Food news
HeritageThe National Museum of the Philippines Iloilo capped off its 2026 ‘Magbasá Kita: A Reading Program for Young Learners’ with an immersive storytelling session at the museum’s Book Nook on September 23, 2026. The activity introduced the localHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesStreet foodMan dead, 3 in custody after shooting outside Piada Italian Street Food in Mayfield HeightsStreet foodBrick-and-Mortar Restaurants Need to Stop Blaming Street VendorsFarm and marketYour guide to Harvest Fair 2026 at Wisconsin State Fair ParkFarm and marketOct. 3 Harvest of Harmony Parade available to view in livestream broadcast during paradeFarm and marketSouthington Apple Harvest Festival kicks off tonightWorldBon Appétit editor-in-chief explores food’s role in culture, media at MSUFarm and marketDetroit Harvest Fest adds movies, more food trucks in year 6HeritageThe National Museum of the Philippines Iloilo capped off its 2026 ‘Magbasá Kita: A Reading Program for Young Learners’ with an immersive storytelling session at the museum’s Book Nook on September 23, 2026. The activity introduced the localHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesStreet foodMan dead, 3 in custody after shooting outside Piada Italian Street Food in Mayfield HeightsStreet foodBrick-and-Mortar Restaurants Need to Stop Blaming Street VendorsFarm and marketYour guide to Harvest Fair 2026 at Wisconsin State Fair ParkFarm and marketOct. 3 Harvest of Harmony Parade available to view in livestream broadcast during paradeFarm and marketSouthington Apple Harvest Festival kicks off tonightWorldBon Appétit editor-in-chief explores food’s role in culture, media at MSUFarm and marketDetroit Harvest Fest adds movies, more food trucks in year 6
Thali

Next: 15 Jan 2027

Laba Festival

A porridge of many grains, beans, nuts and dried fruit on the eighth day of the last lunar month.

What is eaten for Laba Festival

Laba falls on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and opens the run up to the Lunar New Year. The dish of the day is Laba congee, a porridge of rice, millet, beans, peanuts, lotus seeds, red dates and other dried fruit. Buddhists link it to the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, and temples give out bowls of it to anyone who comes. In north China families also put peeled garlic into vinegar on this day. It turns green and is ready in time for New Year dumplings.

The dishes

Laba garlicGarlic pickled green in vinegar, started on this day.JiaoziThe dumplings the pickled garlic is saved for.

Also part of it, and being written: Laba congee (Porridge of mixed grains, beans, nuts and dried fruit.).

More dishes made for Laba Festival

Congee粥 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreRice simmered in water to make a soft, comforting porridge Main dish, Breakfast, Dinner
About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Laba Festival" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly plate

Every Monday: seven dishes you may not know, what the world is cooking this week, and one way of eating.