As winter, especially after the Winter Solstice, is predominantly cold, it is advisable to consume warming and nourishing foods to tonify Yang energy and defend against cold pathogenic factors. As the saying goes, "Food therapy is better than medicine therapy," and many traditional foods eaten during the Winter Solstice are excellent for tonifying Yang and preventing cold.
Tangyuan (Sweet Rice Balls)
Eating Tangyuan is a popular custom in the Jiangnan region during the Winter Solstice. Common ingredients for Tangyuan, such as glutinous rice, sesame, and red beans, are considered warming in nature and have a good effect on strengthening the spleen. When the spleen and stomach are healthy, the nutrients from food can be properly absorbed and utilized by the body, enhancing the body's ability to resist cold and prevent illness, making it the most suitable food for winter.
Jiaozi (Dumplings)
There is a saying, "Eating Jiaozi on the Winter Solstice prevents one's ears from freezing." This saying originates from the sage of medicine, Zhang Zhongjing. He saw people's ears getting frostbitten in the severe cold, so he wrapped warming medicinal herbs in dough to make "Jiao'er Tang" (Dumpling Ear Soup), which cured their ears. Today, eating Jiaozi on the Winter Solstice is no longer for curing frostbite, but the balanced combination of its flour, vegetables, and meat makes it a nutritious and easily digestible delicacy. For the filling, one can use lamb, Chinese cabbage, green onions, chives, radishes, etc., all of which are warming in nature and can help tonify the body's Yang energy.
Babao Porridge (Eight-Treasure Porridge)
Steaming hot Babao Porridge is very suitable for the winter diet, which should be warm and soft. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that eating porridge can strengthen the spleen and warm the stomach, and also has a certain nourishing Yin effect, which counteracts the dryness of winter. To enhance its warming effect, we can choose ingredients that are warming in nature or neutral and good for strengthening the spleen and stomach, such as Job's tears, red dates, walnuts, peanuts, chicken, lamb, glutinous rice, longans, Chinese yam, and tremella. We can be creative and combine these ingredients into delicious porridge, for example: lamb porridge, chicken porridge, glutinous rice and red date porridge, millet and Chinese yam porridge, and tremella and red date rice porridge.
Radish
There is a folk saying: "Radish in winter and ginger in summer; eating them on time keeps illness away." Another saying goes: "Winter radish is better than ginseng." Therefore, eating radish is most nourishing during the Winter Solstice. On the evening of the Winter Solstice, it is the perfect time to simmer a hot pot of radish and pork rib soup to replenish nutrients, nourish the body, and enhance cold resistance.
Wonton
In old Beijing, there is a saying, "Wontons for the Winter Solstice, noodles for the Summer Solstice." The "Yanjing Sui Shi Ji" (Record of the Seasons in the Capital) states: "The shape of the wonton is like an egg, somewhat resembling the primordial chaos of heaven and earth, so it is eaten on the Winter Solstice." Besides the similar shape, the word "wonton" (hundun) is a homophone for "chaos" (hundun). Eating wontons in winter helps the body store heat energy.
Lamb
Many places in northern China have the custom of eating dog meat and lamb during the Winter Solstice. TCM believes that both lamb and dog meat have the effect of strengthening Yang and tonifying the body. In fact, in the Jiangnan region, people in Suzhou also begin to nourish their bodies from the Winter Solstice, and the food they eat is the famous Wuzhong Cangshu lamb.
Lamb is sweet in taste and warm in nature, with the effect of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening Yang. It has always been considered an excellent food for tonifying Yang and is one of the important foods for nourishment during the Winter Solstice. Lamb has higher calories than beef, and its iron content is six times that of pork, making it significant for blood production. Eating lamb often in the cold winter can replenish Qi and deficiency, nourish blood and aid Yang, promote blood circulation, and enhance the body's ability to resist cold.