Laba porridge, also known as "Seven Treasures and Five Flavors Congee", "Buddha Congee" and "Family Rice", is a kind of porridge made from various ingredients. "Drinking Laba porridge" is the custom of the Laba Festival. The traditional ingredients of Laba porridge include rice, millet, corn, barley, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, longans and various beans, such as red beans, mung beans, soybeans, black beans, kidney beans, etc.

The custom of drinking Laba porridge during the Laba Festival comes from Buddhism. The eighth day of the eighth day of the lunar calendar is the day when the Buddha Shakyamuni became enlightened. In order not to forget the sufferings of the Buddha before he became a Taoist, and to commemorate the Buddha's enlightenment and enlightenment on the eighth day of December, they eat on this day. Mixed congee as a souvenir. Since Buddhism was introduced to China, various monasteries have used fragrant grains and fruits to make porridge for the disciples and devout men and women. In the Song Dynasty, the folk custom of making porridge and drinking porridge on the day of "Laba" gradually formed, and it continues to this day.

Laba porridge is made from various types of brown rice and grains. Laba porridge is not only delicious, but also rich in nutritional value. The beans of Laba porridge are rich in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and the content of lysine is also very rich. When combined with grains such as rice, it can form an effective nutritional complement. At the same time, proper addition of nuts and dried fruits and vegetables can not only enrich the nutrition, but also adjust the taste.

Laba porridge is very suitable for the elderly because of its health preservation effect. Rice is rich in carbohydrates and is the most important source of energy for a day. Millet is rich in phosphorus and magnesium, which can repair bones and regulate nerve and heart function. Red beans have the functions of nourishing blood serum and heat, strengthening the spleen and stomach; mung beans can replenish electrolytes in the body. The most important thing is that the skin of beans is rich in dietary fiber, which can improve gastrointestinal function, detoxify and detoxify. Peanuts are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and their oil is not easy to store in the body, which can improve high blood pressure and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Lotus seed heart has the effect of dispelling fire, especially suitable for people who work under pressure. Jujube has the effect of supplementing qi and blood.

Because of the differences in eating habits, Laba porridge can be divided into different types according to regions. The Laba porridge in Shanxi is mainly made of millet, with cowpeas, adzuki beans, mung beans, jujubes, sticky yellow rice, rice, and Jiang rice. In the southeastern part of Shanxi, on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, adzuki beans, red beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, glutinous rice, dried persimmons are used to cook porridge with water, which is also called sweet rice, which is also one of the food customs.

The Laba rice in Henan is cooked with 8 kinds of raw materials including millet, mung beans, cowpeas, wheat kernels, peanuts, and red dates. After cooking, add some brown sugar and walnut kernels. The porridge is thick and fragrant, which symbolizes the harvest of five grains in the coming year. In Henan, Laba Congee, also known as "Fan for Everyone", is said to be a festive food custom to commemorate the national hero Yue Fei.

There are two types of laba porridge in Jiangsu, sweet and salty, and the cooking method is the same. The only salty porridge is with vegetables and oil. Suzhou people cook Laba porridge with Ci mushrooms, water chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, gorgon, red dates, chestnuts, fungus, greens, enoki mushrooms, etc.

Zhejiang Laba porridge usually uses walnut kernels, pine nuts, gorgon, lotus seeds, red dates, longan meat, lychee meat, etc. It is sweet and delicious, and it is a long life. It is said that this method of cooking porridge was passed down from Nanjing and contains several legends.

There are a lot of local adults in Sichuan. Laba porridge is made with a variety of sweet, salty and spicy, while the rural people eat more salty flavors, mainly made with soybeans, peanuts, diced meat, white radishes, and carrots. People from other countries come here to taste it. Although they follow the customs, it is difficult to get used to it. Nowadays, many people in the city eat sweet porridge, which can be called different flavors.