When is the winter tonic?

The best time to make up for winter is the beginning of winter night.

Beginning of winter is an important solar term in China, marking the official start of winter. In this cold season, people often spend the severe winter by supplementing food, which is what people call the custom of "making up for winter". According to the custom of China people, beginning of winter is a season suitable for nourishing the body.

In some areas of China, such as Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Taiwan Province Province, it is very important for beginning of winter to make up for winter. On the solstice of winter, people can adapt to the seasonal changes of climate through proper nutrition. In China, people have different customs, such as eating glutinous rice balls, tofu, making jiaozi and drinking mutton soup. In addition, there are some local specialties such as boiled grass root soup, stewed chicken and duck, steamed rice cake with glutinous rice, etc.

The production steps of winter gourmet mutton soup are as follows:

Material preparation: mutton, ginger, onion, cooking wine, salt, pepper, star anise and some fragrant leaves.

1. Cut the mutton into pieces and soak it in clear water for 30 minutes to remove the fishy smell.

2. Put the soaked mutton into the pot, add enough water, add ginger slices, onion segments and cooking wine, boil and skim off the floating foam.

3. Turn to low heat and continue to stew for 2~3 hours until the mutton becomes crisp and rotten.

4. In the process of stewing, you can add some seasonings such as salt, pepper, star anise and fragrant leaves according to your personal taste.

5. After stewing, take out the mutton and cut it into pieces of appropriate size.

6. Pour the stew into a bowl, add chopped mutton slices, and add some chopped green onion or coriander as decoration according to personal preference.

7. Mutton soup can be eaten with rice or noodles, or it can be enjoyed as soup alone.