The Beginning of Summer is the first solar term of summer. After the Beginning of Summer, the temperature will rise significantly, everything will gradually take shape, frogs will be heard in the fields, wild vegetables will be everywhere, and plants will be luxuriant. The dietary customs of the Beginning of Summer in various places are:

1. Light cakes

In the Beginning of Summer in Fujian Province, "light cakes" (baked with flour and a little salt) are the main food. In Zhouning, Fu'an and other places in eastern Fujian, the cakes are soaked in water and made into dishes, while in Jiaocheng, Fuding and other places, the cakes are cut in half and fried bean sprouts, leeks, meat, pickled vegetables, etc. Eat it. Some villages in Chunchi Town, Zhouning County eat "Lixia paste". There are two main types, one is rice paste and the other is sweet potato paste. A large pot is used to cook the soup, which is extremely rich in content, including meat, bamboo shoots, wild vegetables, chicken and duck offal, tofu, etc. Neighbors invite each other to drink the soup.

2. Paste on the side of the tripod

In the Beginning of Summer, it is a popular custom in Fuzhou to cook the side of the tripod to “make summer”. Dingbian paste (also known as pot side paste) is made by shabu-shabu shabu-shabuing rice milk, and is served with shrimp, shrimp oil, green onions, daylilies, black fungus, clams, or a small amount of mushrooms, dried razor clams and other seafood clear soup. Its taste is extremely meaty and delicious. Everyone who grew up in Fuzhou or has been a long-term guest in Fuzhou loves to eat it. It has become a famous snack in Fuzhou and a special symbol of Fuzhou.

3. Prawn noodles

On the day of Beginning of Summer, every household in southern Fujian used to mix red glutinous rice into noodles and cook them for the whole family to eat. Because the red glutinous rice is red, it is an auspicious color. It also has a fermentation effect, which means it means prosperity and wealth. The red lees also helps digestion and is good for health. This custom evolved later, and red glutinous rice was replaced by sea shrimp, which was called "eating shrimp noodles". After the shrimps are cooked, they turn red and have the same color as red shrimps, which is a wish for summer.

4. Tasting three delicacies

Wuxi folk have always had the custom of tasting three delicacies at the beginning of summer. The three delicacies are divided into three delicacies: ground delicacies, tree delicacies, and water delicacies. The three delicacies of the ground are broad beans, amaranth, and cucumbers (some say they are amaranth, wheat, and broad beans; others say they are amaranth, broad beans, and garlic seedlings); the three delicacies of the trees are cherries, loquats, and apricots (one say they are plums, apricots, and cherries, It is also said to be plums, cherries, and toon heads); the three delicacies of water are sea clams, pufferfish, and anchovies (one says it is anchovy, pomfret, and yellow croaker, while others say it is anchovy, whitebait, and anchovy). Among them, tasting the three delicacies of the ground is the most common.

5. Summer dumplings

People in Loudi, Hunan have the custom of eating summer dumplings. They first knead the glutinous rice flour into a ball and shape it into the size of a glutinous rice ball, then boil it in a pot and add sugar. The Lixia dumplings are oily and fragrant, and the filling is brown sugar, which is sweet and not cloying.

6. Rice seeds

Yiyang people have the custom of eating rice seeds in the beginning of summer. The rice seeds are commonly known as "dried rice seeds". They are boiled, dried and fried in rice milk. They are shaped into spherical rice balls, shaped like glutinous rice balls. They are fried with lard or bacon and put in the soup. The dried rice seeds are boiled again and each person eats one to two. bowl. It is said that eating dried tangerine seeds at the beginning of summer can strengthen the body and strengthen the bones.

7. Wheat silkworms

On the Beginning of Summer Festival, farmers in suburban counties of Shanghai take wheat flour and sugar to make inch-long strips of food, called wheat silkworms. People eat them, saying they can avoid "Xia Xia". The green and tender grass heads from the Beginning of Summer are mixed with rice flour and fried into pancakes, called "tan cakes", which are a favorite food of people in Shanghai and Pudong areas.

8. Qijia Porridge

A must-eat "Qijia Porridge" at the beginning of summer in rural areas of Zhejiang, also called "Qijia Tea". Qijia porridge is made by collecting rice from neighboring families, adding various beans and brown sugar, and cooking it into a big pot of porridge for everyone to share. For Qijia Tea, each family brings their newly roasted tea leaves, mixes them, cooks or brews them into a large pot of tea, and then everyone gathers together to drink it.

9. Black rice cake, leg bone bamboo shoots

Black rice cake is one of the traditional Beginning of Summer snacks in Ningbo. It is made by pounding the black rice leaves and soaking them in water, and then soaking them in the juice of the black rice leaves. The glutinous rice is dyed and turned black, and then the soaked black glutinous rice is steamed with sugar and then hand-pressed into glutinous rice cakes, which have a faint aroma of black leaves. Eating "foot bone bamboo shoots" at the beginning of summer is also a unique custom in Ningbo. Not all the bamboo shoots currently sold in the vegetable market can be used to make "foot bone bamboo shoots". It is best to use wild mountain bamboo shoots or black bamboo shoots. The key to eating "foot-bone bamboo shoots" lies in their shape. Before cooking, flatten the bamboo shoots and cut them into sections of about 4 centimeters, which are shaped like foot bones. Only by eating them can you "keep your foot bones strong."

10. Seeing three new things

There is a proverb in Suzhou that "seeing three new things in the beginning of summer". "Three new" refers to newly ripe cherries, green plums and wheat. At the same time, people in Suzhou eat sea clams, gluten, white bamboo shoots, shepherd's purse, salted duck eggs, and green broad beans. On the day of the Beginning of Summer, various hotels offer wine and shochu to old customers who enter the store for free, so the Beginning of Summer is also called the Beginning of Summer. "Feed Festival".

11. Beginning of Summer Rice

In some places such as Guangxi, red beans, soybeans, black beans, green beans, mung beans and other five-color beans are mixed with white japonica rice to cook "five-color rice". It is called Beginning of Summer rice.

12. Bamboo shoots

Bamboo shoots and locust beans are eaten in some areas of Sichuan. He said that after eating bamboo shoots, his leg bones became stronger and easier to climb mountains. They also eat green plums and make green tea to prevent "summer rot". There is also the custom of eating tofu. It is said that if you eat tofu, you will not be afraid of the rain or the stings of red bees.

13. Tender broad beans

The Beginning of Summer is the season when broad beans are on the market in large quantities. In many places, there is the custom of cooking tender broad beans in the Beginning of Summer, and there are also people who eat "Begin of Summer rice". The rice is added with broad beans, bamboo shoots, peas, amaranth and other condiments, which means "a good harvest".