Laba porridge

noun

A kind of congee traditionally made with 8 variable vegetarian flavorings and consumed during the Laba Festival.

Meanings

nounLaba porridge (uncountable)

alternative laba porridge

  1. uncountableA kind of congee traditionally made with 8 variable vegetarian flavorings and consumed during the Laba Festival.

    It is said that leftover Laba porridge is considered a good sign as it suggests that there will be leftovers every year...

    2021, Joey Yap, Legendary Chinese Festivals
    2 more examples

    In China, festivals are important occasions, when edibles and other gifts are presented and exchanged. In the few years of its existence, the factory has made it a practice to present at various festival times to each worker 10 dumplings, ½ catty of "mid-Autumn cake," ¼ catty of dried plums, ½ catty of sugar, [and] 10 cents for making "la-pa" porridge, a food to be taken on the eighth day of the last month in the year.

    [1951, Wilbert E. Moore, “The Search for New Opportunities”, in Industrialization and Labor: Social Aspects of Economic Development, New York: Russell & Russell, sourced from Sung-Ho Lin, Factory Workers in Tangku (Peiping: Social Research Department, China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, 1928), p. 33., published 1965, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 85–86

    The Chinese have been eating laba porridge since the time of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). In those days, the central and local government as well as the monasteries would make laba porridge on every Laba Festival.

    2011, Wei Liming, Chinese Festivals, page 9

    Synonyms: Laba congee

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA kind of congee traditionally made with 8 variable vegetarian flavorings and consumed during the Laba Festival.

Also see

Origin

  1. Chinese臘八粥 /腊八粥
  2. EnglishLaba porridge

A partial calque of the Mandarin form of Chinese 臘八粥 /腊八粥 (làbāzhōu), named for its association with the Laba Festival.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 臘八粥 /腊八粥, 八寶粥 /八宝粥
  • 臘八粥 /腊八粥 (làbāzhōu)Translations
  • 八寶粥 /八宝粥 (bābǎozhōu)Translations
Polish chiński kleik ryżowy
  • chiński kleik ryżowyTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

Laba porridge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Laba%20porridge

MLA

“Laba porridge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Laba%20porridge. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Laba porridge,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Laba%20porridge.

Source: Laba porridge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.