What to eat in the northern solar terms

On the solstice of winter, this day began to "enter nine" and officially entered the cold. We must eat something good to supplement our health. In addition, the winter solstice is the key node of the transformation of the qi of heaven and earth and the qi of yin and yang. This day's tonic will be three times as effective as usual. As the saying goes, "the solstice in winter is as big as every year." On the day of winter solstice, eating is the most important thing no matter where you are. The winter solstice eating customs in different places have their own characteristics. Let me introduce some major dietary customs to you.

North | jiaozi

Northerners love jiaozi too much. After all, they eat jiaozi all year round, no matter what the solar terms are, there is no jiaozi. Besides, if you don't eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, no one cares about freezing your ears. It can be seen that eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter has a high position in their hearts, especially in the northeast, and they can't put it down for jiaozi! ?

I really want to talk about the tradition of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice. According to legend, it is also related to China medical scientist Zhang Zhongjing. Jiaozi was invented by him as Joule. He treated many poor people with ears damaged by hunger and cold at that time with "Quhanjoule Decoction". Later, every winter solstice, everyone imitated eating, and there was the custom of eating jiaozi. Dumpling stuffing is not very particular. Northeast people like sauerkraut stuffing, Shandong people like Spanish mackerel stuffing, Beijing people like fennel stuffing, and some people like leek eggs and mushroom pork cooked at home. Will it taste bad in jiaozi?

On the day of winter solstice, the whole family goes into battle, doing their own jobs, making stuffing, making dough, rolling skin and making jiaozi. When the hot jiaozi was served, the festive atmosphere was really there!

South | Tangyuan

Northerners eat jiaozi with vinegar, while southerners feel the sweet crit of glutinous rice balls with the tip of their tongue.

In Chaoshan, the local people call glutinous rice balls "winter festival pills", but they have no stuffing. It is best to rub the winter festival pill into a bumpy shape, which is called "father and son gongsun pill", symbolizing family reunion at the end of the year. Winter festival pills are usually cooked before dawn, and brown sugar soup is cooked. After the meatballs are made, the ancestors are sacrificed first, and then the whole family, old and young, are called to eat soup pills, commonly known as "soup pills are not delicious."

Tang Yuan went to Taizhou and changed his name to Yuan Lei. Stir-fry soybeans and grind them into soybean yellow powder, add brown sugar and sesame seeds and mix well; Knead glutinous rice flour and water into dough, pick table tennis balls, knead them into balls, gently grind them into boiling water and cook them, and then roll them into bean flour. This action is called "rolling" in Taizhou dialect. Similar to the method of rounding, there are Fuzhou people's dumplings. The difference is that they are mixed with white sugar, cooked black sesame powder, peanuts and cooked soybean powder. They are all solid and very cute. The most surprising thing is the winter solstice in jiaozi. One is as big as half a fist, and the stuffing is mostly fresh shepherd's purse. Two people who eat less can eat enough.

In addition to glutinous rice balls, Jiaxing people who live in Jiangnan water town will also eat red beans and glutinous rice, which is said to ward off evil spirits and prevent diseases.

Local dietary customs:

1, Ningxia Yinchuan | Mind

On the solstice of winter, Yinchuan people also want to drink mutton soup, but they have given it a special name-"sheep brain", which is actually mutton powder soup buns. It's scary to hear the name, but after smelling the fragrance, you can't help but move your index finger.

On the solstice of winter, people call it Ghost Festival. After jiaozi prepares the noodle soup, he will serve a bowl first and a bowl for his neighbor. The custom of eating brains in winter is said to have begun in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, ate mutton cooked in Fan Kuai on the solstice of winter, which was particularly delicious and full of praise. Since then, the folk custom of eating sheep's brains from winter to Sunday has been formed. On the solstice of winter, people eat mutton and various nourishing foods one after another in order to have a good omen for the coming year.

2. Shandong Tengzhou | Mutton soup

On the solstice of winter, northerners not only eat jiaozi in every household, but also drink mutton soup in Tengzhou, Shandong. The solstice of winter is called "small year" by them. In order to welcome this day, everyone will buy mutton in advance.

Every winter solstice, people eat mutton and drink mutton soup. As the saying goes, "three nine supplements one, winter", warming mutton is regarded as a good choice for winter tonic. For ordinary people, eating mutton is one of the main ways to supplement the cold in winter. Traditional Chinese medicine and medicine pay attention to "four seasons and five supplements", among which "nourishing" in winter is a timely tonic method. Eating mutton in winter solstice is to keep out the cold and nourish.

3. Northeast dog meat

It is said that the custom of eating dog meat on the solstice began in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the solstice in winter, which was particularly delicious and full of praise. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat from winter solstice has been formed among the people. Nowadays, people eat dog meat, mutton and all kinds of nutritious food on the solstice of winter, which is a good sign for the coming year. Tofu stew with dog meat, in particular, is one of the eight largest stews in Northeast China. Today, the versions of tofu stewed with dog meat from winter to Japanese are not uniform, but the meat bones and tofu are still replaced by dog meat, because the important position of tofu stewed with dog meat in other versions is self-evident.

4. Beijing Wonton

In Beijing, there is a proverb called "Solstice wonton in winter and Solstice noodle in summer". In the past, there was a saying in Beijing that wonton was eaten on the solstice in winter. Wonton, a kind of food symbolizing reunion, is the first choice on the table from winter to Sunday. ? As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, people in Lin 'an ate wonton on the solstice in winter. At first, it was to worship their ancestors, and then it gradually became popular. There is a folk saying that "the solstice in winter is in Wonton Noodles, and the solstice in summer". I hope to break the "chaos" and become smart when I eat wonton in winter. The nutritional value of wonton is still relatively high. Its greatest advantage is that protein has a complete variety, with stuffing and skin, which can supplement protein. When you eat wonton in the winter of solstice, you should add ginger, salt, monosodium glutamate and other seasonings. Wonton stuffing will be delicious or not.

5, Guangdong | Boiled chicken, wine boiled mutton, radish hairpin

"celebrate the new year in winter" and "fat and thin in winter" are big proverbs that Cantonese people have heard since childhood. Apart from eating jiaozi, many areas in Guangdong have their own unique winter solstice customs.

For example, Guangzhou people want to eat boiled chicken and roast goose, and the family can have a happy meal together; Foshan people want to steam muffins, which has a good meaning of high-rise buildings; Zhongshan people will eat "water olives", olive-shaped dumplings filled with lotus seed paste or mung bean paste; Meizhou people prefer "boiled mutton with wine".

6. Minnan | Ginger Duck, Pill, Ghost Cake?

There is a saying in Xiamen: "It is better to make up for a winter than a year." For Minnan people, the solstice in winter is not only a big day for family reunion and ancestor worship, but also a top priority, and ginger duck is the first choice. ?

Although all three places in Fujian (Xiamen and Zhang Quan) eat ginger duck, only Xiamen people must eat ginger duck on the solstice of winter. Stir-fry ginger and muscovy duck with sesame oil, add sorghum wine and cooking wine and stew. Ginger removes dampness and warms the body, while duck is nourishing but not greasy. Cook until it is dry and fragrant, and eat a piece of ginger. After eating, the whole body is hot!

Although we have been far away from the farming era, which relies on solar terms to judge time, the sense of ceremony left on the dining table is still like cutting a knife on the invisible door edge, marking the traces related to land and time. The solstice of winter has arrived, and the sun is brighter every day. A hearty winter solstice meal warmly opened the first day of winter.