Cooking
Laba rice porridge contains glutinous rice, red beans, millet, Chinese sorghum, peas, dried lotus seeds, red beans and some other ingredients, such as dried dates, chestnut meat, walnut meat, almond, peanut, etc. Actually eight ingredients are used, cooked with sugar to make the porridge tasty. Northerners prefer to use glutinous rice, red beans, dates, lotus seeds, dried long'an pulp, walnuts, pine nuts and other dried fruits in their porridge; southerners like a salty porridge prepared with rice, soybeans, peanuts, broad beans, taro, water chestnuts, walnuts, vegetables and diced meat. In the north, it is a dessert with sugar added; in the south, salt is put in. Some people like to add cinnamon and other condiments to add flavor.

Materials:
Rice 50g
Millet 50g
Sticky yellow rice 50g
Sticky rice 50g
Sorghum 50g
Red beans 100g
Lotus seeds 100g
Broad beans 100g
Dried longans 100g
Peanuts 100g
Chestnuts 100g
Red jujube 100g
White sugar

Preparations:
1. Soak the lotus seeds in a bowl of water, steam at high heat for 1 hour, take out and draw aside for later use;
2. Peel off the skin of longans and remove the seeds; strip off both outer and inner skins of chestnuts; wash sorghum, red beans, broad beans, peanuts, jujube, rice, millet, sticky yellow rice and sticky rice;
3. Place sorghum, red beans, peanuts and jujube in a pot, cover with water and cook to half tender.
4. Add broad beans, rice, millet, sticky yellow rice and sticky rice into the pot, blend well. After boiling, shimmer in low heat until the nuts become tender;
5. Add steamed lotus seeds and bring to boil. Remove from the fire, add white sugar, ready to serve.

Controlling the heat is of great importance in making Laba porridge. At the start, the flame must be high, but the fire is then turned down to let the porridge simmer until it begins to emit a very delicious smell. The process is time-consuming but not complicated.

Laba porridge is not only easy to prepare, but also a nutritious winter food because it contains amino acids, protein, vitamins and other nutrition people need. Cooked nuts and dried fruit are good for soothing nerves, nourishing one's heart and vitality, and strengthening the spleen. Perhaps that is why it is also called babao (Eight Treasure) porridge.The porridge is not only beneficial to health, but also is a rite of blessing that signals the beginning of Spring Festival.