My Ozoni Recipe

As I get older, one of the things that I realize now that can never be changed is my taste buds. You can take a boy out of Japan but you can’t take Japanese food out of Japanese boy? The Japanese food is very important in my life. Seriously. (Evidence 1, 2, and 3.) Every New Year, Japanese people eat mochi — which also causes fatal choking among elderly every year — and I made an ozoni today and came out better than expected, so I am going to write myself a reminder here… Ozoni is one of those dish that is very wide ranging in what goes in it. It depends where you are, or where you are from in Japan, and quick web search brings up all sorts of different recipes. It is basically a soy-sauce based soup with mochi in it and only constant that I can find besides mochi is dashi. Looking at some of the recipe, it is surprising to me that people put carrots and potatoes and stuff (I am sure some people will look at my recipe and say the same thing…), but here is what I made based on what I ate while growing up in central part of Japan. Okazaki, Aichi to be specific.

Ozoni

1. Mochi – as much as you want to eat. I get packed “kiri-mochi.” Usually three mochi per person is enough…
2. 1/2 lbs or so Sliced Pork. – I used one from Super 88 super market, sliced and frozen one. I keep it stocked in the freezer as this is handy for Yasai Itame and Yakisoba etc…
3. 1/4 or 1/3 bag of spinach
4. 4-5 leaves of Hakusai (or Napa cabbage)
5. SOUP:
   • Dashi, powder and/or liquid. I used combination of non-MSG powder dashi and liquid dashi that I use for Udon/Miso soup.
   • Soy sauce – to taste (3-4 table spoon or more? I like mine dark)
   • Sugar and Sake – a little (like 1 or 2 TS)
6. Katsuobushi (Bonito flake)

Cut all non-mochi ingredients in to 1/4 to 1/3 inches wide slices. in a pot, cook pork just to make it not so red (will be cooked in boiling water so don’t have to do it too long). Add three cups of water with dashi mixed (I used about half small package of powder and about three or four TS of liquid, but I tend to make them dark with lots of dashi/soy). Put Soy, Sugar, Sake. (NOTE: reason I am vague about the amount of the condiments is because I don’t really measure them. I just go by color and taste. So this is not very good reference). Bring the soup to boil, add veggies, turn the heat down and let it shimmer (do not continue boiling). I then cut the mochi in half, and microwave them 15-30 sec just to soften a bit. If mochi is fresh this step is not necessary (and fresh mochi is soooo yummy). Place the mochi in the pot briefly, and make it soft, then serve with Katsuobushi (bonito flake) on top. Takes only about 30 min.

Akemashite Omededou Gozaimasu. (A hapy new year!)