Kagami-mochi ^___~

We have custom to eat special rice-cakes, Kagami-Mochi on Jan 11th to wish for health and happiness.
Usually people eat with traditional and simple soup as Ozoni, but we had with mashrooms soup.
Ingredients:Shitake, Enoki, Nameki, Eringi, chicken breast, dried kelp, leaks, soy sauce and salt.

It is said that cutting Kagami-mochi with nife is unlucky, so break it into small pieces by hand.

Make a cut cross in Elingi so that taste would be mascerated into the cut side well. Soak a dried kelp into the water for more than 20 mins, turn a heat and take it off before boil.

Put chickens first. After remove scum of chicken, add mashrooms and leaks. Adjust taste with seasonings of two tbls of soy sauce and salt.
It can be Udon instead of rice-cakes or just enjoy mashroom-soup .

KURIKINTON (6_6)v

Kurikinton is mashed sweet potato with chestnut. One of Osechi-ryori and good accent as the brilliant color.
Ingredients*** Sweet potato, chestnut, Flower of Kuchinashi(Gardenia), syrup and blown shugar of 2 tbls.

Peel sweet potate, cut into small and put them into a pan with water. In the mean time, put a flower of Kuchinashi in a tea/coffee bag or any small bag and smash a little bit from outside for its color to come out during boiling.

Put the bag into a pan and boil with sweet potate until soften. You will see the potato color is getting changed to brilliant yellow by the Gardenia.

Take the Gardenia bag out and mash potato well. Add 1/3 cup of water, syrup and sugar. Mix well. Turn heat to small and simmer for few min.

Add stewed chestnuts and blend well.

This seemed to become a part of Osechi because it looks like "Gold" by the color so that Kuchinashi is highly needed. Those gorgeous color is believed to be a good omen of having at the beginning of a year!

Happy New Year v(^ ^)v

I love this moment to eat and drink from day to night with celebrating new year beginning..
I made traditional 'Osechi' dish on Jan 1st.
Ingredietns: chicken, carot, dried shiitake mashroom, satoimo potato, konnyaku, renkon(rotus root), pea, sugar, soy sauce, mirin and sake.
Seasoned chicken with a tbls of soy sauce and sake and leave it for 10 min. Soak dried mushrooms in water to be relieved.

Cut all veges...


Slice konnyaku, make a notch in the middle and turn outside in through the notch.

Saute chicken first untill color changed, and then add mashrooms, potatoes, gobou(burdock) and konnyaku well. Mix with brown sugar, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and then drop a lid of kitchen paper which was cut the same size of pan. This is very much important to be flavored well underneath the lid and also to avoide collapse of each stuff during cook.

Add others, renkon(lotus root) and carrot, then add two tbls of soy sauce and mirin again, then cook with mid-heat for another 10 mins.

In the mean time boil water and boil sayaendou(split pea) with salt for 30 sec to seal color in.
Turn off the heat of veges pan and leave it for 10 min and more to cool down, and arrange them in a big plate nicely to be served. Peas play a important role with its brilliant color.

As far as I know, each veges have meaning itself, for instance, rotus loot has many holes to see...which means new year will be foreseeable and positive. Hard burdock express solid and wishing long life as it shapes...etc. Osechi is said that it can be stored for next few days so that wife do not need stand at kitchen during horidays, but just stay and eat with family. Also Osechi is created to wish for your prosperious year with each meaningful stuff.