Hard to believe it's almost the new year! And with the new year comes all the festivities and foods particular to the new year! Today we're going to look at some recipies for Japanese New Year food called Osechi-Ryouri (おせち料理).
What is Osechi?
Japanese New Year's food is called osechi-ryori, and is made up of colorful dishes packed in layers of lacquer boxes, called jubako(重箱). Each dish and ingredient used in osechi has a special meaning for the new year, such as good health, happiness, fertility, a long life, and so forth. The specific dishes in the osechi vary from region to region.
What to make?
Kobumaki 昆布巻き
Kobumaki is a Japanese kelp roll, which is one of Japanese New Year's food. The fillings in kobumaki can be gobo burdock if you would like.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 oz. dried kombu (kelp) (8 five-inch-long dried kombu)
- 3/4 lb. salmon
- 8 strips (10 inch long/strip) dried kanpyo
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup soysauce
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 4 Tbsp mirin
Preparation
Soak konbu in 4 cups of water for 10 minutes. Save this water. Rub a pinch of salt on kanpyo and wash them. Soak kanpyo in water for 15 minutes. Cut salmon into about 5 inch long strips. Put a salmon strip on top of a sheet of konbu and roll it. Tie the konbu roll by strips of kanpyo. Place kombu rolls in medium pot. Pour the water used for soaking the kombu over the kombu rolls. Bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat to low, and add sugar, sake, mirin, and soysauce. Simmer for about one hour. Turn off the heat. Let kelp rolls cool in the pot. Remove them from the pot and cut in halves.
*Makes 4 servings
Simmered Kuromame 黒豆
Kuromame are black soybeans in Japanese, and they are typically simmered in Japanese cooking. Since the Japanese word for beans, mame, also means "working like a bee", it's traditional for Japanese people to eat kuromame on New Year's holidays, hoping for being able to work in good health.
*It's preferable to simmer kuromame in iron pot or add rusty nails to blacken the color of the beans.
Japanese New Year's Food Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 cup black soy beans
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
*optional: a couple of rusty nails and a sheet of gauze
Preparation
Wash black beans. Put water, sugar, salt, soysauce, and baking soda in large deep pot or iron pot. Bring to a boil. Stop the heat and add black beans. Leave it over night, or about 8 hours. Clean a couple of rusty nails, and wrap them by gauze. Add it in the pot. Put the pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low. Skim off any foam that rise to the surface. Cover the pot and simmer the beans on low heat for about 5 hours, or until beans are softened. When the liquid decreases, add some water. Stop the heat and let it sit until cool.
*Makes 4 servings
DateMaki 伊達巻
Datemaki is a Japanese sweet rolled omelet. It's one of Japanese New Year's food.
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.
*Makes 8 servings
Kuri Kinton 栗きんとん
Kuri kinton is mashed sweet potato with sweet chestnuts (kuri). It's one of Japanese New Year's food (osechi). Its golden yellow color symbolizes prosperity.
Japanese New Year's Food
Ingredients
- 1 lb. satsumaimo (sweet potatoes), peeled and cut into 1 inch thick slices
- 1 jar of simmered sweet chestnuts in syrup (8-12 pieces of chestnuts)
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 2 kuchinashi-no-mi (Cape jasmine seeds)
Preparation
Soak satsumaimo slices in water for about 15 minutes and drain. Wrap crushed kuchinashi-no-mi in a sheet of gauze. Put water, satsumaimo, and kuchinashi-no-mi in a deep pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and simmer until satsumaimo is softened. Drain and remove kushinashi-no-mi. Mash satsumaimo and add 3/4 cup of sugar and mix well. Strain the mashed satsumaimo and put it back in the pot. Add 3/4 cup of sugar, mirin, 1/4 cup of syrup in the mashed satsumaimo. Stir well on low heat until smooth. Add chestnuts and simmer for a few minutes.
Kinpira Gobo 金平ゴボウ
Kinpira gobo is braised burdock root.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb gobo (burdock root)
- 1/4 lb carrot
- 1 tbsp soysauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp mirin
- 1/2 tbsp sake
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 2 tsps vegetable oil
Preparation
Lightly shave the gobo skin and shred gobo into very thin strips. Soak the gobo strips in water for a while and drain well. Peel the carrot and cut it into short and thin strips. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, and fry gobo strips for a couple minutes. Add carrot strips in the pan and stir-fry them. Add all seasonings in the pan and stir-fry well. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle sesame seeds.
*Makes 4 servings
Tazukuri たずくり
Tazukuri is sugared dried sardine and is one of Japanese New Year's food.
Ingredients
- 2 oz. dried sardines
- 2 Tbsps sugar
- 2 Tbsps soy sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp mirin
- 2 tsps white sesame seeds
Preparation
Put the dried sardines in a skillet and stir-fry for a few minutes on medium-low heat. Set aside. Put sugar, soysauce, and mirin in a skillet and put on medium heat. When it's thickened, add dried sardines. Stop the heat and stir well. Sprinkle sesame seeds. Spread it on a tray to cool.
*Makes 4 servings
Namasu なます
Namasu is pickled daikon radish and carrot. Since daikon and carrot express celebration colors of red and white, it's one of Japanese New Year's food.
Ingredients
- 1 pound daikon radish
- 1/4 pound carrot
- 3/4 cup dashi soup stock
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 3 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp sake
Preparation
Peel and cut carrot and daikon radish into thin strips. Put a pinch of salt over the carrot and daikon and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse them and squeeze to remove excess water. Put daikon and carrot strips in a large bowl. Put dashi, vinegar, sugar, and sake in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pour the vinegar mixture over carrot and daikon strips and mix well. Leave it overnight.
*Makes 4 servings
Thanks
Thanks to Japanese Food at About.com for their wonderful recipies. Check them out for even more great foods!
