What traditional foods do Shanghainese eat on the solstice in winter?

1, Tangyuan: In old Shanghai, there was a poem saying, "Every family smashed rice to make Tangyuan, knowing that it was the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty." Shanghainese are used to eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice to celebrate the arrival of the winter solstice. Dough is made of glutinous rice flour and covered with sugar, meat, apples, bean paste, shredded radish and so on. There are also newly brewed sweet white wine, flower cakes and glutinous rice balls, and meat pieces are placed on plates to worship ancestors.

2. Sweet liquor: Sweet liquor is a kind of fermented liquor and a famous specialty of Changzhou. It takes rice, corn, millet and other food crops as raw materials, which are soaked or boiled in clear water, then steamed thoroughly, sprinkled with sweet distiller's yeast, drenched with a little cold water, stirred evenly and placed in a warm and dry place. In summer, sweet liquor can be made in 1-2 days; In winter, it takes about 3-5 days to become sweet white wine. Sweet wine has high nutritional value.

3. Flower cake: In the old society, in addition to the newly brewed sweet white wine and glutinous rice balls, the newly steamed flower cake is also an essential seasonal food for Shanghai winter solstice family banquets. Flower cake is made of rice flour, bean flour, etc. It is fermented with jujube, chestnut, almond and other fruit capsules and steamed with sugar.