As the New Year approaches, I like to prepare classic Osechi recipes to mark the transition and bring good luck. The choices of food, colors and even the names of the dishes are all very intentional with Osechi. Plus preparing food ahead of time means a relaxing start to the New Year. It’s honestly my favorite time of year!
My Favorite Osechi Recipes
It’s hard to narrow in on my favorite Osechi recipes, but I’ve decided on four that I just had to share. They’re easy-to-prepare and delicious enough to serve all year long!
Kohaku Namasu: New Year’s salad
This dish is perfect for Osechi and aesthetically has a significant cultural impact in Japan. The red and white together are seen as symbols of happiness and celebration. This salad combines crisp, white daikon radish and crunchy carrot, cut into matchsticks. The vegetables are tossed gently with a dressing of vinegar, sugar, mirin, and soy. It’s refreshing, delicious, and the colors are gorgeous.
Toshikoshi Soba
Soba noodles have a special meaning in Japanese culture, as they’re usually eaten as a “happiness” food. While soba can be eaten at any time, it’s particularly popular on special occasions. Toshikoshi soba is intended to be the last food that touches your lips on New Year’s Eve – you can’t get much more “special occasion” than that!
This soup is made with buckwheat soba noodles, thin-sliced chicken, earthy shiitakes, and vibrant Japanese leeks. It’s a healthy, hearty way to send off the old year and ring in the new one.
Matsumae Zoni Soup
Traditionally all the dishes that make up Osechi are precooked and put into special boxes called jubako ahead of time. Instead of rice, mochi, or pounded rice cakes, are eaten. I love mochi, and it takes center stage in this delicious Osechi soup. Zoni is one of the only dishes served hot at an Osechi meal, which helps it stand out, as does the color of the fresh salmon and roe. Pops of color please the eye and the umami from the dashi and shitake mushroom are utterly satisfying. Zoni is one of my favorite Osechi dishes, and this Matsumae variety is probably my favorite overall.
Kyoto-Style Zoni
A lot of Osechi foods center around mochi, including this one. I love the taste and texture, and they’re delightful in this dish as well.
Zoni is worth mentioning twice, as it’s filled with comforting flavors and bright colors. This Kyoto-style zoni uses white miso paste to add some sweetness. You can customize garnishes endlessly with bonito flakes, fresh greens, and so on at serving.
Kuri Kinton
One of the most popular dishes in the New Year period is a sweet potato puree with sweetened chestnuts called Kuri Kinton. Chestnuts are a celebrated product of many regions of Japan, but perhaps the most delicious ones come from Tamba in Hyogo Prefecture. There is also a magnificent sweet, made of slightly sweetened mashed chestnut formed into chestnut shapes, that is a specialty of Nakatsugawa in Gifu Prefecture.
Kuri Kinton
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Japanese sweet potatoes (satsumaimo), peeled and sliced into ½-inch rounds
- 3/4 cup white sugar, or to taste
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
- 1 jar/can sweetened chestnuts in heavy syrup (use at least 6, cut in half or left whole if small)
- 2 tbsp heavy syrup from the chestnuts, or replace with 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon water
Garnish: optional
- Whole sweetened chestnuts, drained of heavy syrup
Instructions
- Soak the sliced sweet potatoes in water for at least 30 minutes, changing the water once or twice. Drain. This will release excess starch.
- Boil the sweet potatoes in a medium-sized saucepan, uncovered, for approximately 15 minutes or until tender. Check for doneness. Can you easily pierce it with a bamboo skewer? Drain. Mash the sweet potato, using either a pestle and mortar or a potato masher. For a very smooth texture, you can also use a food processor or a wooden spatula and fine meshed strainer to mash the sweet potatoes.
- Return the mashed sweet potato to a clean saucepan, and add in the sugar, salt, mirin, and syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring and mashing and stirring continually with a wide wooden spoon or long-handled paddle – be careful, as the mixture gets very hot. When it starts to thicken, add in the drained chestnuts. Cook on medium-high heat for approximately 5 minutes, stirring, to combine the mixture thoroughly; it should be thick enough to adhere to the wooden spoon and not fall off, so cook longer if necessary.
- Serve at room temperature, either in a large bowl or in small individual servings during your Osechi feast. If you have any left-over chestnuts, place a few whole on top as garnish.
Notes
Nishime for Osechi
Nishime is a must when it comes to welcoming the new year! In fact, when it comes to tradition-bound festive holidays in Japan, nothing beats New Year’s, also known as Osechi – a time of family gatherings, gossip, and lots of good food and sake. As such, making nishime is always a part of my Osechi tradition.
Nishime
Ingredients
- 3-1/4 cups water, plus a little more if needed
- 3 by 3 inch (8-cm by 8-cm) piece of konbu kelp, wiped with a damp cloth and lightly slashed to replace the flavor
- 1-1 ½ oz. (30-45g) katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
- 2-1/2 tbsp regular-strength soy sauce, or to taste
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tbsp sake
- 2 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 7 oz (200g) lotus root (renkon), peeled and cut into thick half-moon slices*
- 3-1/2 oz (100g) gobo (burdock root), peeled and cut diagonally into thin slices*
- 3 oz (85g) carrots, peeled and cut into thick half-moon slices
- 4 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed (reconstitute dried ones by soaking in warm water with a dash of sugar for 30 minutes)
- 1 block (about 7 oz. or 200g) konnyaku (devil’s-tongue jelly), parboiled, cut in half lengthwise, and sliced thickly
- 1-3/4 oz (50g) snow peas, trimmed and sliced in half diagonally
- 5-1/4 oz (150g) sato-imo (taro), peeled, halved, rubbed with salt to get rid of sliminess, and washed
Instructions
- Heat the 3 ¼ cups water with the kelp in a deep saucepan. Just before it boils, remove the kelp and pour in the dried bonito flakes. Boil, stirring, for about three minutes, then strain into a clean deep saucepan. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sake, mirin, and salt.
- Bring this sauce to a low boil and add the drained lotus root and gobo, and the carrots. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 12 minutes or until the vegetables can be easily pierced with a toothpick. Take out and set aside to cool. Add the shiitake mushrooms to the sauce, cook for 12 minutes, then remove. Next cook the konnyaku for 10 minutes; take out. If the sauce has reduced too much, add a little more water. Simmer the snow peas for just 2 minutes, and remove. Finally, cook the drained sato-imo for about 12 minutes (or to your preference), turning once; test softness with a toothpick.
- To serve, place the vegetables in separate decorative mounds on a serving plate or bowl. Garnish with snow peas and serve at room temperature as a side dish.
Notes
I hope you’ll try these traditional Osechi recipes this year. They’re a beautiful way to recognize how far you’ve come in the old year and focus on health, growth, and prosperity in the coming days. Plus, they’re all healthy and delicious, though you might get tired of mochi by the end of it!
Let me know how you like them, and if you have your own Osechi traditions! Happy New Year!
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