When making glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice, in addition to the natural glutinous rice balls, red natural food coloring is also put into the glutinous rice flour to make several red glutinous rice balls, which means it is for celebration. These sweet dumplings are used to worship ancestors, and a few are posted on the top of doors, rice jars, etc. Because glutinous rice balls are sweet and round, they are a symbol of auspiciousness and herald a good harvest and family reunion in the coming year.

We often say that the winter solstice marks the Chinese New Year, which has a lot to do with the timing of the winter solstice. The winter solstice every year is very close to the day in the Gregorian calendar when the sun stays in the northern hemisphere for the shortest time. It is of great significance in astronomy, people's daily life and psychology. In ancient China, the Winter Solstice was a higher-level festival than Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, etc. The Zhou Dynasty also regarded it as the New Year's Day. It was later changed, but it was also taken seriously. It was called "Yasui", which means its status was only lower than that of "Chinese New Year". Christmas, the most important holiday in the West, basically falls at this time, which shows that everyone agrees on this. In the Han Dynasty, the status of the winter solstice was raised again. The "Book of Han" said that during the winter solstice, the whole country had a holiday, including burning incense, eating dog meat (poor dogs), retreating at the frontier, keeping the army on standby, taking a business break, visiting relatives and friends, and sharing delicious food. Gift. Its grandness and liveliness are no less than the Chinese New Year. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the emperor would hold a grand ceremony to worship heaven on this day. Naturally, everyone also has the custom of worshiping heaven and ancestors. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty ruled China that the custom of worshiping the sky during the Winter Solstice gradually faded away, but people did not dare to forget the "Winter Solstice custom".

Since the sun stays for the shortest time during the winter solstice, and then although the stay time increases day by day, the heat emitted from the ground is greater than the heat left by the sun, so the weather becomes colder day by day, and the cold winter is Start counting from the winter solstice. Tangyuan is relatively high in calories. Whether it is sugar, glutinous rice, lard, or sesame, they are all high-calorie foods. But starting from the winter solstice, the human body needs to replenish a lot of calories. Especially in the past era of material shortage, this amount of calories was nothing at all. Of course, in today's society, we still need to pay appropriate attention to the issue of calories. Starting from the winter solstice in the north, pigs and sheep are killed and hid in the snow for the winter. It's not that cold in the south, and meat can't be preserved by low temperature alone, so bacon will start to be smoked. Of course, the temperature along the coast of Guangdong is not too low in winter and bacon is not very easy to preserve, so there is not much custom of making bacon. There is a custom in the north of eating meat and dumplings on this day. There is a saying that "if you don't eat meat during the winter solstice, your toes will freeze off". On the winter solstice, people are not taboo about high calories, but welcome them. From the winter solstice, people start to reserve calories for the body to survive the cold winter.

Many people tend to confuse northern Yuanxiao with southern glutinous rice balls. In fact, the two are made differently and taste different. When making Yuanxiao in the north, you first make the stuffing, cut it into small pieces, and put it in a sieve. Pour in dry glutinous rice flour, sift it up, coat the stuffing with glutinous rice flour, then dip it in water, continue sifting and rolling, and roll it over and over again. Tangyuan is a bit like making dumplings. First, add water to the glutinous rice flour and knead it thoroughly. Then grab a small piece of the glutinous rice ball with your hands and squeeze it into a round piece. Use a spoon to pick a little of the filling and put it on the glutinous rice slices. Wrap it and pinch it tightly. , and then roll into a round ball. Because the noodles on the surface of Yuanxiao are dry and not tightly bonded to each other, the soup becomes very thick when boiled. Because the Yuanxiao skin is dry and only absorbs water when boiled, the filling is not easy to absorb water during cooking and the filling is relatively dry. The skin of glutinous rice balls is relatively moist and is closely combined with each other. The cooked soup is very clear, and the filling absorbs water and contains a lot of water. Yuanxiao is easy to break during cooking, but glutinous rice balls rarely break. Therefore, the Yuanxiao soup is very sweet and rich. The filling materials of the two are also different. Yuanxiao is mostly made of sugar and dried fruit. When making classic glutinous rice balls, pork suet is used. After kneading, it is soaked into black sesame powder. It tastes great, glutinous, smooth and hot. It can be said that Yuanxiao is big and rough, with thick skin and thick heart. The glutinous rice balls are white, soft, tender, sweet, and have a delicate texture. The origin of making glutinous rice balls in the winter solstice

"Tongzhi of Fujian·Xinghua Prefecture Customs·Winter Solstice" records: "In the early stage, glutinous rice was used as balls, which ripened early on this day, so it was recommended by Zu Kao." This is "Winter Solstice Ming" "Meatball rolling" and the folk custom of worshiping ancestors with cooked "sweet meatballs" early in the winter solstice.

The night before the winter solstice is called "winter solstice dark" in popular culture. In the evening of this day, red candles were brightly lit in the halls of every house, and the lights were like daylight, symbolizing a brilliant career. The red tangerines on the table are called "Guoyue" (that is, red tangerines are stacked into a small mountain shape, hence the name). On the top of the red tangerine, insert a branch of "Sanchun" (that is, folk paper-cutters use red paper to cut paper flowers of fortune, wealth and longevity), a pair of chopsticks (ten pairs) sealed with red paper strips, ginger and sugar candies. Each family washed their hands, the parents lit candles and incense, set off firecrackers, and started "making pills." The "balls" made are white. If there is a newlywed, red balls will be made to show that the family will be more prosperous if there is a new child. At this time, the woman put on a red shirt and was particularly dazzling under the lights, and the children were smiling, innocent and lively. Everyone gathered around the big dustpan (commonly known as "Dali Arc"), and the children sat on high stools, "eager to try". The housewife grinds glutinous rice into powder (commonly known as "rice festival"), adds boiling water and kneads it into long round strips, then picks it into large and round pieces, and then everyone uses their palms to knead it into pieces the size of Guiyuan kernels. "Meatballs", this is "Winter Solstice Ming Rubbing Pills". Among them, the most interesting ones are: some adults are squeezing ingots and cornucopias; some are squeezing puppies and piglets, taking the common proverbs of "If you are lucky, the paparazzi will hold the ingot" and "Be a dog, be a pig, be a ingot", It means "vast wealth and prosperous livestock".

The children were most interested in puppies and piglets. They cheered, "Grandpa is being a dog," "Abba is being a dog," and "Mom and grandma are both being pigs!" which made the whole family laugh. Some make "magpie balls" (commonly known as "guestiao balls") that are only the size of beans. The children could never finish rubbing them, some were flat and some were long, and even he himself found it funny. Some put rice offerings on their eyebrows and noses, which is really funny and cute. If a child drops a ball on the ground, ask the child to pick it up and blow away the dust, otherwise he will look ugly in the future. The intention is to educate children to cherish food from an early age. After "rolling the balls", put the "balls" in the "Da Li Gu", close the lid, and place them in front of the "Zao Gong" stove overnight.

The night of the winter solstice is the longest, and children love to eat "meat ball soup". They can't sleep. Before dawn, they clamor for their mother to eat "meat ball soup", so there is a saying "Love to eat meatball soup, hope The nursery rhyme "Oh, it's not bright yet." The housewife pours the "meatballs" into the pot, adds water with ginger and sugar (ginger and sugar can dispel cold and stimulate appetite) and cook it into a fragrant, sweet, sticky and hot "sweet meatball soup". After offering it to the ancestors, the whole family divides it and eats it. The "meat balls" should be stuck on the door frame to worship the "Men Cheng Hu Wei" and ensure the safety of the family.

You also need to throw "(feeding) magpie pills" on the roof (usually 12 pills, 13 pills in leap years, which means peace every month throughout the year). When the magpies come to fight for food, there will be an uproar, which is commonly called "announcement of good news", which means five blessings. Coming to the door