I am a native of Ningbo, and I have known that the winter solstice is a very important festival since I was a child. My grandmother and parents always say, don't quarrel with others on the winter solstice, don't swear; After the winter solstice, the child will be one year older and so on. On the winter solstice, Ningbo people also have the custom of eating sweet soup fruit, or making dumplings with wine, soaking rice with sweet potatoes and so on.
The old foundation was called "Worship the Winter Solstice", and according to the custom of old Ningbo, it was necessary to cook the winter solstice soup rice. On the morning of the winter solstice, I have to eat a bowl of sweet sweet potato soup, which is one year older. It means "turning over" all the previous bad luck. Eat a few dumplings and dumplings on this day, which means reunion and perfection. Old Ningbo people also want to make baked rice cakes, pinning their good wishes of "getting taller every year" and "baking and ringing". Let's take a look at the eating customs of Ningbo winter solstice with me:
? One of the dietary customs of Ningbo winter solstice: sweet potato soup fruit?
In the traditional customs of Ningbo, sweet potato soup is one of the must-eat delicacies in the winter solstice. "Fan" and "Fan" are homonyms. In Ningbo people's understanding, eating sweet potatoes on the winter solstice means "turning over" all the bad luck of the past year.
Tangguo is a must-eat food for Ningbo people on the winter solstice. People in Ningbo have a saying that they are one year older after eating soup. Tangguo is similar to tangtuan, which means "reunion" and "perfection", but the tangguo is smaller and there is no stuffing in it.
People in Ningbo celebrate the winter solstice. In the old days, all families rubbed dumplings with reed powder, which was called reed soup fruit. Later, it was gradually changed to glutinous rice flour balls, and sweet potato granules were added, which was called sweet potato soup fruit. First for the kitchen god, then for the whole family. Commonly known as "New Year's Eve on the Winter Solstice", slang "The Winter Solstice is as big as a year, and the emperor wants Xie Nian". On this day, the elders told the children not to cry, nor did the adults beat and scold the children, nor did they break things, otherwise it would be considered unlucky.
? The second dietary custom of Ningbo winter solstice: baked rice cake with kohlrabi?
On the day before the winter solstice, people in Ningbo generally don't go out. On the morning of the winter solstice, the whole family has the custom of eating turnips and baking rice cakes. Baked rice cake with kohlrabi is a simple traditional food in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Before and after the winter solstice, Ningbo people's daughters or daughters-in-law will cook a turnip baked rice cake to meet the occasion, indicating a better life. Baked rice cakes with kohlrabi are more common, and soy sauce, sugar and salt can be done! When cooking kohlrabi baked rice cakes and baked vegetables, you can make this delicious rice cake by the way!
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 firewood with grass ash, the firewood will burn in the dark all night, and cook it with slow fire. The kohlrabi will be simmered 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!
The key to baking rice cakes with kohlrabi on the winter solstice is that on the night of the winter solstice, the stove fire will not go out, and every family will burn "baking", which is passed down from generation to generation. It is the most real and basic expectation of the people that the days will be prosperous, while the rice cakes imply "high every year".
? The third dietary custom of Ningbo winter solstice: wine-brewed dumplings?
In the custom of old Ningbo, wine-made dumplings are one of the must-eat delicacies in the winter solstice. Fermented rice dumplings are also famous snacks in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and they are traditional Chinese snacks that every family will make to entertain guests, and they are also popular desserts with a high order at hotel banquets.
Fermented glutinous rice balls are made of high-quality white glutinous rice, which is soaked in water and milled into glutinous rice flour. The milled glutinous rice flour is kneaded into small 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 will become a fragrant, sweet and glutinous wine. Boil the water and put it into a small round. When it floats to the surface, add the fermented grains, white sugar and egg paste, stir well and thicken. Put it into a bowl and sprinkle with sweet osmanthus.
Fermented dumpling is one of the famous snacks in Ningbo and one of the representative snacks in China, with a long history. According to legend, glutinous rice balls originated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, a novel food was popular all over the country, that is, all kinds of fruit baits were used as stuffing, and glutinous rice flour was rubbed into balls outside. After cooking, it tasted sweet and delicious and interesting. Because this kind of glutinous rice balls boiled in a pot floats and sinks, it was originally called "Floating Yuanzi", and later it was renamed Yuanxiao in some areas. Different from northerners, Ningbo people will have a family gathering in the morning of the Spring Festival and have a traditional custom of making dumplings with wine.
? The fourth dietary custom of Ningbo winter solstice: frozen mutton?
In addition to the glutinous rice balls and turnip baked rice cakes in old Ningbo, on the winter solstice, it is also popular to eat "frozen mutton" in Simen, Yuyao and other places, that is, buy fresh mutton, cut it into pieces, add seasonings such as soy sauce and fennel, cook it in a big fire, put it in a basin, and freeze it into "frozen mutton" after it cools down. When eating, put a piece of "frozen mutton" into full rice, which is delicious.
In the words of traditional Chinese medicine, mutton is sweet but not greasy, warm but not dry, and has the effects of tonifying kidney and strengthening yang, warming the middle warmer and dispelling cold, warming qi and blood, appetizing and strengthening the spleen, and has always been regarded as a good product for tonifying yang. Therefore, on the winter solstice, many people like to gather together to eat mutton dinner and drink mutton soup, which can not only resist the cold, but also nourish the body. As recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica, mutton is beneficial to blood, liver and eyesight, and can complement deficiency, dispel cold, warm qi and blood, benefit kidney qi, tonify physique, stimulate appetite, strengthen health, nourish parturient, promote lactation and treat leucorrhea, and help Yuanyang.
It is said that the custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice began to form in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, ate dog meat cooked by Fan Kuai on the winter solstice, which made him feel particularly delicious and full of praise. Eating dog meat on the winter solstice has spread among the people since then, and later eating dog meat has gradually changed into eating mutton and other tonics. It would be better if mutton could be accompanied by traditional Chinese medicine for dispelling wind and preventing cold. As a result, the custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice has been widely handed down in the southern region, and the tradition of eating mutton on the winter solstice has been formed among the people.
? The fifth dietary custom of Ningbo winter solstice: red bean porridge?
Ningbo nursery rhymes: "Benedict, sell 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.
The custom of eating red bean porridge on the winter solstice has existed for more than 1,600 years, and it is said that it is to prevent the plague. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liang Renzong said in the Chronicle of Jingchu Age: "* * * Gong's family is a gifted scholar, who died on the winter solstice as a plague and feared adzuki beans, so he made porridge on the winter solstice to avoid it."
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 apparatus for selling sugar porridge in Ningbo called "Camel Bear", which could put all the cookers, dishes and food on the burden. 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.
The customs of the winter solstice are different between the north and the south, but one thing is basically the same, that is, family reunion, visiting relatives and friends, visiting elders, etc. May we keep these customs full of deep affection and good wishes in mind and pass them on from generation to generation.