What do Chinese people eat on the winter solstice?

"Monthly Order Seventy-two Waiting Jiejie" wrote: winter solstice in November the end of the hidden gas to the end of this and the pole. On this day, the sun runs to the yellow longitude 270 °, the northern hemisphere ball people will experience the longest night of the year. The ancients believed that the winter solstice is the critical point of the intersection of yin and yang, this day to reach the yin, after this day, the yang will rise, should be the old saying "winter solstice, a sun" of the subtle, "things will be reversed" exactly.

Ancient people first set the winter solstice as a festival, but also give the winter solstice holiday meaning, after all, is the shortest day of the year, very commemorative. The book of the later Han Dynasty records: before and after the winter solstice, the gentleman is quiet and quiet, the hundred officials are not listening to politics, choose the auspicious moment and then save. 1600 years ago, the ancients already have a sense of legal holidays, that is, about the winter solstice.

Today's winter solstice, the importance of a slight decline in the fast-food culture surrounded by, but often on the top of the list of topics, and the discussion of it is always inseparable from the "winter solstice in the end to eat dumplings or dumplings" such. It's a clichéd topic that's rehashed every year.

As a "foodie" country, "eating" is inevitable, and the winter solstice is no exception. Whether it is dumplings, wontons or dumplings, this is a part of cultural practices, not to mention, the winter solstice seasonal food is much more than you think.

1 Winter wine

"If you don't drink winter wine on the winter solstice, you'll be freezing all night", the winter solstice in Suzhou is profoundly imprinted with winter wine.

"No time, no food", the sophisticated Suzhou people always according to the season to eat the seasonal meal, after the season, the meal will be out of favor. A week before the winter solstice, after two months of brewing winter wine is finally on the market, the old shop instantly become a net red store, queuing up to buy wine old Suzhou endless. A year of waiting, and only ten days of the sale period, enough to let the Suzhou people itchy, can not hold down the excitement, tiptoe frequently probe, this long queue when is the end?

The Qing dynasty Gu Lu in the "Qing Jia Record" recorded: the countryside, the family, with herbs brewing, known as the winter brewing, there are "Autumn Dew White", "Du Mao Chai", "leaning against the wall clear", "bamboo leaves clear" all the names. Those made in October are called "October White". Those made in October are called "October White Wine". Those made with white flour and brewed with white rice soaked in spring water are called "Sanbaijiu".

"Autumn dew white", "bamboo leaf green" such aliases is very nice, the ancient love of winter wine in this name.

Whether it's "Autumn Dew White", "Dumao Chai" or "Bamboo Leaf Green", the ancients always described the color with a different imagination. In fact, the winter wine is a golden yellow color, with osmanthus flowers floating between the yellow clear.

The old folks are still used to making their own winter wine. In late fall, the osmanthus trees in front of and behind the house have long been full of goose-yellow "pearls", and the fragrance of the warm and elegant can not be blocked into the nostrils. Cut a few branches full of osmanthus, gently stroke down goose yellow flower particles, flat air-drying and gardenia together with glutinous rice, wine fermented into rice wine, osmanthus attracts fragrance, gardenia color.

memory of overflowing out of the alleyway osmanthus fragrant winter wine will be made. A sniff and you will remember it for the rest of your life.

Snow gradually accumulated on the roof of the grass, and a breath of air formed a mist. The small fireplace made of red clay issued a vague charcoal red, "this night spirits thick Wu rice brewing", warm a pot of winter brewing, drink a sip, pull on a catty of marinated meat, and two or three friends sitting around the fireplace, pouring wine and meat, gossiping about the family, but also a rare cozy.

After more than 1,000 years on Shantang Street, there is no longer a Lotte. Sitting in front of the water, the fragrance of osmanthus permeates the nose, and the little maiden fish stroll and laugh across the water, warming up the cold sunset sunshine.

This day is like this winter wine, not strong, and not in a hurry, like the Suzhou little lady fish in the water looking back, plain, warm and refreshing, the water flows.

2 Fuping persimmon cake: sweet sticky teeth

Speaking of persimmon cake, the earliest memory of persimmon cake is placed in the grandmother's bedside of the round flat, long "white spot", sweet with astringent small snacks.

But the emergence of Fuping persimmon cake has completely overturned my imagination of persimmon cake, the original persimmon cake can be so soft, sweet.

Of course, those with a sweet tooth will love it to death, and those who don't will find it too sweet.

Willow shadows and fallen leaves fill the path, and the frost comes in time, and the golden persimmons that cover the branches begin their transformation from ordinary fruits to the most beautiful sweets.

From the frost to the winter solstice, the growth of Fuping persimmon cake has to go through 12 strict ancient process: picking, folding hooks, peeling, rack hanging, pinching heart, down the rack, out of the water, the tide of frost ......48-60 days of frost hanging time is strictly controlled.

Different from the round and flat persimmon cakes on the market, Fuping persimmon cakes look very cute. Because of the traditional natural hanging techniques, from 200g to 40g of concentrated fruit in the process of being fully bathed in sunlight, just like a chubby little peach, really should be "persimmon persimmons," a good significance.

Tear open the persimmon gently, leaving the white frosting on the surface of the persimmon on your fingers, revealing the red, loose pulp, which is as crystal clear as jelly.

Taking a bite of the persimmon cake, it is silky smooth and the flesh seems to rush out from between the teeth, leaving traces of the sunlight and the fragrance of the fruit between the lips.

The kids next door have been crying.

3 Winter Festival Pills

Pushing open the mottled wooden door with a heavy bag, an old woman followed the sound and chanted, "I'm back, I'm back! Quickly enter the door, eat the winter festival pills."

The winter solstice is one of the most important festivals of the year in the Chaoshan region, and it is also called the "winter solstice". The winter solstice, also known as the "Winter Festival", is the last festival of the year, and is therefore also the "Little Year" in the Chaoshan region. After eating the "Winter Festival Balls", which are unique to the Winter Solstice, the child will grow up to be a year older. The so-called "winter festival pill" is in fact the "soup dumplings" in the dispute between the north and the south.

The night before the winter solstice, housewives began to make preparations. The women put a dashi, a kind of shallow basket, on the table and sit around the table to "SO round" (dialect, sound).

Traditional winter festival balls come in two colors: white, made directly from glutinous rice flour, and pinkish-purple, with the addition of red currant powdered water.

Women intentionally rolled the balls into different sizes and jagged shapes, calling them "father, son and grandson balls," to symbolize that the year's end would be a happy one for the whole family.

Early the next morning, the women boiled brown sugar into soup, sprinkled with ginger, and then put the balls into the pot, cooked. The freshly cooked meatballs are offered to the ancestors while they are still hot, and then a bowl is offered to the landlord's wife, the father's mother, the priest's father, and the god of the well.

After arranging for the ancestors and gods and goddesses, it is the turn of the family. The unchanging rules are the reverence for family traditions that the Chaoshan people have inherited from generation to generation. At the end of the ancestor worship ceremony, the tense nerves are then relaxed and a bowl of winter festival balls is eaten to welcome the new year in sweetness and stickiness.

4 "Brain"

In Yinchuan, Ningxia, 2,300 kilometers northwest of Guangdong, people eat "brain" on the winter solstice. The name is a bit scary at first, and it instantly conjures up scenes of rugged, bold Northwestern men gorging on meat and wine.

In fact, the "brain" here is just an alias for mutton noodle soup.

On the day of the winter solstice, at three or four o'clock in the morning, the family is already up early to prepare the food for the day.

Matsuyama purple mushrooms are the essence of a bowl of mutton noodle soup. After the mushrooms are washed and boiled, the soup becomes thick and the fragrant base of the soup takes shape.

Dice the mutton, cook and stir-fry until the water vapor dries up, then add ginger, green onion, garlic, chili pepper, and then stir-fry the chopped mushrooms with the diced meat, pour some vinegar on it, and then put in some other condiments. Meat rotten after throwing into the fungus, cauliflower stir-fry, and then add a good mushroom soup, soup boiling into the cut pieces of powder, soak the noodles, cook it a good cook, and then finally add leeks, garlic, parsley aroma, a pot of hot, fragrant mutton noodle soup on the table.

Yinchuan's mutton noodle soup like a pot of stew, five colors, red pepper, yellow cauliflower, green garlic, coriander, and tendon chewy white powder, vermicelli, black mushrooms, fungus ...... a variety of wild game brought together, will be the mutton of the value of the fresh taste of full.

In many places, the winter solstice is a big day for worshipping ancestors, and Yinchuan also has such a custom. The first good powder soup dumplings must first be a bowl in front of the ancestors, the enthusiasm of the neighbors will also serve a bowl, and finally the family sat together, drinking mutton powder soup, and then with yellow radish stuffed dumplings or a couple of hanging stove three pointed cake, fennel cake, is also a great.

5 Mutton soup

Winter solstice must eat mutton in addition to Ningxia Yinchuan, 1300 kilometers away from the "country of heaven" Chengdu.

If you have to argue with a colleague in Chengdu about the rights and wrongs of eating on the winter solstice, he will definitely give you a sincere look: eat a shovel of dumplings, dumplings, surely cut the mutton soup thi!

At the beginning of winter, lamb soup restaurants sprang up on the streets of Chengdu, and the number of people who went to drink lamb soup on the winter solstice reached its peak.

In order to eat mutton and drink mutton soup on the winter solstice, people can brave the cold and line up for an hour or two, order a few pounds of haggis and mutton, and then, against the cold, enjoy the warmth of the soup as it slides into their stomachs and intestines with their families and friends in the night market.

The dipping water is the key to a good meal of mutton soup. When the white lamb soup is served, you must put a piece of bean curd milk, sprinkle two spoons of millet chili, and then add three pinches of scallions and cilantro, so that the freshness, aroma and spiciness of the lamb soup can be fully released.

Chengdu people are very particular about eating and drinking mutton soup. First finish the soup in the haggis, and then hot on the soul mate pea upside down, dipped in tofu milk rice spicy cilantro dish. Then the good mutton in the water for a few seconds, the mouth is full of mutton flavor.

Eating a lamb soup, this winter solstice is complete.