festival is so interesting!"

Yang Yuxi gently flipped open the picture book and said to the children softly, "Now, let's embark on a dream journey in this picture book and discover more touching stories about Laba Festival..."

At the same time, the children in the middle and senior classes, led by their teachers, happily sang the children's song about the New Year: "Children, don't be greedy. After Laba is the New Year. Drink Laba porridge for a few days. It's the twenty-third..."

This melodious melody, like a string of cheerful notes, lightly jumped out from the windows of every classroom, interweaving with each other. Although it was a little scattered, it echoed in every corner of the kindergarten in an unusually harmonious way, like a warm current, quietly covering this world with a thick layer of festive attire, immersing the entire kindergarten in a joyful festive atmosphere...

……

In the kitchen of Doraemi Kindergarten.

Huang Jun has already started preparing Laba porridge.

Laba porridge, a traditional delicacy with an elegant nickname "Seven Treasures and Five Flavors Porridge", has a history of thousands of years in my country, dating back to the Song Dynasty, and carries a profound cultural heritage.

Every Laba Festival, whether it is the lofty imperial court, the majestic and solemn government, the peaceful and harmonious temples, or each of our cozy families, they will make pots of fragrant and warm Laba porridge to celebrate this traditional festival together.

By the Qing Dynasty, this custom had become popular throughout the country and had become an indispensable festival ritual.

Although the ingredients of Laba porridge vary due to regional differences, they basically include cereals such as rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, black rice, and coix seed, beans such as soybeans, red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, and cowpeas, and dried fruits such as red dates, peanuts, lotus seeds, wolfberries, chestnuts, walnut kernels, almonds, longans, raisins, and ginkgo nuts.

The clever combination of these ingredients makes Laba porridge not only a seasonal delicacy, but also a great choice for maintaining the spleen and stomach in the cold winter. As this week is over, after the last day of school next Tuesday, the children will usher in the long-awaited winter vacation.

In order to express the kindergarten's gratitude and blessings to the parents, the kindergarten decided that on this special day, not only will the children enjoy the delicious Laba porridge, but also a small bowl of Laba porridge will be specially prepared for the parents so that they can also feel the warmth and care from the kindergarten.

therefore.

Naturally, Huang Jun needs to prepare more Laba porridge so that every child and parent can taste this delicious festive delicacy.

"Chef Huang, come and take a look at these red beans, mung beans, and red kidney beans."

Aunt Li held a few beans soaked in water in her hand and shook them at Huang Jun with a smile.

"Okay, here we go!"

Huang Jun put down the work at hand and walked over with big strides.

He gently picked up the beans in Aunt Li's hand, carefully examining their fullness and color depth, then leaned over to check the soaking status of other beans in the basin, with a satisfied smile on his face: "Well, these beans are round and full, and they are soaked just right. Aunt Li, you and God Lin, wash these beans carefully again, and we can cook them right away."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the corner of the kitchen, where there were several large stoves that were quite old but had been cleaned to a shine by Aunt Li and her friends.

He picked up the pots and pans one by one and placed them steadily on the stove.

He poured the appropriate amount of clean water into these large pots.

"Old Qian, come and give me a hand, let's pour these beans into the pot..."

Seeing that Aunt Li and the others had cleaned the beans neatly, Huang Jun turned to greet Qian Guoxiang who was busy processing chestnuts.

"Oh, okay."

Qian Guoxiang responded readily, then put down the knife in his hand and rushed to Huang Jun's side in a few steps.

The two of them cooperated tacitly and poured the beans that Aunt Li and the others had carefully washed into the prepared pots separately and orderly.

As soon as the beans touched the water, they immediately jumped happily, making a pleasant "splashing" sound.

When everything is ready...

Huang Jun pinched a handful of alkaline noodles and sprinkled it evenly into each pot.

Alkaline noodles play a good thickening role in porridge, making the porridge more delicious.

But it should be noted that the amount of alkaline noodles should not be too much, otherwise it may make the porridge bitter and affect the overall taste.

When cooking this pot of porridge, especially when you need to prepare such a large amount of porridge, you must not rush and add enough water at once.

Because doing so will make it difficult for the beans to be cooked soft and tasty.

Therefore, a more traditional and patient method is needed - adding cool water from time to time while cooking.

This process seems simple, but it actually requires great patience and needs to be repeated three, four, or even five times.

Only through such stimulation of cold and heat can the beans bloom into beautiful "flowers" - the bean skin cracks, revealing the soft, glutinous and sweet part inside.

He covered the pot, turned the switch, and the fire was lit.

While waiting for the water to boil, he did not waste a single moment.

His eyes turned to the pressure cooker next to him, which was a "little helper" he specially prepared to add layers to the Laba porridge.

He put the kidney beans into a pressure cooker for a "high-pressure baptism".

After all, kidney beans are known for being difficult to cook until soft, and only through special processing can they show their soft, glutinous and delicate taste.

After setting the timer for ten minutes, he began to pay attention to the changes in the pots.

The water in the pots began to ripple, the temperature gradually increased, and it was about to boil.

After a while, the water finally boiled.

He quickly opened the lid of the pot, scooped up some cold water with a spoon and slowly poured it into the pot to lower the water temperature. At the same time, he adjusted the heat so that the three kinds of beans in the pot could be slowly stewed at a suitable temperature and gradually blended.

After completing these steps, he put the lid on the pot again.

When the pleasant gurgling sound came from the pot again, he opened the lid again and repeated the action of adding water so that the beans in the pot could be heated evenly.

This time, he did not rush to cover the pot. Instead, he put the three ingredients, chicken nuggets, jujubes and quinoa, which were also difficult to cook, into the pot one by one, then covered the pot again and continued cooking.

Every time the water boiled again, he would patiently repeat the action of pouring water, carefully observing the changes in the pot.

He noticed that the beans had begun to swell and open their little mouths.

He then put peanuts in the dish as well. Although peanuts are a bit crispy after being cooked, they add a unique taste here.

He added the sorghum rice, covered the pot again, and simmered it over medium heat.

When the kidney beans in the pressure cooker were cooked until soft and glutinous, he took them out one by one and put them into the pot separately.

Next, he added the cored lotus seeds and sweet chestnut meat, and later, glutinous rice, longan, rice, millet and other ingredients were put into the pot one by one.

Cover the pot and continue cooking.

During the whole process of cooking Laba porridge, these raw materials should be put into the porridge in stages and batches through different processing techniques.

This method makes every mouthful of porridge thick and fragrant, with rich layers and endless aftertaste.

When it’s almost done cooking…

He opened the lids of each pot and casually sprinkled handfuls of melon seeds into the pots, the amount being whatever he wanted, depending on his personal preference.

And sprinkled some raisins in it.

He picked up the spoon and stirred slowly, allowing every ingredient to blend and penetrate each other in the pot until they became one.

Just like that, a pot of Laba porridge with good color, aroma and taste was perfectly prepared! (End of this chapter)