The original intention of dragon boat meal is to comfort dragon boat rowers before and after the dragon boat race. Dragon boat meal means kindness, boss. After eating dragon boat rice, after a year, the weather is good and the grain is abundant. The phrase "Eat dragon boat rice and drink dragon boat wine, and you will be healthy and worry-free all year round" confirms everyone's beautiful expectations for the dragon boat banquet.
Near the Dragon Boat Festival, of course, there is no shortage of Ma Yong Dragon Boat Rice with the characteristics of water town. After decades of evolution, it is no longer just food for athletes to dig dragon boats to satisfy their hunger. On the day of the festival, delicious food is also full of auspicious and festive significance. Ma Yong people who pay attention to diet constantly study and improve the production of dragon boat rice. Today's water town Ma Yong dragon boat rice is second to none in both water town and Dongguan, regardless of taste or appearance.
A bowl of dragon boat rice seems simple, but the preparation behind it can be described as meticulous. Make a bowl of Ma Yong's special dragon boat rice. Raw materials include bacon, squid and shrimp, supplemented by seasonings such as mushrooms and chopped green onion, and seasoned with salt and soy sauce. Authentic Mayong Dragon Boat Rice uses glutinous rice and glutinous rice as the base material for cooking, and the ratio of glutinous rice to glutinous rice is 3:7. Soak the glutinous rice thoroughly with water before steaming, so that the steamed rice will not be uncooked or sticky.
The key to making dragon boat rice is to stir-fry the ingredients. Cook the squid and shrimp first, and then pour the raw oil into the pot. After the oil pan is boiled, put the bacon, squid and shrimps into the pan and stir fry a few times. This process is called "oiling" to make the ingredients more fragrant. Then mix all the ingredients and seasonings, stir-fry them evenly, put them into steamed rice, mix all the ingredients together, and a bowl of delicious dragon boat rice will be cooked.
The custom origin of dragon boat rice
There is a folk saying that "watching dragon boat and eating dragon boat rice" and "eating dragon boat rice is smooth and smooth". Dragon boat rice was originally used to train rowers to take part in dragon boat races. Old people in the village will mix beans, pork, squid, mushrooms, dried shrimps and shredded eggs. Use rice to make a delicious dragon boat meal that is easy to carry, so that dragon boat athletes can replenish their physical strength in time and row dragon boats with Qixin. Old people will also bring a bowl of dragon boat rice home to share this good wish with their children.
Later, the scale of dragon boat meal became larger and larger, and it gradually evolved into the present dragon boat feast. During the Dragon Boat Festival, Foshan people will invite relatives and friends to row dragon boats together, and then get together for a dragon boat feast to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Later it gradually evolved into a folk food.