Eat dumplings, burn buns and eat tofu for nine times in a row.

Count the beautiful meanings of winter solstice foods in Jiangsu.

"Different winds in ten miles, different customs in a hundred miles". Every solar term, the most interesting thing is "what to eat in this solar term", and the winter solstice is no exception. Since ancient times, Jiangsu has also had the tradition of "the winter solstice is like a year", and all regions have their own food customs. Such as winter brewing in Suzhou, jiaozi in Suqian and chicken soup in old Nanjing. These food customs also imply people's yearning for a better life.

Tangyuan

"It's like a year in winter, and every family eats Tangyuan". Eating dumplings is popular in the south of the Yangtze River, also known as dumplings. It is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour, and "round" means "reunion" and "perfection", so eating dumplings on the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings". Jiangnan is the main rice producing area, and people in Yangzhou, Nantong, Wuxi, Zhenjiang and other places in Jiangsu have the custom of eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice.

Winemaking in winter

There is an old saying in Suzhou, "If you don't drink Winemaking in winter, you will be frozen overnight". On the winter solstice, what is bound to appear on the dinner table of every household in Suzhou is mellow and delicious winter wine. Suzhou people and the winter solstice always have a bowl of winter wine that they can't give up. Winter brewing is a kind of low-alcohol rice wine with osmanthus fragrans and some Chinese herbal medicines. Jiangnan is a rice producing area, and people are popular in brewing rice wine. Suzhou is rich in osmanthus.

"Stewed bean curd with green vegetables"

"Burn buns and eat bean curd for nine times", as the standard of Nanjing Winter Solstice, "Burn buns" is to worship ancestors and "Count Nine" is to welcome the new year. Green vegetables and bean curd are the most common vegetables in ordinary families in the past, and they have the meaning of "one clear and two white" and "Green vegetables and bean curd keep safe". "Drink chicken soup on the winter solstice and eat it for one year." In addition to tofu, chicken soup is also a "standard" on Nanjing people's winter solstice table.

tofu with scallion

On the winter solstice night in Changzhou, people must have a bowl of "tofu with scallion"! Eating "tofu with scallion" seems to be a unique custom in Changzhou. "Du" is Changzhou dialect, which means "cooking". Why do Changzhou people eat tofu with shallots overnight on the winter solstice? There is a saying that "rich" and "rotten" are homophonic, and the folk proverb "If you want to be rich, you will spend the night with onions and tofu on the winter solstice" caters to the people's yearning for a rich life.

Braised pork

Since ancient times, there has been a saying in Taizhou that there is a big winter and a small winter. "Winter Solstice" is also called "wintering"; The day of "Winter Solstice" is called Dadong, and the day before it is called Xiaodong. According to different customs, families worship their ancestors on the day of big winter or small winter. There is also braised pork in Taizhou's winter solstice family banquet, which means that there will be fish and meat in the coming year, which is full of food; Braised silver carp, meaning "even silver carp has been (fish) for more than a year".

Pumpkin

There is a saying in Suqian: "Bite the winter solstice dumplings and have good luck from now on." The family get together, including jiaozi and jiaozi. It's steaming and enjoyable. In addition, in Suqian and Yancheng, there is a folk saying that eating pumpkins in winter will bring good luck to the next year.

Home reunion is the spiritual core of the winter solstice

The ancient festivals depended on the agricultural society, and the times changed, so many customs were difficult to "reproduce"; But its spiritual significance can be "creatively transformed" and inherited and carried forward. China people attach importance to family reunion, and the most important spiritual "core" of the Winter Solstice Festival is reunion. In ancient poetry, there are quite a few works of homesickness on the winter solstice. For example, Bai Juyi wrote a poem "Homesickness on the Winter Solstice in Handan": "If you want to sit at home late at night, you should also talk about people who travel far." On the winter solstice, Bai Juyi was alone in Handan, missing his hometown; He imagined that at this time, the family should sit around in the middle of the night, and they are also thinking about and talking about wanderers in different places. On the winter solstice, we don't necessarily have to sit with our families, but can we make a phone call, send a message or have a video chat? In fact, on the winter solstice, whether it's eating glutinous rice balls or drinking "winter wine", the biggest significance of the festival should be to remind us to love our families and love our families, and life also needs some "sense of ceremony".