The implication of the custom of eating rice cakes in the great cold in solar terms
The implication of the custom of eating rice cakes in the great cold in solar terms
Great cold custom
The custom of eating "cooling cake" has a long history in Beijing. "Cold-eliminating cake" is a kind of rice cake, not only because its glutinous rice has higher sugar content than rice, it makes the whole body feel warm after eating, and it has the effects of warming the cold, moistening the lungs and strengthening the spleen and stomach, but also because people choose to eat rice cake on the day of "Great Cold", which also means "high year", with good luck, peace every year and rising step by step.
Therefore, in the custom of old Beijing, on the day of severe cold, the whole family eats rice cakes separately, which not only has auspicious flavor, but also can dispel the chill on the body, so it is called "eliminating cold cakes".
Rice cakes are red, yellow and white, symbolizing gold and silver. They are also called "New Year's cakes", which is homophonic with "high every year", implying that people's work and life are improving year by year. Therefore, there was a poem by predecessors that called the rice cake: "The meaning of the rice cake is a little deep, and the white is like silver yellow gold. I hope that when I am old, I will be profitable, and I sincerely hope that my wealth will come. "
As a kind of food, rice cakes have a long history in China. 1974, archaeologists found the well-preserved rice seeds in Hemudu site in Yuyao, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province (Hemudu matriarchal social site in Yuyao) more than 7,000 years ago, which shows that as early as 7,000 years ago, our
Our ancestors have already started to grow rice. In the Han Dynasty, rice cakes were called "rice cake", "bait" and "glutinous rice". In the book Dialect written by Yang Xiong in Han Dynasty, the title of "Gao" was already popular in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The ancients also had a development process from rice cake to rice cake. In the 6th century AD, the cookbook Shiji contained the method of making rice cakes "white cocoon candy", which said, "If rice is cooked and cooked, and it is hotter than Chu Jiu's, it must be cooked extremely well, so as not to have rice grains ..." That is, after the glutinous rice is steamed, it is boiled into rice, and then cut into peach pit sizes. As early as the Liao Dynasty, it was said that on the first day of the first month in Beijing, every family had the custom of eating rice cakes. By the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, rice cakes had developed into a perennial snack on the market, with different flavors from the north and the south. The rice cake is delicious, sweet and mellow, with a strong historical flavor.
Types of rice cakes eaten in the cold
The implication of the custom of eating rice cakes in the great cold in solar terms
Great cold solar terms
Yiyang rice cake
Also known as "Yiyang Dahe Mi Guo". It is a national geographical indication protection product. Yiyang rice cake is made from Yiyang Dahe Gu Mi by the unique technology of "three steaming and two hundred hammering". It has the characteristics of "white as frost, transparent as jade, soft and smooth, tough but not sticky, and not sticky after long cooking". It can be steamed, fried and boiled, which is convenient to eat and has a unique flavor. It is a traditional treasure. Yiyang rice cake production began in the Tang Dynasty and has a history of 1200 years. According to the earlier ten-year edition of Yiyang County Records in Tongzhi, yiyang county, it is recorded that: "Dahe rice is white and grows up. To make and process Dahe rice, Dahe Gu Mi rice is hard to make multi-balls, and it takes three times to steam 200 pounds. Yishi rice is rich in water, soft and palatable. The province is always called Yiyang dumplings, the most famous in other counties, and local merchants go far to other places to make gifts." 1982 edition of Jiangxi Specialty and 1986 edition of Jiangxi Style Specialty recorded in detail that "Yiyang rice crust is as white as frost and transparent as jade, shiny and tough, which is undoubtedly better than rice cakes from all over the world". Rich local traditions and characteristics, unique production technology, with yiyang county's unique local Dahe Valley as raw materials. Dahegu is a stalk waxy one-season late rice. It is planted in a cold slurry field with low air temperature and water temperature, high humidity and short illumination time. It has narrow planting area, long growth period and low yield. Therefore, it sowed in spring, raised in summer sowing, raised in autumn and harvested in winter, and sucked the water of the four seasons, so it was "nourished by heaven and earth". At the same time, it is convenient to eat, both sweet and salty, and suitable for steaming, frying, cooking and baking.