Eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice is a traditional custom in China, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. When it comes to what Ningbo people eat on the winter solstice, we must mention Ningbo glutinous rice balls. There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Tangyuan is also called dumplings, and eating dumplings on the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings". According to the records of Qing dynasty, Jiangnan people made dough with glutinous rice flour, which was covered with essence, meat, apples, bean paste, shredded radish and so on. The winter solstice group can be used to worship ancestors or to give gifts to relatives and friends. Unlike northerners who eat jiaozi, Ningbo people have the traditional custom of having a family gathering and having dumplings on the morning of the Spring Festival. 2, turnip baked rice cake
The day before the winter solstice, Ningbo people generally don't go out, and the whole family has the custom of eating turnip baked rice cake in the early morning of the winter solstice. The kohlrabi fragrance has become a unique rural food in Ningbo Winter Solstice Festival, which makes people unforgettable. On the eve of the winter solstice, every family bakes kohlrabi, and the fire in the big stove is booming. Wash the kohlrabi, peel and cut into pieces, and don't waste the leaves. Cut off the potholes on the surface and put them in a wok. The pieces should be cut a little thicker, otherwise they will easily boil and the chopsticks will not hold. Put the kohlrabi in first, then enlarge the rice cake, turn it over, put some soy sauce, then cover the burning wood chips with grass ash, burn them all night, cook them with slow fire, and stew the kohlrabi in the wok all night. The next morning, when the water will boil dry, add sugar and salt, then pour a layer of vegetable oil into the wok, and the fragrant turnip baked rice cake will be done! 3. Tangguo
Ningbo Tangyuan is well-known, but what is more important to Ningbo people is a kind of stuffing-free glutinous rice food called Tangguo. Tangguo is also kneaded with glutinous rice, and its shape can be as big as glutinous rice balls, and as small as beads or smaller. "I am one year older after eating soup." There is a "winter solstice worship" in Ningbo. According to the custom of old Ningbo, a bowl of sweet sweet potato soup is also eaten on the morning of the winter solstice, which means to "turn over" all the previous bad luck. 4. Fermented rice balls
People in Ningbo want to eat "fermented rice balls" on the winter solstice, that is, the distiller's grains brewed from late rice are boiled with small grains of soup fruit, some starch is scattered, some red silk and green silk are added, or egg flowers are beaten, and some apples can be cut, which is similar. 5, red bean porridge
Ningbo nursery rhyme: "Benedict, selling sugar porridge. Three catties of walnuts and four catties of shells, eat the meat and return the shells. Uncle Zhang asked Nong for a kitten and yellow dog. " There should be many Ningbo people who have heard this nursery rhyme, but few people know that this "sugar porridge" is red bean porridge. This kind of red bean porridge is particularly delicate because red beans and porridge are made separately. Red beans are ground into bean paste and poured on rice congee, like red clouds covered with snow, with good color, fragrance and taste.
In the past, there was a kind of equipment selling sugar porridge in Ningbo called "camel's shoulder", which could put all the cookers, dishes and food on the shoulder. The vendor knocked on the bamboo sticks while carrying a load, making a "tattoo" sound. When the children heard the sound, they knew that the "sugar porridge seller" was coming. Eating red bean porridge is sweet but not sticky, thin but not thin, and extremely refreshing. In Ningbo, the custom of the whole family getting together on the winter solstice night and eating red bean porridge has been passed down to this day.
This is what I know about the custom of celebrating the winter solstice in Ningbo. What are the customs in your hometown?