Cloud perspective | Don’t be silly and confused whether to eat Yuanxiao or Tangyuan on Lantern Festival.

the Lantern Festival

Gain three pounds every holiday.

After eating and drinking during the Spring Festival

The second round of the festival "Lantern Festival" is coming again.

Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month

In the Lantern Festival, people watch lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns.

And have a family reunion to eat Yuanxiao.

It means sweet New Year reunion.

as the proverb goes

Eating yuanxiao in the north

South chi dumplings

Lantern Festival? Tangyuan?

Why do the north and the south eat differently?

Are they one thing?

In fact, glutinous rice dumplings and Yuanxiao are both snow-white spheres filled with glutinous rice. Tracing back to the source, they are the same thing.

The custom of eating glutinous rice balls began in the Song Dynasty, but in the process of evolution, the differences in production techniques between the north and the south gradually formed two names.

"Roll" Yuanxiao in the North

Image source: Benxi Daily

When people in the north make Yuanxiao, they first knead the stuffing into a uniform ball, put it in a laundry basket covered with dry glutinous rice flour and shake it constantly. From time to time, water is added to make the stuffing stick more and more glutinous rice flour until the stuffing is covered with glutinous rice flour and rolled into a ball.

Because of this, Yuanxiao can be eaten in a variety of ways. Such as frying or steaming.

Yuanxiao tastes strong on the skin, and the stuffing is chewy. The boiled soup will be thicker, which is a bit like drinking rice soup.

South Bao sweet dumplings

Zhaotong City Transportation Bureau staff Bao Tangyuan Qingyuanxiao correspondent Chen Jing photo

The method of making glutinous rice balls is a bit like making steamed stuffed buns. First, glutinous rice flour is added with water to form balls, which are left for several hours. Then, the stuffing is mixed evenly and put in a container for later use, and it is not necessary to cut into small pieces. The water content of glutinous rice balls is more than that of Yuanxiao, and the wet glutinous rice flour is very sticky. You can only pull a small ball of wet noodles by hand, squeeze it into a round shape, pick a ball of stuffing and put it on the glutinous rice slices, and then turn around with both hands to make glutinous rice balls. The fillings of glutinous rice balls are sweet and salty, and there are meat and vegetables. In many places, pork, ham and shrimp are also used as fillings.

Tangyuan has a smooth skin and a delicate taste. Because there is a lot of water in the stuffing, the stuffing will flow out like quicksand at the moment when it is bitten. Besides, the soup cooked with glutinous rice balls is clearer than Yuanxiao.

In addition, the storage of Yuanxiao can’t be frozen, but it can only be cooked and eaten now, and it can’t be stored for a long time (it will crack if it is kept for a long time, and the same is true for cold storage), while the dumplings must be frozen.

In fact, no matter whether you eat Yuanxiao or Tangyuan, although there are differences in form, the moral you want to express is the same, that is, round and round, round and full.

A little more knowledge

Yuanxiao is delicious, but some people should not eat more.

Diabetic patients: The sugar content of Yuanxiao is high. If patients covet the delicious food, their blood sugar will rise sharply, which will not only aggravate their illness, but also induce ketoacidosis.

Patients with ulcer disease: Eating Yuanxiao can increase gastric acid secretion, aggravate the stimulation to ulcer surface, and even induce gastric bleeding and gastric perforation in severe cases.

Gastrointestinal dysfunction: Yuanxiao is made of glutinous rice flour, which is sticky and difficult to digest. After eating, it can lead to stomach pain, bloating, belching, acid reflux and even diarrhea.

Patients with acute gastroenteritis: the gastrointestinal tract is in a state of congestion and edema. Patients should eat digestible foods such as rice soup and lotus root starch. Eating Yuanxiao will increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.

Patients with high fever: The gastrointestinal tract of patients is relatively inhibited when they have fever, so they should eat some easily digestible food such as liquid food, otherwise it will aggravate the condition.

Patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia and gout: These patients are in danger of aggravating their condition by eating Yuanxiao, so it is advisable to eat less.

Early recovery from a long illness: At this time, although the patient’s appetite has improved, his digestive function is still weak, and excessive consumption of Yuanxiao is not conducive to recovery.

Old and infirm people: these people have decreased digestive function and lost teeth, especially the old people’s swallowing reflex is relatively slow, which may cause the Lantern Festival to get stuck in the throat due to rapid swallowing, leading to breathing difficulties and even suffocation and death.

Infants and young children: Children’s digestive function is weak, and their swallowing reflex has not been fully developed. Therefore, when eating Yuanxiao, you should not eat it whole, but divide it into a quarter, and then eat the second bite after eating one bite. You must chew slowly to prevent accidents.

People whose digestive function has not recovered after "Yangkang": It is also not suitable to eat more Yuanxiao, otherwise it will aggravate their own basic diseases and bring about adverse reactions such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, acid reflux and heartburn.

"Sixteen full moons on the 15th" is still the annual "minimum full moon".

On February 19, 2019, in Kunming, Yunnan Province, an airplane flew past the annual "Maximum Full Moon". Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Yiguang photo

On the Lantern Festival, it is the right time to enjoy the moon. According to astronomical science experts, the Lantern Festival in Guimao Year of the Rabbit "the 16th Moon of the 15th" is still the annual "minimum full moon".

"Because the moment of’ looking’ in the first month of Guimao Year of the Rabbit appears at 2: 29 on February 6, the Lantern Festival in the Year of the Rabbit is’ the 16th Moon of the 15th’." Xiu Lipeng, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society, said.

This round of the most round Lantern Festival is a bit special. It is not only the first full moon in the year of Guimao Rabbit, but also the smallest full moon in 2023.

How to appreciate this round of Lantern Festival full moon? "The moment of’ looking’ takes place in the early hours of the morning, and the public who intend to enjoy the moon can watch and shoot about two hours after sunset on the 5th. At this time, although the moon is not the roundest, it is almost the same as the roundest moment, and it has just risen and looks very big. It is not only suitable for naked eye appreciation, but also very suitable for taking photos with the ground landscape. " Xiu Lipeng suggested.

Editor: Yang Chunping

Comprehensive arrangement from Baidu Encyclopedia, Xinhuanet and Benxi Daily.

(yunnan net)

Reporting/feedback