What porridge is served on the Laba Festival before Chinese New Year?

The porridge traditionally served on the Laba Festival before Chinese New Year is Laba congee.

Laba congee is a ceremonial Chinese dish also called eight-treasure congee. Recipes vary widely, but commonly combine rice or glutinous rice with beans, peanuts, lotus seeds, nuts, and dried fruit such as dates or longan. The ingredients differ by region and household, so the dish is not one fixed recipe.

The custom has a long history. Laba congee was associated with ritual offerings in the Han dynasty, became more widely consumed during the Song dynasty, and gained further popularity in the Qing court. The name connects the dish with Laba, meaning the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. “Rice pudding” is a tempting wrong answer, but Laba congee is a grain-and-legume festival porridge with many regional variations.