Custom foods from winter solstice in South China include glutinous rice balls, roasted meat, sweet pills, glutinous rice balls, nine-layer cakes, red beans and glutinous rice, ginger and duck, rice cakes, winter wine making, edge-making stoves and so on. I think there are five customs about how to eat more on the solstice in winter. Let's take a look:
? Eating duck with ginger sauce is one of the dietary customs in the south of Japan in winter?
Fujian and Taiwan Province have the custom of eating ginger duck from winter solstice. On this day, local people will stew a pot of nourishing duck soup with muscovy duck and ginger juice to drive away the cold and strengthen the body, and to increase the festive atmosphere for good luck.
Ginger duck originated in Quanzhou, and then spread to southern Fujian and even Taiwan Province Province. It is a traditional snack in Quanzhou, which has the characteristics of nourishing but not greasy, warm but not dry and fragrant smell, and has become the first choice for winter tonic in Fujian and Taiwan. From the name "Ginger Duck", we can also get a glimpse of the characteristics of Fujian dialect. "Ginger mother" is also old ginger. In this dish, it refers to old ginger over three years old. As the saying goes, people are old and refined, and ginger is still old and spicy. Ginger over three years old is probably considered to be old and refined, so it is called "Ginger Mother", which is very appropriate and has a little vulgar taste.
According to the records in China Pharmacopoeia and China Pharmacopoeia, during the winter solstice in ancient times, the emperor invited many famous doctors to his palace to nourish and tonify, so as to ensure the health of the emperor and prolong his life. In Shang Dynasty, Wuzhong, a imperial doctor in the palace, cooked up a dish, which was the exclusive secret recipe of the palace and made of traditional Chinese medicine. He fried the red-faced duck with sesame seeds and then stewed it with ginger and soju. This dish is delicious, full of energy and smooth blood after eating, so it is greatly appreciated by the emperor. Because it also has the effects of nourishing health care and prolonging life, it was later regarded as a sacred product for nourishing and nourishing the winter solstice.
? The second way to eat in winter in southern China: jiaozi?
In the south, it is popular to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, and there is also a folk saying that "eating jiaozi is one year older". Tangyuan, also known as jiaozi, is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour, and "round" means "reunion" and "perfection", so eating tangyuan in winter solstice is also called "jiaozi in winter solstice". Tangyuan can be used for ancestor worship or as a gift to relatives and friends.
Eating glutinous rice balls was established in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. On the solstice of winter, it is necessary to "make dumplings" or "make dumplings". These are also officially recorded in historical materials. The history says that "on the winter solstice, powdered glutinous rice is a pill, which is called' glutinous rice balls'". After jiaozi is wrapped up, it is necessary to offer sacrifices to the gods and ancestors, and then the whole family will eat around. This is called "adding years". Therefore, it is very old to eat glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter.
The ancients had a poem about eating dumplings: "Every family smashed rice to make dumplings, knowing that it was the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty." Eating glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter is a traditional custom in China, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Tangyuan is also called jiaozi, and eating jiaozi on the winter solstice is also called "jiaozi on the winter solstice"; Tangyuan can be used for ancestor worship or as a gift to relatives and friends.
The solstice in winter is the longest night in a year. On the winter solstice, before dawn, women get up and make a fire to cook dumplings. First, they worship their ancestors, and then the whole family will sit around and eat dumplings. Therefore, eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter means not only the gradual return of the sun, but also reunion. Modern people prefer to regard it as a symbol of perfection.
? The third way to eat in winter in the south of Japan: sweet potato soup fruit?
In the traditional customs of southern Ningbo, sweet potato soup is one of the must-eat delicacies in winter solstice. "Fan" and "Fan" are homophones. In Ningbo people's understanding, eating sweet potatoes on the solstice in winter means "turning over" all the bad luck of the past year.
Tang Guo is a must-eat food for Ningbo people in winter solstice. People in Ningbo have a saying that eating soup makes you one year older. Tang Guo is similar to dumplings, meaning "reunion" and "perfection", but Tang Guo is smaller and there is no stuffing in it.
People in Ningbo celebrate the winter solstice. In the old society, every family rubbed jiaozi with reed powder, which was called reed soup fruit. Later, it was gradually changed to glutinous rice balls, and sweet potato granules were added, which was called sweet potato soup fruit. Kitchen God first, then the whole family. Commonly known as "Winter Night to the New Year's Eve", slang "Winter Night to the Sun is as big as a year, and the emperor wants Xie Nian". On this day, the elders tell the children not to cry, and adults should not beat and scold the children or throw things, otherwise it will be considered unlucky.
? The fourth winter diet custom in South China: Eating Ciba?
The solstice of winter is very cold, while the solstice of winter in the south has the custom of eating Ciba. Ciba is mainly glutinous rice, which is white and sweet. There are many ways to eat Ciba, which can be baked, fried or fried. Eating Ciba from 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 courtier of the State of Chu, went to Wu to avenge his father and wanted to use Wu's soldiers to crusade against Chu. He came to the State of Wu, helped He Lv, the king of Wu, to become a minister active in the State of Wu. Soon, he realized his ambition, led Wu Bing to attack the capital of Kyoto, Chu, and dug up the tomb of the king of Chu, flogging his body to avenge himself.
As Wu Zixu expected, shortly after his death, Gou Jian of Yue took the opportunity to send troops to attack Wu and surrounded the capital of Wu. At that time, it was the solstice of winter, the weather was cold, people in the city were starving, and the country and people were really in danger. At this critical moment, people think of Wu Zixu's entrustment before his death, and secretly tear down the city walls to dig the ground. People are surprised to find that the foundations of cities are all bricks and stones pressed with cooked glutinous rice.
It turns out that this is the grain reserve stored as the cornerstone of the city wall after a large amount of glutinous rice is steamed and pressed into bricks in Wu Zixu. People can't help but sigh, Wu Zixu is so prescient! Everyone picked up the glutinous rice bricks, smashed them, cooked them again and ate them separately. Later, in Chutian area, every winter solstice, people would make glutinous rice into Ciba as a "city brick" to show their respect for Wu Zixu.
? The fifth dietary custom from winter solstice in south China: eating the winter festival round?
"Every family reunites with rice, knowing that it is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty." Eating Yuanxiao is an indispensable festival custom in Taiwan Province Province in southern China. One or two days before the winter festival, every household is busy grinding rice paste. On the eve of the Winter Festival, every housewife puts a big dustpan in the hall to knead the filtered rice paste into a ball, and the whole family sits around and smiles to round the Winter Festival. This situation is no less than New Year's Eve. The winter festival circles in the dustpan are big and small, red and white, which are very dazzling. The older generation often said: "It doesn't matter if the winter festival circle is uneven. This is the circle of father and son, a symbol of the whole family, big and small, round and round! " Children like to make up chickens, dogs, pigs and other poultry and livestock with ready-made rice balls and have fun. Farmers want a "prosperous six animals", and parents will not interfere with their children.
On the morning of the Winter Festival, housewives cooked the Winter Festival dumplings with brown sugar and ginger, and then put them in bowls to worship their ancestors. The whole family knelt before the ancestral tablet, and the elders told us where their "roots" were, so that future generations would never forget their ancestors. In addition to offering sacrifices to ancestors, the hall also offers sacrifices to wellheads, stoves and fields, praying for family safety, abundant crops and prosperous livestock. In this regard, the "Fengshan County Records" of Taiwan Province Province, which was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, records: "Anyone who makes rice balls at home from winter to Sunday, worships his ancestors and respects his elders, is referred to as New Year's Day." The section volume of the encyclopedia of folk beliefs in Taiwan Province Province also records: "When people in Taiwan Province Province celebrate the winter solstice, it is important to eat glutinous rice balls to prolong the New Year, and to offer sacrifices to ancestral temples, etc ..." Adults and children get up and have jiaozi for breakfast.
Interestingly, in most parts of China, the Spring Festival is the standard for calculating age, while compatriots in Taiwan Province Province take the winter festival as the standard. Therefore, there is a saying among the people that "eat the winter festival and add one year". Therefore, even babies should symbolically lick the sweet dumplings and feed them. For relatives who are far away from home or can't go home because of conditions, their families should leave rice paste for them, and when they come back, the whole family will celebrate the reunion together, which is called "making up for the old".
During the winter solstice, people will eat many traditional foods. Some areas will eat steamed stuffed buns, rice cakes and rice cakes, which are all related to local eating habits and customs. In fact, no matter what you eat, everyone's original intention is the same, to welcome the arrival of the winter solstice and celebrate the arrival of the New Year.