What are the customary foods to eat during the Winter Solstice in the South?

Winter Solstice, commonly known as "Winter Festival", is an important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar. On the day with the longest night and shortest day of the year, everyone must eat and drink well and warm themselves up with delicious food.

The customary foods of the winter solstice in the south include glutinous rice balls, roasted meats, sweet balls, glutinous rice balls, nine-layer cakes, red bean glutinous rice, ginger duck, rice cakes, winter wine making, and edge-burning stoves. I think there are 5 customs worth mentioning among the customs of how to eat more during the Winter Solstice. Let’s take a look at them below:

? One of the customs of eating during the Winter Solstice in the South: Eating ginger duck?< /p>

Being in Fujian and Taiwan, there is a custom of eating ginger duck during the winter solstice. On this day, the locals will use Muscovy duck with ginger juice and stew a pot of nourishing duck soup to ward off the cold and strengthen the body. Increase the joyful atmosphere of the festival and seek good luck.

The delicacy of ginger duck originated in Quanzhou, and then spread to southern Fujian and even Taiwan. It is a traditional snack in Quanzhou area. It is nutritious but not greasy, warm but not dry, and has a fragrant aroma. , thus becoming the first choice for winter tonic delicacies in Fujian and Taiwan. From the name Ginger Duck, we can also get a glimpse of the Min characteristics contained in it. "Ginger mother" is also old ginger, and in this dish it specifically refers to old ginger that is more than three years old. As the saying goes, people are old and smart, and ginger is old and spicy. Ginger that is more than three years old is probably considered to be so old that it has become a spirit, so it is called "Ginger Mother", which is appropriate and has a bit of market slang.

Tracing back to the origin of ginger duck, according to the records of "Chinese Medicine Genealogy" and "Hanfang Pharmacopoeia", during the ancient winter solstice, the emperor invited many famous doctors to the palace to specialize in nourishing tonics. To ensure the emperor's good health and prolong his life. In the Shang Dynasty, Wu Zhong, the imperial physician in the imperial palace, developed a dish, which was an exclusive secret recipe of the imperial palace. It was made from traditional Chinese medicine. Red-faced Muscovy duck meat was fried with sesame oil, and stewed with ginger and shochu. This dish is delicious, and after eating it, you will feel energetic and have smooth muscles and veins, so it was greatly appreciated by the emperor. Because it also has the effect of nourishing health and prolonging life, it was later regarded as a holy nourishing and tonic product during the winter solstice.

?The second winter solstice eating custom in the south: eating glutinous rice balls?

In the south, eating glutinous rice balls is popular during the winter solstice. There is also a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls makes you one year older". Tangyuan, also known as glutinous rice balls, is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Yuan" means "reunion" and "completeness", so eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings". Tangyuan can be used to worship ancestors or as gifts to relatives and friends.

Eating glutinous rice balls has been a custom in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. On the winter solstice, it is necessary to "make powder balls" or "powder glutinous rice into balls". These are also officially recorded in historical materials, saying "During the Winter Solstice, glutinous rice is made into balls, called glutinous rice balls." After making glutinous rice dumplings, you should offer sacrifices to gods and ancestors, and then eat glutinous rice dumplings with the whole family, which is called "increasing the age". Therefore, eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice has been a tradition since ancient times.

An ancient poem about eating glutinous rice balls goes like this: "Everyone pounding rice to make glutinous rice balls knows that it is the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty." Eating glutinous rice balls at the winter solstice is a traditional custom in my country. It is especially popular in Jiangnan, and there is a folk saying of "eating glutinous rice balls." It is said that the glutinous rice balls are one year older. Tangyuan is also called glutinous rice balls, and eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings"; glutinous rice balls can be used to worship ancestors and can also be used to give to relatives and friends.

The winter solstice is the longest night of the year. On the day of the winter solstice, before dawn, women get up and light a fire to cook glutinous rice balls. They first worship heaven and ancestors, and then the whole family sits around to eat glutinous rice balls. Therefore, eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice not only means that the sun (sunlight) is gradually coming back, but also represents the meaning of harmony. Modern people prefer to regard it as a symbol of perfection.

?The third winter solstice eating custom in the south: sweet potato soup and fruit?

In the traditional custom of Ningbo in the south, sweet potato soup and fruit is one of the must-eat delicacies during the winter solstice. "Fan" and "fan" have the same pronunciation. In the understanding of Ningbo people, eating sweet potatoes during the winter solstice means "turning over" all the bad luck of the past year.

Tangguo is a must-eat food for Ningbo people during the winter solstice. Ningbo people have a saying that "eating Tang Guo makes you one year older". Tangguo is similar to glutinous rice balls, both meaning "reunion" and "completeness", but Tangguo is smaller and has no filling inside.

Ningbo people celebrate the winter solstice. In the old days, each family used reed powder to make balls, which were called reed soup fruits. Later, it was gradually changed to glutinous rice flour balls, with sweet potato kernels added, and it was called sweet potato soup. Serve to the Kitchen God first, and then the whole family eats. It is commonly known as "Winter Solstice is a small New Year's Eve", and the slang is "Winter Solstice is as big as the New Year, and the emperor and the waiter want to thank the New Year." On this day, elders ask children not to cry, adults not to beat or scold children, and not to break things, otherwise it is considered unlucky.

?The fourth custom of eating glutinous rice cakes during the winter solstice in the south: Eating glutinous rice cakes?

The weather is cold during the winter solstice, and there is a custom of eating glutinous rice cakes during the winter solstice in the south.

Ciba is mainly made from glutinous rice. It is white in color and has a fragrant, glutinous and sweet taste. There are many ways to eat glutinous rice cake. It can be baked or fried, or fried. Eating glutinous rice cakes during the winter solstice in the south comes from a legend.

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu Zixu, a minister of the Chu State, defected to the State of Wu to avenge his father and wanted to borrow troops from the State of Wu to attack the State of Chu. He came to the State of Wu to help King Helu of Wu stabilize his position and became a meritorious minister of the State of Wu. Soon, he realized his ambition and led the Wu soldiers to conquer Yingdu, the capital of the Chu state, and exhumed the tomb of the King of Chu and whipped his corpse to avenge him.

As Wu Zixu expected, shortly after his death, Gou Jian of the Yue State took the opportunity to raise his troops to attack Wu and surrounded the capital of Wu State. It was the winter solstice at that time, and the weather was freezing cold. People in the city went without food and starved to death everywhere. The country and its people were indeed in danger. At this time of crisis, people remembered Wu Zixu's instructions during his lifetime and secretly demolished the city wall and dug the ground. People were surprised to find that the city foundation was made of bricks and stones pressed with cooked glutinous rice.

It turns out that when Wu Zixu was building the city, he steamed a large amount of glutinous rice, pressed it into bricks and let them cool, then used them as the cornerstone of the city wall to prepare for shortages. People can't help but sigh, Wu Zixu is really prescient! Everyone picked up the glutinous rice bricks, smashed them, steamed them again, divided them and ate them. Later, in the Chutian area, every winter solstice, people would use glutinous rice to make glutinous rice cakes like "city bricks" to commemorate Wu Zixu.

?The fifth custom of eating winter solstice in the south: Eating winter festival balls?

“Every family pounded rice for reunion, knowing that it was the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty.” Eating winter festival dumplings is a traditional custom in the south. One or two days before the Winter Festival, every household is busy grinding rice milk and other tasks. On the eve of the Winter Festival, the housewives of every household would put a big dustpan in the hall and knead the drained rice milk into a ball. The whole family would sit around and roll the Winter Festival balls while talking and laughing. This feeling and scene are simply not inferior to staying up late on New Year's Eve. The Winter Festival circles in the dustpan are large and small, red and white, and are very dazzling. The older generation is used to saying, "It doesn't matter if the Winter Festival circles are uneven. These are the father and son Gongsun Yuan. They are the round ones for the whole family, big and small." What a symbol!" Children like to use ready-made rice balls as materials to make chickens, dogs, pigs and other poultry and livestock, and have a great time. In order to ensure the prosperity of the six livestocks, farmers do not want to interfere with their children.

Early in the morning of the Winter Festival, housewives cook winter festival balls with brown sugar and ginger, and then serve them in bowls to worship their ancestors. The whole family kneels in front of the ancestor's tablet, and the elders tell where their "roots" are, so that their descendants will never forget them and remember their ancestors forever. In addition to worshiping ancestors in halls, people also worship wells, stoves, and fields to pray for family safety, good harvests, and prosperous livestock. Regarding this, Taiwan's "Fengshan County Chronicles" republished in the Qing Dynasty recorded: "In the winter solstice, families make rice balls to worship their ancestors, pay homage to the gods, and pay tribute to the elders when they are humble. The abbreviation is like New Year's Day." "Taiwan Folk Belief Encyclopedia·Festival Volume" It is also recorded in the book: "Taiwanese people's winter solstice customs include eating glutinous rice dumplings to add years to their years and offering sacrifices to ancestral temples, etc..." Adults and children eat winter solstice dumplings for breakfast after getting up.

It’s interesting to say that in most areas of my country, the folk calculation of the year is based on the Spring Festival, but compatriots in Taiwan are based on eating Winter Festival yuan, so there is a folk proverb "Eating Winter Festival yuan adds one year to the age". Therefore, even babies have to symbolically lick sweet dumplings and feed them dumpling soup. For relatives who are far away from home or unable to rush home due to restrictions, their family members have to dry rice milk for them. When they come back, the whole family will rub it together to celebrate the reunion, which is called "making up for the new year."

During the Winter Solstice Festival, many traditional foods are eaten. In some areas, steamed buns, rice cakes, glutinous rice cakes, etc. are also eaten, which are all related to local food customs and habits. In fact, no matter what we eat, everyone’s original intention is the same, to welcome the arrival of the winter solstice and celebrate the arrival of the new year.