Autumn Equinox Food

In Lingnan, the Hakka people have a custom of eating autumn vegetables at the Autumn Equinox. “Autumn vegetable” refers to a kind of wild amaranth known locally as “秋碧蒿.” In the former Siyi area of Guangdong, including Kaiping and Cangcheng, families surnamed Xie observed an unwritten custom known as “eating autumn vegetables at the Autumn Equinox.” On the day of the Autumn Equinox, the entire village would go out into the fields to gather the greens. The wild amaranth was usually tender green, slender-stemmed, and roughly the length of a palm.

Once gathered, the autumn vegetables were usually cooked quickly in soup with slices of fish, producing what was known as “autumn soup.” A folk rhyme says: “秋汤灌脏，洗涤肝肠。阖家老少，平安健康。” Autumn vegetables may also be served cold or stir-fried, and are prepared in a variety of ways.

Autumn vegetables and autumn soup carry the wish for a peaceful household and good health for the entire family. People believe that eating autumn vegetables can help “cleanse the liver and intestines” and clear the digestive system, thereby protecting the health of the household. A bowl of autumn soup is associated not only with the traditional effects of wild amaranth in clearing the liver, brightening the eyes, clearing heat, and detoxifying, but also with the Chinese medical principle of nourishing the body in autumn. In the minds of the people of Lingnan, drinking this single bowl of soup is like drinking in a whole year of health and peace.

As autumn deepens, osmanthus blossoms quietly across many regions, and the days around the Autumn Equinox are an ideal time to enjoy their fragrance. Osmanthus can also be made into food—used to infuse wine, prepare cakes, or cook into sugar. In earlier times, diligent households would prepare white liquor or Huangjiu before the Autumn Equinox and steep fresh osmanthus flowers in it to make osmanthus wine. Once the solar term arrived, the homemade wine would be brought out to entertain guests. Osmanthus was also used medicinally and traditionally associated with transforming phlegm and dispersing stasis. In Jiangnan, osmanthus wine is made by combining glutinous rice wine with fresh osmanthus and goji berries; served warm, it is traditionally valued for dispersing chill and moistening the lungs.

Osmanthus foods embody the pleasures of enjoying autumn in season and caring for the body with gentle warmth. When golden osmanthus fills the air with fragrance, turning the flowers into cakes and wine is both a way of savoring the beauty of autumn and a continuation of traditional craftsmanship. A cup of osmanthus wine brings warmth and disperses chill; a piece of osmanthus cake is sweet, soft, and glutinous. The fragrance of osmanthus is one of Jiangnan’s gentlest memories of autumn.

“粘雀子嘴,” sticking the sparrows’ beaks shut, is one of the more playful folk customs observed around both the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes. The Autumn Equinox falls during the busiest period of the autumn harvest, autumn plowing, and autumn sowing. As crops approach maturity, birds feeding on the grain become a serious concern for farmers. To help ensure a good harvest, farmers traditionally take the day off at the Autumn Equinox and every household prepares glutinous rice balls.

People boil more than ten, or sometimes twenty or thirty, small solid rice balls without filling, skewer them on slender bamboo forks, and place them outdoors along field edges and embankments. The hope is that the sticky rice balls will seal the beaks of sparrows stealing grain, teaching them a lesson so that they will not return to damage the crops. The custom is also found in many northern regions: some of the rice balls are brought to the table for the family to share, while others are shaped into small pieces and placed around the fields.

The rice balls carry the simple wish to protect the crops and pray for a plentiful harvest. Though playful in form, the custom vividly reflects how deeply farmers in an agricultural society valued their grain. At the same time, glutinous rice flour is highly sticky and considered difficult to digest, and folk tradition also warns that “eating too much sticky food can cause heartburn.” In this sense, the custom of “sticking the sparrows’ beaks shut” unintentionally serves as a reminder that however delicious glutinous rice balls may be, they should not be eaten to excess.

“秋风起，蟹脚痒；菊花开，闻蟹来。” The Autumn Equinox is one of the times when crabs are at their plumpest. The Chinese custom of eating crab in autumn has a long history. After the Autumn Equinox, crabs enter their reproductive season and store energy for the winter, making their flesh fuller. A folk saying speaks of “九雌十雄”—female crabs are eaten in the ninth lunar month, when their roe is rich and full, while male crabs are favored in the tenth lunar month, when their milt is abundant.

Around the Autumn Equinox, hairy crab is an indispensable delicacy throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Folk crab cookery is elaborate without being disorderly—sugar-preserved crab, 洗手蟹, crab stuffed into orange, and many other preparations are known, though steaming remains the method that best preserves the crab’s original flavor. Crabs commonly seen on the Chinese table may broadly be divided into three groups: river and lake crabs from the Yangtze River basin, brackish-water crabs from the Pearl River estuary, and the many varieties of marine crab found along the coast.

Crab embodies the cultural pleasures of tasting foods at their seasonal best and cultivating an elegant way of life. Holding crab claws while admiring chrysanthemums has long been regarded as one of autumn’s seasonal refinements. “菊瘦酒初熟，霜浓蟹正肥”—eating crab at the Autumn Equinox is therefore more than a pleasure of flavor; it is also an expression of a particular aesthetic of living. Crab is often accompanied by Huangjiu or ginger tea, both to balance its traditionally cooling nature and to lend the meal an additional touch of autumn elegance. Crab itself is considered cold in nature, so raw crab with chilled wine is avoided; steamed crab with Huangjiu and perilla is preferred, and the gills, intestines, heart, stomach, and other specified parts should be removed before eating.

The Autumn Equinox coincides with the ripening and arrival of autumn pears on the market. Pears at this time are crisp, tender, sweet, and full of juice. The pear has been praised as the “foremost among fruits” and is highly nutritious. After the Autumn Equinox, the climate becomes dry, making people more susceptible to symptoms of “cool dryness”, such as dry nasal passages, an itchy throat, and dry skin. Pear is traditionally associated with moistening the lungs, relieving cough, generating fluids, and quenching thirst, making it a natural response to autumn dryness.

Autumn pears may be eaten fresh or juiced, and may also be stewed, steamed, or roasted. Those with a weak and cold spleen and stomach may cook the pears before eating them in order to reduce their cooling nature.

Autumn pear embodies the dietary wisdom of moistening the lungs, guarding against dryness, and caring for the body according to the season. As the air dries during the Autumn Equinox, eating gentle and moistening foods such as pear is traditionally associated with nourishing yin, moistening the lungs, benefiting the stomach, and generating fluids. A bite of sweet, juicy autumn pear is one of the gentlest ways to resist autumn dryness.

When the Autumn Equinox arrives, pomegranates are round and full, with plump seeds. The Southern Song writer Yang Wanli once described the fruit with the line “水晶为粒玉为浆.” Peel away the skin, green beneath a flush of red, take a handful of translucent seeds, and bite down: their sweet-and-sour freshness bursts immediately in the mouth. Pomegranate is described as sweet, sour, and astringent in flavor and warm in nature. In autumn, increasing sour flavors in the diet is traditionally considered a way of preventing excessively strong Lung qi from harming the Liver. At the same time, the principle “酸甘化阴” associates the combination of sourness and sweetness with nourishing yin, while pomegranate is also valued for generating fluids and relieving thirst.

Pomegranate carries the dual meanings of generating fluids through sweet-and-sour flavor and many children and abundant blessings. Eating pomegranate in early autumn is both a way of responding to the lingering “autumn tiger” and an expression of sweetness and abundance in life. With their plump, translucent seeds, pomegranates have long symbolized numerous descendants, abundant blessings, and a flourishing family in Chinese culture. A pomegranate at the Autumn Equinox is therefore both a pleasure of taste and an auspicious wish.

In many parts of China, the Autumn Equinox is also a time for eating river snails. Around this solar term, the snails enter what is known as the “empty-bearing” period—their shells contain no young, and the flesh is at its most tender and plump. Many parts of Guangdong have the custom of eating snails at this time. They may be quickly stir-fried over high heat or boiled. Because of their particular growing environment, however, the snails should be soaked repeatedly in salted water and thoroughly cleaned before cooking.

River snails embody the dietary wisdom of tasting food at the proper season. Eating them at the Autumn Equinox reflects the traditional Chinese principle of “不时不食,” not eating foods out of season—enjoying an ingredient precisely when it is at its finest. A plate of fragrant, spicy stir-fried river snails is one of autumn’s most down-to-earth seasonal pleasures.

At the Autumn Equinox, day and night are equal, and seasonal care follows the principle of “balancing yin and yang.” As the dryness associated with autumn Metal comes into season, the body should be nourished by moistening dryness, protecting the lungs, gathering yang, and nurturing yin. Chinese yam is particularly suitable at this time. Known as the “foremost autumn tonic,” it is traditionally associated with replenishing weakness, strengthening resistance, nourishing Lung qi, and regulating the spleen and stomach. Its qualities are described as “tonifying without causing stagnation, neither cold nor drying, nourishing without being greasy.” Tremella, lily bulbs, lotus root, honey, sesame, walnuts, chestnuts, and other foods are likewise regarded as excellent nourishing foods for the Autumn Equinox.

《本草纲目》 describes Chinese yam as having the effect of “补虚羸.” Lotus root, Chinese yam, and other autumn ingredients are therefore considered excellent choices for the seasonal table, traditionally associated with nourishing yin and moistening dryness.

These nourishing and moistening foods embody the philosophical wisdom of following the rhythms of Heaven and nourishing the body through food. The Autumn Equinox is an important point of “阴平阳秘,” when dietary choices should avoid extremes of coldness or dryness and heat, favoring ingredients whose properties are gentle and balanced. A bowl of Tremella and lily bulb soup, a plate of lightly stir-fried Chinese yam, or a cup of honey water—these seemingly ordinary foods are everyday expressions of the Chinese health philosophy of the unity of Heaven and humanity.