After the Minor Cold (Xiao Han) solar term, in addition to adding more clothes for warmth, the common glutinous rice in our lives is also a master at warding off the cold. People in Guangdong have the custom of eating glutinous rice on the morning of Minor Cold each year, precisely for this characteristic.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) posits that the cold weather in winter is most likely to deplete the stomach's Qi. The *Compendium of Materia Medica* mentions that glutinous rice is the grain that tonifies the spleen and stomach, and benefits the lung Qi. Glutinous rice is sweet in taste and warm in nature. Consuming it can nourish the body's Qi and blood, and nourish the spleen and stomach. Once the spleen and stomach are warmed, a person's breathing becomes quite smooth, leading to a sensation of warmth throughout the body, which serves to fend off the cold. It is especially suitable for those with a deficient and cold spleen and stomach. Furthermore, glutinous rice is rich in nutrients such as protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and niacin, making it a truly nourishing and strengthening food.
However, it is worth reminding that while glutinous rice is good, one should not overindulge. It is best to halve the portion. For instance, if you can normally eat four liang (200g) of rice, two liang (100g) of glutinous rice is sufficient. Otherwise, due to glutinous rice's inherently sticky and hard-to-digest nature, it can cause a feeling of fullness and bloating in the chest and abdomen, which would be counterproductive. This is especially important for people with inherently weak digestive systems, such as the elderly and children.
There are many ways to prepare glutinous rice. Red jujube and osmanthus sugar glutinous rice is a very suitable dish to eat in cold weather. Pit the red jujubes and briefly cook them in a little water. Wash the glutinous rice and soak it for half an hour, then mix it with osmanthus sugar sauce and cook it into rice (add the jujubes when the rice is 80% cooked). You can also add raisins, which have a blood-nourishing effect, and walnuts, which have the effect of warming and tonifying the kidney's Yang, and mix them in for consumption to achieve a better cold-dispelling effect.