On the night of New Year’s Eve or on New Year’s Day, people visit their local shrine–in Tokyo, the number of visitors to Meiji Shrine alone is in the millions. But there are usually no wild New Year countdown celebrations.

Japanese New Year’s food is called osechi-ryori, and colorful osechi-ryori dishes are packed in layers of lacquer boxes, called jubako. Each dish and ingredient in osechi has meaning, such as good health, fertility, good harvest, happiness, long life, and so on. The types of osechi dishes vary from region to region.

It’s a Japanese tradition to eat osechi-ryori throughout the New Year’s holidays (until Jan. 3rd). Traditionally, people finish cooking osechi dishes by New Year’s Eve so that they have food for a couple days without having to cook. Most of these dishes can last a couple days in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature. Nowadays, people buy ready-made osechi dishes at stores instead of cooking at home because it is time consuming to cook the many different kinds of dishes. You can even custom  order a set of osechi-ryori at department stores, grocery stores, or convenience stores.

Ozoni

Ozoni is Japanese mochi (rice cake) soup. It’s a Japanese tradition to eat ozoni on New Year’s holiday. Ingredients for ozoni vary from region to region. Generally, ozoni is seasoned with soy sauce in eastern Japan, and it is seasoned with shiromiso (white miso) in western Japan.

Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups dashi soup stock

4 blocks mochi (rice cake)

1/4 lb. boneless chicken thighs

2 inches carrot, cut into thin rectangles

4 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced

3 inches negi, or leek, rinsed and diagonally sliced

1/4 lb. fresh spinach, boiled and cut into 2 inches

4 slices kamaboko or naruto (fish cakes)

1 tbsp sake

1 tbsp soysauce

1/2 tsp sugar

PREPARATION:

Cut chicken thighs into small pieces. Put dashi soup stock, chicken, carrot, and shiitake in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the surface. Turn down the heat to low. Add sake, sugar, and soy sauce in the soup. Simmer for a few minutes. Meanwhile grill mochi in the oven until softened. Add grilled mochi, kamaboko or naruto, and negi slices in the soup.

Datemaki

Datemaki is a Japanese sweet rolled omelet. It is also one of Japanese New Year’s food.

Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

8 eggs

4 oz. hanpen (white fish cake), chopped

2 Tbsp. dashi soup stock

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. mirin

1/2 tsp. salt

PREPARATION:

Preheat the oven in 375 degrees F. Beat eggs in bowl. Put eggs, chopped hanpen, , sugar, mirin, salt in blender. Process until smooth. Put a baking sheet in a rectangular baking pan. Pour the egg mixture in the pan. Cook it in the oven for 15 minutes. Put the omelet on top of a bamboo mat while it’s still warm. Remove the baking sheet. Roll the omelet with the bamboo mat. Leave it until cools. Remove the bamboo mat and cut the omelet into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Sources:

New Year’s Day food, http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesenewyearfood/a/newyearfood.htm

Ozoni recipe and photo, http://japanesefood.about.com/od/mochi/r/zoni.htm

Datemaki recipe and photo, http://japanesefood.about.com/od/egg/r/datemaki.htm