Four major dietary customs during the Great Cold Season.
1. There is a folk saying that glutinous rice is eaten during the Great Cold Season, because glutinous rice can replenish the body's righteousness. After eating, the whole body will heat up, and it can keep out the cold, nourish the stomach, and nourish the body.
The most typical food made from glutinous rice is eight-treasure rice.
Steam the glutinous rice, mix it with sugar, lard, and sweet-scented osmanthus, then pour it into a container filled with red dates, barley, lotus seeds, longan meat and other fruit ingredients. After steaming, add sugar marinade and serve.
It has a sweet taste and is a great treat for holidays and entertaining guests.
There are different opinions about the origin of Babao Rice. One theory is that it was a celebration food for King Zhou after he conquered Zhou. The so-called "Eight Treasures" refer to the eight wise men who assisted King Zhou.
However, a more reliable explanation is that the eight-treasure rice originated in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas and spread to the north after a master from the south of the Yangtze River came to Beijing to work as an imperial chef.
Nowadays, Ningbo, Shengzhou and Jiaxing also retain the custom of eating eight-treasure rice during the New Year.
2. The custom of eating "cold-repelling cake" with rice cakes has a long history in Beijing.
"Hanxiao Gao" is a type of rice cake. Not only does glutinous rice contain more sugar than rice, but the whole body feels warm after eating it. It has the effect of dispersing wind and cold, moistening the lungs and strengthening the spleen and stomach. People also choose to eat it on the "Big Cold" day.
Nian Gao also means "higher in the year", bringing good luck, peace and prosperity every year.
Therefore, it is a custom in old Beijing that on the day of severe cold, the whole family eats rice cakes, which not only brings auspiciousness but also dispels the coldness in the body, so it is called "cold-relieving cake".
3. Chicken Soup In the cold winter season, Nanjing people have more soups and soups in their daily diet.
The Great Cold is around the 49th day of the lunar calendar, and the traditional one-chicken eating custom of 19th is still respected by many families. Nanjing people mostly choose old hens, either stewed alone or with the addition of ginseng, wolfberry, black fungus, etc.
Stewed, chicken soup is a real treat in the cold winter.
It is not advisable to use a pressure cooker for stewing soup, because nutrients can only be released slowly during the process of simmering over low heat.
Although using a pressure cooker can shorten the cooking time of meat, it cannot achieve the effect of making soup.
Therefore, when making chicken soup, you should use a casserole, boil it on high heat for 10 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer slowly.
In addition, when making soup, try not to lift the lid of the pot, otherwise the taste of the chicken soup will be affected by "gas leakage".
4. There is an old saying about glutinous rice: "It will get cold when there is no wind in the minor cold or the big cold."
It is a traditional custom to eat glutinous rice in the morning during Xiaohan and Dahan to ward off the cold.
Folks believe that glutinous rice has higher sugar content than rice. After eating it, the whole body feels warm, which is good for repelling cold.
Traditional Chinese medicine theory believes that glutinous rice has the effect of nourishing the body and replenishing qi. It is best to eat glutinous rice in the cold season.
In addition, glutinous rice means warmth, and "warm Lili" from the beginning to the end of the year has even more auspicious meanings.
Glutinous rice is sweet, warm in nature, and has the effect of nourishing and keeping out the cold. People can steam it, or steam it with glutinous rice, rice, adzuki beans, barley, lotus seeds, wolfberry seeds, longan meat, jujube, etc. over high heat, and then add some
White sugar is suitable for people with weak qi and blood, such as physical weakness, fatigue and fatigue.