As the saying goes, "The winter solstice is as big as the new year." The winter solstice is an important solar term and an important traditional festival. It counts nine cold days. What to eat during the winter solstice has gradually become a custom since ancient times.

Although customs vary from place to place, the meaning of "replenishing winter" is basically the same. It is to warm the body and drive away the cold, and it has a beautiful meaning.

Let’s take a look at what traditional foods are suitable for winter solstice.

1. Dumplings "Eating dumplings during the winter solstice will keep your ears warm" is an old saying among the people.

In most places in the north, there is a custom of eating dumplings during the winter solstice. This custom not only commemorates Zhang Zhongjing’s medical skills and merits, but also plays a role in keeping warm from the cold.

Therefore, dumplings have become the most common and favorite food for people in the north.

On the winter solstice, the whole family sat around the dining table, making dumplings, talking and laughing, bringing a touch of spring to the cold weather.

Although dumplings are delicious, you should not eat them in large quantities to avoid being too greasy and causing indigestion.

2. Tangyuan As the saying goes: "Tangyuan is eaten in the south and dumplings are eaten in the north."

Eating glutinous rice balls during the winter solstice is especially popular in Jiangnan.

"Yuan" means "reunion" and "completeness". Eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice symbolizes family harmony and good luck.

Add water to glutinous rice and roll it into a ball. Sesame and peanuts are used as fillings. When the water boils, it will roll down like pearls.

The cooked glutinous rice balls are delicate and smooth, and taste particularly soft and glutinous, fragrant and sweet.

Although glutinous rice balls are delicious, they should not be eaten in large quantities. After all, glutinous rice balls are high-calorie and high-sugar foods, and eating too much can easily cause indigestion.

3. New Year Cake: Hangzhou people like to celebrate the Winter Solstice by eating New Year Cake. Eating New Year Cake during the Winter Solstice is to seek the blessing of "getting better every year".

Nian gao is usually made of glutinous rice or rice flour steamed into a cake shape. It tastes sweet and soft. It is a very delicious food and can be eaten in many ways. Hangzhou people will make rice cakes of different flavors for three meals during the winter solstice.

Likewise, rice cake is a relatively high-calorie food, so don’t eat too much at one time.

4. Mutton Soup In Shandong, it is a popular custom to drink mutton soup on the winter solstice.

According to legend, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ate the mutton cooked by Fan Kuai on the day of the winter solstice. He thought it tasted particularly delicious and was full of praise.

Since then, people have eaten mutton and various nourishing foods on the winter solstice, which can not only resist the wind and cold, but also nourish the body and hope for a good omen in the coming year.

It is recommended that you add an appropriate amount of cooking wine and ginger when cooking mutton soup. This will not only remove the odor, but also maintain the original flavor of the mutton.

5. Wontons During the winter solstice, Suzhou people still have the custom of eating wontons.

Wonton is a kind of food with fillings wrapped in dough. It is similar to dumplings but has certain differences. It is usually suitable to be cooked and eaten with soup.

It is made by wrapping some meat pies in some wonton skins. It has a more elastic texture and thin skin with more fillings, so it is very popular among people.

6. Red bean and glutinous rice In the Jiangnan water towns, there is a custom of the whole family gathering together to eat red bean and glutinous rice on the night of the winter solstice.

It is made with red beans and glutinous rice.

Red beans can warm the stomach, and glutinous rice can warm the body. After eating, they will protect against cold and nourish, so they are most suitable for consumption in winter.

7. Eight-treasure porridge. In the cold winter, a bowl of eight-treasure porridge can warm the whole body and moisturize the stomach. The eight-treasure porridge is the best embodiment of diversity. It not only has complementary nutrition, but also has a good taste, which can resist the cold of winter.

Drying has many benefits.

In order to keep out the cold, we can choose warm foods as ingredients for cooking porridge, such as jujubes, walnuts, peanuts, glutinous rice, longan, yam, tremella, etc.

8. Winter wine-making. There is a saying in the ancient city of Suzhou that if you don’t drink winter wine during the winter solstice, you will have to freeze overnight.

Winter wine was originally called Dongyang wine, so named because the yang energy rises after the winter solstice.

Winter wine is brewed only once a year. It is a kind of rice wine, brewed with osmanthus. It has a sweet taste, with a faint fragrance of osmanthus, and the alcohol content is very light. Both young and old, women and children can drink two cups.