Major Heat Food

During Major Heat, many parts of Guangdong observe the custom of eating Xiancao. Xiancao, also known as 凉粉草 or 仙人草, is an important plant traditionally used both as food and in herbal preparations. Its dried stems and leaves can be made into grass jelly, one of Guangdong’s best-known snacks. Grass jelly can be considered one of the most classic foods for relieving the heat of Major Heat in Guangdong. A folk saying goes: “六月大暑吃仙草，活如神仙不会老。” As a classic cooling dessert, grass jelly is prized not only for its chilled, tender, silky texture, but also traditionally for helping relieve summer heat, clear toxins, reduce internal heat, and cool the body. For practical-minded Cantonese diners, few things are more satisfying than eating a bowl of grass jelly in the midst of an unbearably hot summer day.

Taiwan also has a tradition of eating Xiancao during Major Heat, closely related to the customs of Guangdong. Taiwanese grass jelly is often served with taro balls, red beans, tapioca pearls, peanuts, and other toppings, making it a classic Taiwanese dessert.

The preparation of Xiancao is distinctive. The stems and leaves are dried, then boiled in water to produce a thick decoction. A small amount of starch, such as tapioca starch, is stirred in, and after cooling, the liquid sets into a black, translucent jelly. Cut into small pieces, it can be served with sugar syrup, honey, milk, taro balls, red beans, and other ingredients to create a variety of grass jelly desserts. In the blazing heat of summer, a bowl of chilled, silky grass jelly can make the oppressive heat seem to disappear at once.

Xiancao carries auspicious wishes for relief from summer heat, detoxification, health, and longevity. Folk tradition holds that eating Xiancao during Major Heat not only helps cool the body and relieve heat, but may also promote longevity. The saying “活如神仙不会老” expresses a simple longing for a cool summer, good health, and a long life. A spoonful of icy, tender grass jelly is one of Guangdong’s gentlest weapons against the Dog Days.

In Putian, Fujian, there is a custom known as “过大暑,” or passing through Major Heat, and one of its most important elements is eating lychees. Lychees are a local specialty of Putian, and the period around Major Heat is precisely when they are most abundant and at their sweetest. People in Putian believe that eating lychees on Major Heat can help relieve the heat, nourish the body, and build strength. The fruit may be immersed in cool well water and eaten once thoroughly chilled, its clean sweetness and icy freshness bringing immediate relief from the heat. In some places, lychees, mutton, and fermented rice are collectively known as the “Three Treasures of Major Heat,” together forming the complete food tradition of Putian’s “过大暑.”

Lychees embody the health wisdom of countering heat with heat while combining summer relief with nourishment. Lychees are traditionally considered warming in nature, and eating them on the hottest day of the year is believed to follow the principle of “using heat to counter heat,” helping dispel summer discomfort and dampness while nourishing the body. This distinctive dietary idea closely echoes Shandong’s custom of drinking summer mutton soup: at the hottest moment of the year, eating “hot” foods is thought to restore balance within the body.

In Taizhou, Zhejiang, people traditionally eat ginger egg custard during Major Heat. It is a classic dessert based on the principle of countering “heat” with “heat”: mature ginger is juiced and mixed with eggs, brown sugar, and Huangjiu, then steamed. Ginger is pungent and warming in traditional dietary theory and is associated with encouraging perspiration, releasing the exterior, warming the center, and dispelling cold. Although the weather is extremely hot during Major Heat, the body may still be vulnerable to internal cold through excessive consumption of chilled foods and drinks or prolonged exposure to air conditioning. Eating ginger egg custard therefore accords with the old health saying, “冬吃萝卜夏吃姜”—eat radish in winter and ginger in summer.

Ginger egg custard embodies the health wisdom of warming the center, dispersing cold, and countering heat with heat. Pungent, warming mature ginger encourages perspiration and disperses cold, while sweet, warming brown sugar is traditionally used to nourish the blood and warm the stomach. Together, they offer a distinctive response to the condition of being “hot outside but cold within” during Major Heat. A bowl of ginger egg custard brings a light sweat and warmth to the digestive system—Taizhou’s gentle way of confronting the fiercest summer heat.

In southern Shandong, Major Heat is traditionally marked by “drinking summer mutton.” “Summer mutton” refers to mutton eaten during the hot season. Folk tradition holds that drinking mutton soup during the Dog Days can “counter heat with heat,” encouraging perspiration so that accumulated cold and dampness may be expelled from the body, thereby achieving the effect associated with “treating winter ailments in summer.” In Zaozhuang, Linyi, and surrounding areas, there is a saying: “夏天伏羊一碗汤，不用神医开药方.” Whenever Major Heat arrives, mutton soup restaurants become especially busy. This custom belongs to the same broad tradition as the Fuyang food custom of Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and reflects the distinctive dietary wisdom of northern communities facing extreme summer temperatures.

Drinking summer mutton soup carries the health philosophy of countering heat with heat and dispelling dampness through perspiration. Drinking a bowl of mutton soup during the hottest days may appear to be “adding fuel to the fire,” but the traditional logic is to use warming food to encourage sweating and thereby release cold and dampness accumulated inside the body. After a bowl of piping-hot mutton soup, sweat pours freely, stale heaviness is released, and the body feels lighter and more comfortable—one of northern China’s most vigorous ways of confronting Major Heat.

In central and northern Hunan, eating young chicken during Major Heat is a traditional custom. At this time of year, the body expends large amounts of energy and needs nutritional replenishment. Young chicken is traditionally considered warming in nature, with tender meat that is easy to digest and absorb, making it a valued food for summer “light nourishment.” It is often stewed with ginger, red dates, goji berries, and other ingredients, providing warming nourishment without excessive dryness and fitting the traditional health principle of “nourishing yang in spring and summer.”

Young chicken embodies the health wisdom of gentle nourishment, strengthening the body, and countering heat with warmth. During Major Heat, traditional theory holds that the body’s yang qi moves outward, leaving the interior comparatively cold and deficient. Young chicken is regarded as warming without being drying; it replenishes energy without placing an excessive burden on digestion. A bite of tender chicken is therefore considered an ideal form of light summer nourishment.

In Taiwan, there is a custom of eating pineapple during Major Heat. Pineapple is abundant in Taiwan during summer, and this is when the fruit reaches its sweetest and most flavorful. In Minnan, pineapple is pronounced “ong-lâi,” which sounds like “旺来,” meaning prosperity or good fortune arriving. For this reason, pineapple is widely regarded as an auspicious fruit and is often used as a ritual offering. Eating pineapple during Major Heat therefore means both tasting a fruit at the height of its season and expressing wishes for increasing good fortune and prosperity.

Pineapple carries the dual meanings of enjoying the season’s freshest fruit and welcoming blessings through wordplay. Because its Minnan pronunciation echoes “旺来,” eating a sweet pineapple in the height of summer not only refreshes and quenches thirst but also expresses the hope that life will become increasingly prosperous. The sweetness of a single bite becomes one of Taiwan’s most cheerful wishes for summer.

In Putian, Fujian, fermented rice is one of the “Three Treasures of Major Heat,” together with lychees and mutton. During Major Heat, glutinous rice is steamed and mixed with a fermentation starter to make fermented rice. When eaten, it is often simmered with brown sugar into a sweet soup and served warm, traditionally valued for warming the center, replenishing qi, invigorating the blood, and warming the stomach. Fermented rice is also known as Jiu Niang, sweet wine, or Laozao, and traditions of making and eating it can be found in many parts of China.

Fermented rice carries the traditional health associations of warming the center, replenishing qi, invigorating the blood, and warming the stomach. During Major Heat, its warming qualities are considered particularly suited to the internal cold that may arise from excessive preference for chilled foods and drinks. Warming without excessive dryness and nourishing without heaviness, it forms an important part of Major Heat’s tradition of countering heat with heat.

Alongside distinctive regional traditions, people throughout China commonly eat Liangfen, cold noodles, mung bean soup, and other refreshing foods during Major Heat.

Liangfen: Usually made from mung bean starch, pea starch, or similar ingredients, Liangfen is translucent, cooling, and silky. Served with soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic, chili oil, and other seasonings, it is a classic summer food for relief from the heat.

Cold Noodles: Cooked noodles are rinsed in cold water, then mixed with sesame paste, shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, and other ingredients. Cool and appetizing, this is a common northern way of eating noodles during Major Heat.

Mung Bean Soup: Mung beans are traditionally considered cooling and associated with clearing heat and toxins, relieving summer discomfort, and promoting fluid elimination. Mung bean soup is one of the most classic beverages of Major Heat. The beans are simmered until they split open, sweetened with rock sugar or white sugar, then cooled or chilled before drinking. One bowl seems to sweep the summer heat away.

Cooling summer foods embody the everyday wisdom of clearing heat, relieving summer discomfort, and keeping things simple and practical. Liangfen, cold noodles, and mung bean soup may lack elaborate legends or famous historical stories, but they protect people through summer in the most straightforward way possible. A single bowl of mung bean soup is perhaps the simplest expression of care during Major Heat.

During Major Heat, winter melon, bitter melon, watermelon, and other seasonal gourds and melons arrive in abundance and become important foods for coping with the summer heat.

Winter Melon: Traditionally considered cooling and sweet in flavor, winter melon is associated with promoting fluid elimination, reducing phlegm, clearing heat, and removing toxins. It is commonly used in soups or lightly stir-fried. Winter melon and old duck soup is a common nourishing dish in southern China during Major Heat.

Bitter Melon: Continuing the Minor Heat tradition of “eating bitter,” bitter melon remains popular during Major Heat for its traditional association with clearing heat and reducing internal fire. It may be served cold, stir-fried, or simmered in soup.

Watermelon: Watermelon has been called a “natural Baihu decoction.” Major Heat is precisely the season when watermelons arrive in abundance; sweet and full of juice, they are among the most effective seasonal foods for refreshing the body and quenching thirst.

Seasonal gourds and melons embody the health wisdom of using coolness to counter heat and eating according to the season. The intense temperatures of Major Heat are gently answered by these cool, juicy foods. The fresh sweetness of a bite of watermelon is one of summer’s simplest pleasures.