Beginning of Winter Food

“立冬不端饺子碗，冻掉耳朵没人管。” In northern China, eating dumplings at Beginning of Winter is one of the most deeply rooted seasonal food customs. The origin of dumplings is closely associated with Zhang Zhongjing, revered as the “Sage of Medicine.” At the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing had served as an official in Changsha. When he retired and returned home, it was the middle of a snowy winter. Seeing that many people had suffered severely frostbitten ears, he instructed his disciples to set up a medical shelter at Dongguan in Nanyang. There, they boiled mutton, chili peppers, and medicinal ingredients used to dispel cold, removed and finely chopped them, wrapped the mixture in pieces of dough shaped like ears, and boiled them again. The dish was named “祛寒娇耳汤.” After eating the “娇耳” and drinking the soup, people felt warmth throughout their bodies and heat in their ears, and their frostbitten ears were healed. To commemorate Zhang Zhongjing, people began making and eating “娇耳” every year at Beginning of Winter and the Winter Solstice.

Eating dumplings at Beginning of Winter also carries the meaning of “更岁交子.” “交子” refers to the moment of transition, and because Beginning of Winter stands at the turning point between autumn and winter, dumplings associated with the sound of “交子” became a food that could not be omitted at this seasonal junction.

Across northern China, dumpling fillings and eating customs vary by region. In Tianjin, Beginning of Winter is traditionally associated with dumplings filled with wo gua, a type of squash. The squash is bought in summer and stored in a small room or on a windowsill, where its sugars develop over time. By Beginning of Winter, when it is chopped into filling, its flavor differs both from Chinese cabbage and from fresh summer squash. Eaten with vinegar and garlic, it has a distinctive taste of its own.

People in Beijing favor pork-and-cabbage dumplings, with thin wrappers and generous fillings that release a mouthful of savory fragrance with each bite. In Northeast China, sauerkraut-filled dumplings are especially popular for their bright, appetizing acidity. In Shandong, people not only eat dumplings at Beginning of Winter but also drink mutton soup to dispel cold and warm the body.

Dumplings carry the dual meanings of warding off the cold and keeping warm and bidding farewell to the old while welcoming the new.

First, they commemorate the Sage of Medicine. Dumplings are said to have originated through Zhang Zhongjing and therefore carry people’s gratitude toward and remembrance of this revered physician.

Second, “交子” welcomes winter. “交” means transition. Beginning of Winter marks the transition from autumn to winter, and eating dumplings symbolizes bidding farewell to one season and welcoming the next.

Third, their shape resembles ears. Because dumplings look like ears, folk belief holds that eating them helps protect the ears from frostbite during winter.

One food, passed down across a thousand years, connects the people of the past with those of today, and physicians with ordinary families, through the most simple and enduring of human emotions.

In the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, there is a custom of stewing Siwu Decoction at Beginning of Winter as a form of seasonal nourishment. Siwu Decoction is a classic traditional Chinese medicine formula for nourishing and enriching the blood. It consists of four medicinal ingredients—Chinese angelica root, Sichuan lovage rhizome, white peony root, and prepared rehmannia root—and is known as the “foremost formula of gynecology.” At Beginning of Winter, people in Chaoshan use Siwu Decoction to stew chicken, pork ribs, or pigeon, drinking the broth and eating the meat as a way of “nourishing for winter.”

Siwu Decoction is traditionally considered capable not only of enriching and nourishing the blood but also of invigorating blood circulation and regulating menstruation, making it especially suitable for women during winter. Its combination of ingredients is regarded as particularly refined: Chinese angelica nourishes and invigorates the blood; Sichuan lovage promotes blood circulation and the movement of qi; white peony nourishes the blood and softens the liver; prepared rehmannia nourishes yin and enriches the blood. Together, the four ingredients complement one another, producing the effect of tonifying without causing stagnation and invigorating without dispersing excessively.

Siwu Decoction embodies the health wisdom of winter nourishment and harmonizing qi and blood. Beginning of Winter marks the start of the season of “storage,” and people in Chaoshan use Siwu soup to nourish qi and blood, strengthen the body’s foundation, and store energy for the entire winter. This deep-brown medicinal soup, gently warming with a mingling of bitterness and sweetness, is one of Chaoshan’s most solemn answers to the idea of “nourishing for winter.”

Mutton is one of the most common and warming nourishing foods associated with Beginning of Winter. After the season begins, temperatures fall, and mutton is traditionally described as warm in nature. It is associated with enriching essence and blood, replenishing weakness, warming the center and strengthening the spleen, nourishing the kidneys and supporting yang, and benefiting the liver. It is regarded as particularly beneficial for people experiencing weakness of the lower back and knees, fatigue, kidney deficiency, impotence, or cold weakness of the spleen and stomach, and especially suitable for the elderly, physically weak men, and women after childbirth.

In Tengzhou, Shandong, there is a custom of drinking mutton soup at Beginning of Winter. Many northern regions likewise have the habit of eating mutton on this day to warm the body. In parts of Sichuan, mutton soup is also popular at Beginning of Winter, expressed in the saying “吃羊肉，好过冬.”

In Tengzhou, Shandong, people prepare a steaming pot of mutton soup on Beginning of Winter. Across northern China, mutton may also be cooked in hotpot or prepared as mutton stewed with radish or stir-fried mutton with scallions. Mutton is often stewed with ginger, Chinese angelica, goji berries, and other medicinal ingredients, both to warm and nourish the body. After drinking mutton soup, the whole body feels warm, providing both flavorful enjoyment and replenishing energy.

Mutton carries the seasonal health wisdom of nourishing the body for winter, warming the body, and driving out cold. Folk tradition holds that eating mutton at Beginning of Winter helps dispel cold, warm the body, and store energy for the months ahead. As the saying goes, “立冬吃羊肉，一冬暖乎乎”—when the cold winds first begin to rise, a bite of mutton warms the body from the stomach to the limbs, becoming one of the warmest responses to the custom of winter nourishment.

In many parts of southern China, there is a custom of eating ciba at Beginning of Winter. Ciba is a traditional seasonal food of the south and was once an important festival offering. In earlier times, it was first used by farmers as an offering to the deity of oxen. In southern Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan, and other regions, households traditionally prepare ciba on Beginning of Winter.

A folk saying goes: “立冬糍粑圆，补冬又补年.” 《清嘉录》 records: “十月朔，乡农以糯米蒸熟，杵捣成饵，名曰‘糍团’，用以祀先。” In southern China, ciba is mainly made from glutinous rice. Once finished, it is soft and delicate in texture, sweet in taste, and commonly eaten dipped in sugar.

Glutinous rice is washed and steamed, then placed in a stone mortar and repeatedly pounded with wooden mallets until the individual grains merge into a soft, elastic mass. While still hot, the rice is pinched into small portions and coated with sesame, crushed peanuts, or white sugar. Eaten fresh and warm, it is especially fragrant, sweet, soft, and glutinous.

In Fujian, ciba is often fried until golden, becoming crisp on the outside and tender within. In Taiwan, there is a type of ciba known as “粘粘糕,” whose name carries the auspicious meaning of “rising higher year after year.”

Ciba carries the auspicious meanings of celebrating the harvest and praying for reunion. It belongs to the southern farmers’ celebration of abundance at Beginning of Winter, evoking the line “小春此去无多日，何处梅花一绽香.” It is also a food of togetherness, shared among relatives and friends seated around the table. Its round shape symbolizes completeness and sweetness in life. One bite of warm, soft, glutinous ciba is among the most simple and comforting tastes of Beginning of Winter.

There is a longstanding folk saying: “立冬萝卜赛参汤，不劳医生开药方.” Around Beginning of Winter, radishes touched by frost become especially crisp and sweet and are an indispensable seasonal vegetable on the table. Li Shizhen wrote in 《本草纲目》 that radish “根叶皆可生、可熟、可菹、可酱、可豉、可醋、可糖、可腊、可饭，乃蔬中之最有益者.”

In many parts of northern China, households begin storing Chinese cabbage and radish around Beginning of Winter in preparation for the long winter ahead. Eating radish at this time therefore became a seasonal dietary tradition. Northern farming communities also have the proverb “立冬起白菜，小雪砍菠菜,” while radish is likewise one of the main crops harvested at this time.

Radish can be prepared in countless ways. Raw radish is eaten to support digestion and stimulate the appetite; radish stewed with mutton is a classic Beginning of Winter nourishing dish; shredded-radish cakes are crisp and savory; dried pickled radish is a common winter side dish in northern households.

In some parts of Henan, radish greens are made into radish-green soup, or the roots are prepared as dried radish. In some areas of Jiangsu, radish is shaped into radish balls.

Radish embodies the dietary wisdom of supporting digestion, promoting the movement of qi, and caring for the body in harmony with the season. At Beginning of Winter, when people begin eating richer nourishing foods, internal heat can easily develop. Radish is traditionally valued for clearing heat, generating fluids, promoting the movement of qi, and aiding digestion, producing what is described as the effect of “nourishing through free circulation.” A bite of crisp, sweet radish becomes the “pathfinder” that prepares the way for winter nourishment.

In some parts of Jiangnan, people have the custom of eating tangyuan at Beginning of Winter. The character “圆,” round, suggests reunion and completeness, so eating tangyuan at this time expresses the wish that the entire family remain together in harmony and happiness. The custom belongs to the same tradition as “贺冬,” celebrating the arrival of winter. On the first solar term of the season, family members sit together around a steaming bowl of tangyuan, sharing not only physical warmth but also emotional closeness.

Tangyuan carries the auspicious meaning of family reunion and fulfillment. Beginning of Winter marks the formal arrival of winter and the cooling of the weather. Tangyuan is therefore not only warm and nourishing but also symbolizes a family gathering together to welcome the new season. In Jiangnan, the Beginning of Winter custom of eating tangyuan belongs to the same cultural lineage as tangyuan traditions at the Winter Solstice and Lantern Festival, together forming a culinary memory centered on seasonal completeness and reunion.

In some parts of Jiangnan, people drink Huangjiu at Beginning of Winter. Huangjiu is one of the world’s oldest types of alcoholic drink and is traditionally grouped with beer and wine as one of the world’s three ancient alcoholic beverages. Beginning of Winter is also the point when Shaoxing Huangjiu enters its “winter brewing” season.

People in Shaoxing call the period from Beginning of Winter to the following Beginning of Spring the “winter brewing season,” regarded as the most suitable time of year for making wine. The water is clear and cold, while low temperatures effectively suppress unwanted microorganisms, allowing fermentation to proceed smoothly and the wine to develop good flavor under cool conditions. In Shaoxing, Beginning of Winter is therefore not merely a solar term but also the start of the annual Huangjiu brewing cycle, carrying brewers’ commitment to quality and their dedication to inherited tradition.

Huangjiu embodies the health wisdom of dispersing cold, warming the body, and following the rhythms of the season. Huangjiu is traditionally described as warm in nature, with sweet, bitter, and pungent flavors. Consumed in moderation, it is considered capable of invigorating the blood, dispelling cold, and promoting circulation through the channels. At Beginning of Winter, warming a pot of Huangjiu and drinking it slowly allows warmth to rise from the stomach and disperse the chill from the body. The wine warms the body, while its flavor expresses the sensitivity of Jiangnan people to the turning of the seasons.

In Nanjing, Suzhou, and other parts of Jiangnan, there is a custom of eating salted meat and vegetable rice on Beginning of Winter. People cook freshly harvested rice with salted pork and dwarf bok choy—or other leafy greens—producing a glossy, savory, fragrant dish.

Salted meat and vegetable rice is a simple expression of the Jiangnan farming tradition of “tasting the new harvest at Beginning of Winter.” Newly harvested rice, tender greens from the turn of autumn into winter, and home-cured salted pork are all simmered together in one pot, creating one of late autumn’s most reassuring flavors. The dish requires no elaborate knife work, yet it is filled with the warmth and fragrance of everyday life.

Salted meat and vegetable rice carries the pleasures of celebrating the harvest and enjoying seasonal freshness. Newly harvested rice is the land’s answer to a year of labor; salted pork is the household’s stored provision; fresh greens are the stubborn vitality of the early-winter fields. Cooked together in a single pot until their aroma fills the room, they become Jiangnan’s most direct celebration of the harvest and one of its most unadorned responses to the idea of “nourishing for winter.”

Ginger Duck originated in Xiamen, Fujian, and is a classic Beginning of Winter nourishing dish in southern Fujian and Taiwan. In southern Fujian, Beginning of Winter is a traditional time for “nourishing for winter,” and families simmer Ginger Duck with aged ginger and duck meat.

The dish reflects the southern philosophy of gentle warming nourishment. Duck is traditionally considered cooling in nature, while aged ginger is warming. Combined, the two are regarded as warming without excessive dryness and nourishing without becoming overly rich.

Ginger Duck is prepared by placing duck meat and a generous amount of aged ginger in a clay pot, adding rice wine and sesame oil, then simmering everything slowly over low heat for several hours. The duck absorbs the pungent fragrance of ginger, while the ginger takes on the savory richness of the duck. The broth becomes deep and rich, the meat tender, and the aroma fills the air. After a bowl of Ginger Duck, warmth spreads from the stomach to the limbs—one of southern China’s warmest interpretations of “nourishing for winter.”

Ginger Duck embodies the health wisdom of warming nourishment, warding off cold, and caring for both body and spirit. Unlike the northern custom of eating mutton, southern climates are relatively mild, so cooling duck and warming ginger are considered a particularly balanced pairing. A plate of Ginger Duck is southern Fujian’s gentlest weapon against the arrival of winter.