1. Eating glutinous rice balls

Eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is a traditional custom in southern my country. Tangyuan, also known as glutinous rice balls, is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Yuan" means "reunion" and "completeness", so eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings".

Every morning on the winter solstice, in some areas of Guangdong where traditional customs are well maintained, every household will begin to grind glutinous rice flour and make it with sugar, meat, Raisin, fruit, beans, shredded radish, etc. The stuffing is wrapped into Winter Solstice dumplings, which are not only eaten by the family, but also given to relatives and friends to express blessings. There is a poem from the ancients: "Every family pounding rice to make glutinous rice balls knows that it is the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty."

On the winter solstice, old Cantonese people are the most particular about eating glutinous rice balls, and relatives will gather together to taste the newly brewed rice balls. Sweet liquor, flower cakes and glutinous rice dumplings. The same is true in Guangzhou. 40 or 50 years ago in Guangzhou, every household needed to make small pastries by hand. Around the winter solstice, the neighbors in Zhucun generally liked to make sugar-filled balls or powdered fruits.

2. Eating dumplings

Although eating dumplings is a custom of northerners, with the increase of new Cantonese people and cultural exchanges, eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice is now also popular in Guangdong, and, Eating dumplings can indeed keep you warm and cold better than other foods. But did you know, the proverb goes: "On October 1st, when the winter solstice arrives, every household eats dumplings." This custom is also to commemorate the "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing who gave up medicine during the winter solstice.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing served as the prefect of Changsha, visiting patients, administering medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he returned home, it was winter. He saw that the folks on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and thin, suffering from hunger and cold, and many people's ears were rotten by the cold. He asked his disciples to set up a medical tent and a big pot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and cook the food on the winter solstice. On that day, "Jiao Er Decoction to dispel cold" was given to the people.

He put mutton, chili peppers and some cold-repelling medicinal materials in a pot and boiled them. Then he took out the mutton and the medicinal materials and chopped them into pieces. He used bread to make "jiaoer" shaped like ears. After cooking, Give each person two "Jiao Er" and a large bowl of broth. People ate "Jiao Er" and drank "Qu Han Tang", their whole bodies became warm, their ears felt hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations imitated the appearance of "Jiao Er" and wrapped them into food, also called "dumplings" or "flat food". Therefore, the custom of eating dumplings to protect the ears from freezing during the Winter Solstice has been passed down.

3. Eat radish in winter

Cantonese people often say, "Winter solstice radish and summer solstice ginger, if you eat them at the right time, there will be no pain." This means that you should eat the right food in different seasons to achieve the purpose of health. . In winter, in order to keep out the cold, people are accustomed to taking supplements and do less daily exercise. The body is prone to heat and phlegm. Eating radish can relieve coughs, quench thirst, and unblock the internal organs. Eating ginger in summer can increase appetite and promote digestion.

Some people believe that although the scientific basis of folk proverbs about the winter solstice cannot be studied, the ancients can guide their ancestors to live a better life to a certain extent through their accumulated life and natural phenomena.

4. Make a side stove

On the night of the Winter Solstice, the Cantonese family must gather together to enjoy the reunion dinner. What they most want to eat is to eat on the stove. In this way, eating while cooking keeps the food fresh and warm. Even if someone at home has not returned, the hot "home meal" is still waiting for him. In this way, Bao Bao would have "tears in his eyes" as soon as he walked in the door.

However, there are different opinions on where the rather strange name "Dabian Lu" came from. Notes from the Ming Dynasty believe that the side stove is actually a "convenient stove", which is convenient; "Qing Bai Lei Chao" believes that "it was created from Bian, so it is called Bian stove".

5. Glutinous rice

Many Cantonese people’s memories of the Winter Solstice as children are inseparable from a bowl of glutinous rice. This bowl of rice is hard-won: usually the mother cooks, buys bacon, pickles Prepare dace fish, add shrimp, mushrooms, radish and other ingredients, and put them into an "octagonal bowl" with a rooster pattern to make a waxy glutinous rice mixed with various delicacies.

Eat a bowl of glutinous rice during the winter solstice to keep out the cold and nourish you. Your stomach will feel warm after eating, and glutinous rice has many benefits. Glutinous rice is sweet and warm in nature. It can nourish the body's righteousness and warm the stomach. It has the effect of tonifying the body and replenishing qi. After eating it, the whole body will feel warm, and it can protect against cold and nourish the body. It is most suitable for the whole family to eat in the cold winter.