Each solar term has specific solar term delicacies. On the day of Beginning of Summer, there is a custom of eating Beginning of Summer dumplings. Maybe most people in most areas eat Beginning of Summer rice, and they are not very familiar with Beginning of Summer dumplings. So, why do we eat dumplings at the beginning of summer? How to make delicious Lixia dumplings?

Why do we eat dumplings at the beginning of summer?

Hakka "hard rice balls" are also called "Lixia balls". They are a seasonal delicacy in Ninghua, Fujian, the ancestral home of the Hakkas in my hometown. Every fourth month of the lunar calendar, during the "beginning of summer" season, almost every household in the urban and rural areas of Ninghua makes "hard rice balls" to welcome the arrival of summer and pray for good weather and a good harvest. The solar term "Lixia" means the beginning of summer, the climate has changed, the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter, the weather is getting hotter, people are prone to fatigue and their limbs are weak. In order to accumulate and replenish physical strength, the smart and frugal Hakka ancestors did not have any high-end nutritional products, so they used local materials and used self-grown rice raw materials to cook "hard rice balls". Rely on it to supplement nutrition and strengthen your body. In particular, farmers in rural areas have to get up early and come home late, and are responsible for heavy physical labor. When the busy summer farming season begins, they must work harder, gain strength, and replenish their bodies. Therefore, there is a farmer's proverb in my hometown: "If you don't make pills at the beginning of summer, it will be bad luck until next year."

How to make delicious Beginning of Summer dumplings

1. Soak japonica rice in cold water for 2 hours.

2. Use a spoon to scoop out the rice and put it into a blender to make rice milk. When beating the rice pulp, the water should just cover the rice.

3. Put a little water in the pot and bring to a boil.

4. Pour the japonica rice flour paddle into the boiling water, use a spoon to stir up the sediment of the rice milk, stir slowly over medium heat and bring to a boil. Be sure to stir constantly. Slowly, the rice milk gradually becomes Transparent goo. When the rice milk is heated, lumps and water will separate. It doesn't matter. Keep stirring and use a spoon to knead the raw milk properly. In this way, the rice milk will basically change color and can be kneaded into a dough. If you can't control the heat, you can change the heat to a low heat in the final stage. There will be a small amount of burnt pot, but it's not terrible.

5. Fry in oil. When the rice noodles are slightly yellow in color, add fried sesame seeds, peanuts and orange cake shreds (for authentic Lixia dumplings, add chopped oil residue or lean meat or pork belly). Mix well.

6. While hot, use a spoon to press the rice paste into a ball.

7. Put a drop of oil on your hands (the dough will be very sticky after kneading, so you need to apply oil on your hands when kneading it.) Knead it out, and break the dough into small pieces. Shape it into a dumpling wrapper shape with your hands, put in the stuffing, close it, and roll it into a round shape with your hands. If the outer shell of Lixia dumplings is sweet, choose meat filling. If you add oil residue or minced meat to the outer skin, use brown sugar for the filling. Needless to say, it’s vegan, haha.

8. Put the formed Lixia dumplings into the pot and either steam or boil them.

How to make meat filling

1. Cut the pork belly or lean meat into small dices and chop slightly. The meat is slightly thicker than the minced meat.

2. Blanch black fungus, garlic sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, and sweet potato vermicelli in hot water for 2 minutes, then rinse with cold water, remove the water, and chop into fine pieces. Chop a piece of ginger into minced ginger.

3. Heat the oil in the pot until it is 80% hot, pour in the minced ginger, stir-fry the minced meat and take it out.

4. Add base oil, low heat, pour in mushrooms, fungus, garlic sprouts, minced meat, mix, add appropriate amount of salt, and serve.

5. Add sweet potato vermicelli, a little sesame oil, a little pepper, stir evenly and make the filling.