臘八節源於農曆十二月初八是中國的傳統節日，臘代表中國農曆的十二月，而八是eight的發音，因此，這個節日被命名成臘八。在過去,臘八節起初是為了祭祀祖先，祈求豐收以及為即將來到的一年祈福。而今天, 已經演變為家人們坐在一起吃臘八粥了! 臘八粥由至少八種材料組合而成，包含: 黏米，紅豆，小米，高粱，豌豆，蓮子和紅棗，栗子，核桃仁，杏仁，花生等穀物。粥要熬制數小時，然後作為祭品祭獻給祖先。另一方面, 也會有人醃制臘八蒜。從臘八節當天開起，將蒜泡在醋中至少二十天，到農曆春節的時候，就可以在餐桌上享用了!。
The Laba Festival comes from a traditional
Chinese festival celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar
calendar. "La" means 12th lunar month and eight is pronounced as
"ba" in Chinese. Therefore, it is named "Laba." In the
past, the beginning of this festival was in order to sacrifice offering to
ancestors. Also, people pray to heaven and earth that there would be a
bountiful harvest as well as hope for good luck in the coming year. For now, it
has evolved that family members eat the porridge together. The porridge
composes at least 8 or more ingredients, including glutinous rice, red beans,
millet, Chinese sorghum, peas, dried lotus seeds, dried dates, chestnut meat,
walnut meat, almond, peanut and so on. Further, it need to boil for many hours
and then provided as a sacrifice to the ancestors. On the other hand,
traditionally, some people may soak Laba garlic in vinegar starting from Laba
festival to more than twenty days. Then, the garlic and vinegar is eaten on the
table when the Chinese New Year comes.
