1. Eating glutinous rice balls during the winter solstice is a traditional custom in southern my country.

Tangyuan, also known as glutinous rice balls, is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Yuan" means "reunion" and "completeness", so eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings".

Every early morning on the Winter Solstice, in some areas of Guangdong where traditional customs are well maintained, households will begin to grind glutinous rice flour, make stuffings with sugar, meat, Raisin, fruit, guinea beans, shredded radish, etc., and wrap them into Winter Solstice dumplings.

Not only do they eat it for themselves, but they also give it to relatives and friends as a token of blessing.

There is a poem from the ancients: "Every family pounded rice to make glutinous rice balls, knowing that it was the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty." During the winter solstice, old Cantonese people are the most particular about eating glutinous rice balls. Relatives will also gather together to taste newly brewed sweet liquor, flower cakes and glutinous rice.

Pink dumplings.

The same is true in Guangzhou.

40 or 50 years ago in Guangzhou, every household needed to make small pastries by hand. Around the winter solstice, the neighbors in Zhucun generally liked to make sugar-filled balls or powdered fruits.

2. Eating dumplings Although eating dumplings is a custom of northerners, with the increase of new Cantonese people and cultural exchanges, eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice is now also popular in Guangdong. Moreover, eating dumplings is indeed better than other foods to keep warm and keep out the cold.

But did you know, the proverb goes: "On October 1st, when the winter solstice arrives, every household eats dumplings." This custom is also to commemorate the "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing who gave up medicine during the winter solstice.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing served as the prefect of Changsha, visiting patients, administering medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby.

Later, he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors.

When he returned home, it was winter. He saw that the folks on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and thin, suffering from hunger and cold, and many people's ears were rotten by the cold. So he asked his disciples to set up a medical shed and a big pot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and cook the food on the winter solstice.

On that day, "Jiao Er Decoction to dispel cold" was given to the people.

He put mutton, chili peppers and some cold-repelling medicinal materials in a pot and boiled them. Then he took out the mutton and medicinal herbs and chopped them into pieces. He used bread to make ear-shaped "jiao ears". After they were cooked, he gave two to each person.

"Jiao Er" and a big bowl of broth.

People ate "Jiao Er" and drank "Qu Han Tang", their whole bodies became warm, their ears felt hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured.

Later generations imitated the appearance of "Jiao Er" and wrapped them into food, also called "dumplings" or "flat food".

Therefore, the custom of eating dumplings to protect the ears from freezing during the Winter Solstice has been passed down.

3. Eat radish in winter. Cantonese people often say, "Winter solstice radish and summer solstice ginger, if you eat them at the right time, there will be no pain." This means that you need to eat the right food to adapt to different seasons to achieve the purpose of health care.

In winter, in order to keep out the cold, people are accustomed to taking supplements and do less daily exercise. The body is prone to heat and phlegm. Eating radish can relieve coughs, quench thirst, and unblock the internal organs. Eating ginger in summer can increase appetite and promote digestion.

Some people believe that although the scientific basis of folk proverbs about the winter solstice cannot be studied, the ancients can guide their ancestors to live a better life to a certain extent through their accumulation of life and natural phenomena.

4. Make a side stove. On the night of the winter solstice, the Cantonese family must gather together to enjoy the reunion dinner.

What they most want to eat is to eat on the stove.

In this way, eating while cooking keeps the food fresh and warm. Even if someone at home has not returned, the hot "home meal" is still waiting for him.

In this way, Bao Bao would have "tears in his eyes" as soon as he walked in the door.

However, there are different opinions on where the rather strange name "Dabian Lu" came from.

Notes from the Ming Dynasty believe that the side stove is actually a "bian stove", which is convenient; "Qing Barnai Lei Chao" believes that "it was created from Bian, so it is called side stove".

5. Glutinous rice. Many Cantonese people’s memories of the Winter Solstice when they were young are inseparable from a bowl of glutinous rice. This bowl of glutinous rice is hard-won: usually the mother cooks it, buying bacon, pickled dace, and adding shrimp, mushrooms, radish and other ingredients.

The ingredients are put into the "octagonal bowl" with a rooster pattern to make a waxy glutinous rice mixed with various delicacies.

Eating a bowl of glutinous rice during the Winter Solstice will keep you warm and nourishing, and your stomach will feel warm after eating. Besides, glutinous rice has many benefits. Glutinous rice is sweet and warm in nature. It can nourish the body's righteousness, warm the stomach and replenish qi.

, the whole body will heat up after eating it, which can protect you from the cold and nourish you. It is most suitable for a family to eat in the cold winter.