In the eyes of traditional Ningbo people, the winter solstice is a very important solar term. I have known since I was a child that the winter solstice is an important festival. My parents always say that you should not quarrel with others and call names. After the winter solstice, your child will grow up by one year. This ancient foundation is called "Worship the Solstice of Winter". According to the custom of old Ningbo, it is necessary to make soup and rice in winter. On the winter solstice, people who go out go home to spend the winter solstice, indicating that they have a home at the end of the year. For China people, in traditional festivals, family reunion and tasting special food are essential activities. The winter solstice food in Ningbo is not only varied, but also contains many beautiful meanings. The solstice in winter is as big as a year. What do Ningbo people eat on the solstice in winter?
1. turnip rice cake.
On the day before the winter solstice, Ningbo people generally don't go out. On the morning of winter solstice, the whole family has the custom of eating turnip scones. Kohlrabi scone has become a unique rural food in Ningbo during the winter solstice, which is unforgettable. On the eve of winter solstice, every family bakes kohlrabi, and the fire in the big stove is very strong. The key to baking rice cakes with kohlrabi in winter is that the fire in the stove will not go out in the evening of winter, and every household will bake them, and the wages will continue. A day's prosperity is the most basic expectation of the people. The rice cake is the first meal on the midwinter solstice every year, which greatly increases everyone's appetite.
2. Sweet potato soup.
Tang Guo is a must-eat food for Ningbo people in winter solstice. There is a saying in Ningbo that soup is one year old. Soup is similar to jiaozi, representing reunion and perfection, except that the soup is small and there is no stuffing in it. Double and double homophonic, in Ningbo people's understanding, eating sweet potatoes in winter is to double the bad luck of the past year. First, small pieces of sweet potato are cooked first, and then boiled into powder. Then he took out a big plate covered with a towel, which contained the soup made last night. Soup powder is glutinous rice flour, which used to be made of glutinous rice and water mill, called water mill, but now it is a supermarket commodity. It is not difficult to do so. Mix the soup powder with water, knead it into a stick, and knead it into a piece by hand. Tang Guo will be cooked quickly when it is put into sweet potato soup, and sugar, sweet-scented osmanthus and pulp board will float.
3. Fermented rice balls.
In the customs of old Ningbo, Mariko is one of the must-eat delicacies from winter to sun. Dumpling is a famous snack in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and it is also a traditional China dessert made by every household to entertain guests, and it is also a popular dessert with high ordering rate at hotel banquets.
Liquor-making glutinous rice balls are made of high-quality white glutinous rice, soaked in water and ground into glutinous rice flour, and then ground into small glutinous rice balls for later use. After the above white glutinous rice is steamed, it is mixed with yeast according to a certain proportion, and after a few days, it is full of fragrance and becomes a sweet and glutinous wine. Boil water, put it in a small ball, float on the water, add wine, sugar and egg paste, stir until it becomes thick, put it in a bowl and sprinkle with osmanthus.
4. Frozen mutton.
Besides cooking jiaozi, radish scones and sweet potato soup, old Ningbo people also eat frozen mutton on the solstice in winter. That is to say, I bought fresh mutton, cut it into pieces, added soy sauce, fennel and other seasonings, put it in the pot after cooking on a big fire, and the mutton became frozen after cooling. When I eat it, I put it in the rice with frozen mutton, which is delicious.
Solar term winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms, and it is also a traditional folk festival. This day is the shortest day in a year. It is generally believed that this is the best time to keep healthy by diet, and the diet varies from place to place.