On the second day of the second lunar month, dragons rise, big warehouse is full, and small warehouses keep flowing. When the Spring Festival comes, in most parts of northern China, every family carries lanterns to fetch water from wells or rivers. After returning home, they light lamps to burn incense and offer offerings, which is called "attracting dragons". On this day, every household will eat noodles, fried oil cakes, popcorn and pig's head meat, which is more auspicious than "picking the dragon's head" and "eating gentian", when golden beans bloom and the dragon king ascends to heaven, and when Yun Qi is rich in grains.
Why do you want to eat pig's head meat on February 2? In ancient times, pig's head was a sacrifice to ancestors and heaven. Usually, pigs can't eat casually. February 2nd is the last festival of Spring Festival for northerners. The average peasant family has worked hard for a year, and after the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, they will kill pigs and sheep. From this day on, we began to improve food. Every day, we see some meat. On New Year's Eve, the whole family has a reunion dinner, jiaozi on the first day, jiaozi on the fifth day, and Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day. On the first day of the first month, the year is over and the festival is over. The pork killed in the twelfth lunar month is basically eaten. In the end, there was only one pig head left. This pig head can only be eaten when the dragon looks up on February 2. On February 2, the dragon looked up, and everything on the earth began to recover, and all animals and plants began to look up. We should make a good start in the new year and usher in a good weather. The Dragon King is in charge of rainfall. When he goes to the Heavenly Palace, farmers will offer the best sacrifices to the Dragon King. Eating pig's head meat on February 2 is also a symbol of good luck.
There are too many stories about offering sacrifices to gods with pig heads.
It can be traced back to the pre-Qin Dynasty that the pig's head was used as a sacrifice to ancestors and heaven. Qiu Chi's Notes in the Song Dynasty recorded a story related to pig's head entering Bashu: Wang Zhongling was hungry after pacifying Bashu, so he broke into a small village temple, but met a monk who was drunk with cigarettes. Wang Zhongling was furious and wanted to chop it up. Unexpectedly, the monk was completely colorless. Wang Zhongling was very strange, so he asked him for food. Soon after, when the monk offered a plate of "steaming", the banana leaves were wrapped and poured with apricot pulp when cooked. Red, fresh and elegant, called golden plate bright, ripe and soft as jade. If it is bigger than hairy roots, felt roots will eat vines. Wang Zhongling ate a delicious steamed pig's head and was overjoyed to hear the humorous and unique "pig's head poem". He also named the monk "Master of Purple Clothes"!
It seems that eating pig's head on February 2nd is an ancient tradition and a symbol of good luck. So how to eat pig's head meat on February 2 nd now? Think about the steamed pig's head that Wang Zhongling ate and the pig's head poem that he tasted. That scene has become history and is gone forever. Now there is a famous dish in Beijing, "barbecued pork noodles", which is braised pork head in plain English, which is quite different. Pig's head meat is endowed with the highest courtesy, with the most fashionable title of the times, called "Roasted Pig's Face", which is the first patent of China cuisine. "Roasted pork face" has gone through twelve levels, such as material selection, cleaning, spray baking, soaking and sauce making. After more than 10 hours of practice, a "roasted pork face" can be served on the table, and now it is still necessary to eat "roasted pork face".