Ozoni: New Year's Day Soup

Zoni is sure to be eaten during New Year festivities in Japan. This culinary tradition apparently began around the mid-1400s, when mochi offered to the gods and Buddha on New Year’s Eve (Omisoka, now December 31), was eaten in a soup with other ingredients on the morning of New Year’s Day (Gantan, now January 1). The tradition is an important part of life in Japan.
The word zoni is written as two characters: zo means “this and that,” and ni means “boiled.” So zoni literally means “various ingredients boiled together.”

…from NIPPONIA

The “this and that” boiled in the soup varies by region and family. The above article notes that if you know what kind of ozoni a person eats, you will know where the person is from. Here are some examples of regional ozoni soups. The translation to English is a bit shaky, but you can see the soup broth is sometimes clear, sometimes with miso, sometimes dashi, sometimes chicken stock. The rice cakes can be round or rectangular, boiled or grilled. Some soups have chicken, fish, kamaboko, roe, or tofu. Vegetables include greens, cabbage, carrots, burdock, daikon, negi, taro… And here are more variations. They all look and sound delicious.

Simple Ozoni
serves 3

• 3-6  pieces mochi
• 4 cups dashi (Japanese fish st0ck)
• 3 Tablespoons Saikyo miso
• 9-12 slices narutomaki
• a handful of watercress per person

Toast mochi until puffy (it may get lightly browned), about 10 minutes at 400°F. Meanwhile, bring dashi to a simmer. Add naritomaki slices and cook just to warm it up. Put toasted mochi into individual bowls and ladle soup over the top.

Round Rice Cakes and Narutomaki
Mochi package front	Mochi package back	Mochi individually wrapped
Mochi, uncooked	Happy New Year!	Mochi, roasted
Kamaboko: Narutomaki	Narutomaki: Fish Cake	Narutomaki, sliced

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Tags: Japanese Cooking, Japanese Recipes, kamaboko, Mochi, Ozoni