Thousands enjoy freshly cooked laba porridge in Sichuan

The monastery said it prepared 40,000 cups of freshly cooked laba porridge on Monday, hoping to share warmth and a tasty treat with people on the traditional festival. To ensure everyone enjoyed steaming hot laba porridge, chefs began soaking ingredients the night before and cooked in shifts since the early morning.

The monastery's laba porridge is made from over a dozen ingredients, including glutinous rice, black rice, red beans, red dates, and goji berries. This year's recipe was enriched with chestnuts and raisins for a more flavorful taste, it said.

From Saturday to Monday, the monastery gave out a total of 100,000 cups of freshly cooked laba porridge to visitors. Meanwhile, it set up 482 porridge serving spots across the city, distributing 280,000 cups of pre-cooked laba porridge.

A week ahead of the festival, the monastery also mailed 120,000 packages of laba porridge ingredients free of charge to people across the country, allowing them to make and enjoy the symbolic dish at home.