Today Is 立冬: Why Taiwan Starts Winter With a Pot of Sesame Oil Chicken

Happy 立冬 (Lìdōng), everyone! Today, November 7, is the “Start of Winter” on the traditional solar calendar. The exact moment lands at about 5:52 p.m. Taiwan time, when the sun reaches 225° along its yearly path. It doesn’t matter that much of Taiwan still feels like late autumn. Tonight, a lot of Taiwanese kitchens will smell like sesame oil, ginger, and rice wine.

One of 24 seasonal markers

Lidong is one of the 24 solar terms (二十四節氣), the farmer’s calendar that splits the year into roughly two-week chunks based on the sun’s position. Because it follows the sun and not the moon, it always falls on November 7 or 8. Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture calls it the official changeover: autumn leaves, winter begins.

For farmers it has always been a pause button. The ministry quotes an old line, 「稻成熟，入冬田頭空」: once the rice is ripe and winter arrives, the paddies stand empty. The rice harvest is finished, and the fields switch to winter crops. That means potatoes, eggplant, and lima beans in the north; rakkyo, lilies, corn, and carrots in central Taiwan; and watermelon, bitter melon, asparagus, and kohlrabi down south.

補冬補嘴空: the most delicious saying in Taiwan

The custom everyone actually remembers is 補冬 (bǔ dōng), “nourishing for winter.” A rhyming Taiwanese saying sums it up: 補冬補嘴空, roughly “on Lidong you top up for winter and feed the hungry mouth.”

The idea comes straight from farming life. After a whole year of hard work through summer heat and typhoons, your body has earned a reward. So families sit down to a rich, warming meal to rebuild their strength before the cold months. The Ministry of Agriculture names the classics: sesame oil chicken in rice wine (麻油雞酒), or herbal soups built on the 四物, 八珍, and 十全 formulas. Many families also make offerings to their ancestors on Lidong to say thank you for the year.

Lidong is also the traditional start of 進補 (tonic-eating) season, which runs through the cold months. If you’ve ever wondered why ginger duck shops pull up their shutters in autumn, or why mutton stew suddenly appears on every corner, our Taiwan hot pot guide covers the whole winter stew lineup.

A modern twist from the doctor

Here’s a fun wrinkle. Traditional Lidong food is very “warming” in Chinese medicine terms, and that made sense for farmers doing heavy labor. In an interview with TVBS Health, Chinese medicine doctor 周大翔 pointed out that many people today sit at desks, deal with work stress, and don’t move much. For them, a heavy pot of sesame oil chicken or ginger duck can bring on mouth ulcers, a dry mouth, or that overheated “上火” feeling. His advice is gentler, milder tonics. So grandma’s recipe is still welcome, just maybe with a smaller bowl.

What comes next

Lidong opens a run of winter food traditions. Next up is the Winter Solstice, when Taiwan eats tangyuan rice balls. If you’re cooking tonight, a simple sesame oil chicken is the easiest way to join in from anywhere in the world. Warm up the kitchen and toast the year you just survived.

And since it’s officially winter now, it’s a good excuse to layer up. Our Mazu’s Scooter Blessings hoodie is a cozy way to carry a bit of Taiwanese folklore into the cold months.

The takeaway: 立冬 isn’t about snow. It’s a thank-you meal for a year of hard work. Happy 補冬! 🍲