my first bowl of ozoni in the new year (Oshogatsu foods - ozoni)

This is a photo of my first bowl of ozoni for the year. This was followed by two more bowls.

I really like my mother's ozoni because she puts a lot of vegetables in it. I love the nappa and mizuna in the soup. It flavors it so nicely.

My mom has a shape cutter that cuts things into the shape of sakura. She uses them each year to cut the carrots and daikon into the flower shapes.

For me, I put one komochi (little mochi) into the bowl with a lot of vegetables and broth, then top it with pieces of nori (seaweed) that she cuts into strips.

Her ozoni is one of the reasons I really look forward to Oshogatsu.

=)
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I begin each New Year's Day morning watching the Rose Parade on TV and eating my mother's ozoni.

toasting the new year (Oshogatsu sake set)

For lunch, we went to the house of one of my father's sisters. All of my father's remaining siblings except my aunt in Washington were there along with many cousins and their families. It's a LOT of people.

After going through the house with greetings of "Happy New Year" and hugs (actually, said boisterously with a Japanese accent, it sounds more like "Hoppy New Year"), we had to take our turn with the sake.

This sake set has been in our family for a long time. I don't actually know the origins and how long, but I recognize it from many Oshogatsu parties past.

There's actually a red laquer platform or tray that's not pictured here. You have a choice of drinking from one of three size cups. I always choose the smallest one.
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Every year, my father's very large family gathers on New Year's Day. It's the day each year that we see the most relatives (other than at weddings and funerals).

After we get through our New Year's greetings, all adults must drink sake for luck. You get to choose which cup you drink from.

ozoni in nabe (Oshogatsu foods - ozoni in nabe)

Every New Year's Day morning, my mother makes ozoni for our family. Her's is a shoyu-based soup with mirin in which she puts tofu, nappa, mizuna, carrots, and daikon...and, of course, mochi!

This year, she prepared everything, then brought it over to my new home to finish cooking. We enjoyed ozoni in my new dining room. It made it even more special.
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My mother makes her ozoni as a shoyu-based (not miso) soup with nappa, tofu, mizuna, carrots, and daikon (she has "cookie" shape cutters she uses to cut the carrots and daikon into sakura flower shapes). Then, we add in mochi at the end to soften before serving.

tatsukuri (tiny fishies) (Oshogatsu foods - tatsukuri)

I never used to want to eat these when I was younger. They're not my favorite now, but I've grown to like to eat them occasionally (that happened with natto too, although I like natto better than tatsukuri).
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Little fish. Actually, I think they're sardines. A good luck Oshogatsu food.

namasu (Oshogatsu foods - namasu)

Very vinegary, but it goes well when paired with other foods like sushi.
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The Oshogatsu namasu is mostly daikon with rice vinegar. There's also carrots and seaweed in there. There's not usually cucumbers for New Year's because it's not in season.

my cup of sake (Oshogatsu - sake)

I don't actually drink any alcohol normally...except once a year. I drink one little cup (it's actually more like a few sips worth) of sake.

I was very thankful this year that the uncle who normally serves it came later. I was able to just drink a little bit, instead of the normal amount which is probably 2-3 times this amount.
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My New Year's Day sake...

I don't drink alcohol, except once a year on New Year's Day, I drink a little bit of sake for good luck (or is it good health?) for the year.

manju (Assorted manju)

My mom also brought over a box of Mikawaya manju. She didn't buy yokan this year, but that's fine with me, because unlike my sister (who's a major fanatic!), I'm not a fan of yokan...it's too sweet for me.
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My mother brought these over for our New Year's Day morning ozoni meal. They're from Mikawaya in Little Tokyo.

mmmmm...tsukemono! (Oshogatsu foods - assorted tsukemono)

I LOVE good tsukemono. I grew up eating ochazuke at the end of pretty much every dinner growing up (we always had rice with dinner, regardless of what was served...spaghetti and rice).

To clean up our bowl, we would pour our ocha (tea) over what was left in our chawan (rice bowl) and wolf it down with whatever tsukemono was on the table.

I loved summertime because my dad used to grow a lot of kyuri (cucumbers) & nasubi (Japanese eggplant) which my mom would make into tsukemono along with nappa and sometimes cabbage.

Most of my second and third helpings on New Year's Day was for more of the nappa, kyuri, and takuan tsukemono pictured here. It was goooooood!!

=)
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There were nappa, rakkyo, kyuri (cucumber), two kinds of takuan, and the pink one (I forget what it's made of).

kamaboko (Oshogatsu foods - kamaboko)

As mentioned in the first photo in the collection, I don't really like kamaboko. So, as you can probably guess, I passed this dish by, but I thought it made for a pretty picture, so I photographed it anyway.

This is the end of my 2007 Oshogatsu foods collection. Hope you enjoyed it!

I refer to some of these foods in the first installment of my new column series: A Yonsei’s Reflections…on a New Year and New Beginnings
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Fish cakes.

tekka, kappa, & california rolls (Oshogatsu foods - assorted sushi)

I didn't try the tekka maki because I don't like wasabi, and most places automatically put some into the sushi. I usually only eat it if I can order it without or after someone else can confirm there isn't any (because it would be rude to poke at it to check!).

This was a more contemporary or JA sushi platter, because somehow I don't think California rolls are a traditional New Year's dish!
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Tekka maki (maguro/tuna), kappa maki (cucumber), and California roll with ginger and plastic decorative leaves (or is it supposed to be grass?).

chicken teriyaki (Oshogatsu foods - teriyaki chicken)

I'm not sure whether this one was home-made or store-bought. It was good though.
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I don't think this is necessarily a lucky Oshogatsu food, but it was part of our New Year's Day feast.

kinpira (Oshogatsu foods - kinpira)

Gobo sliced thin and fried in a pan (at least, that's how my mom makes it). Another dish that's grown on me.

They actually sell pre-cut and washed gobo slices in a bag. You can keep it in the freezer and just cook with some spices. It's pretty convenient. Not like having to do it all by hand. I remember my mom having to peel the skin of those long skinny sticks of gobo. Not fun!!
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This kinpira was made with gobo amd sesame seeds. Sometimes other things like carrots are added.

makizushi & inari (makizushi and inari)

By the time I went around the table to get my food, these were pretty much gone. I don't think I even got to eat one. Apparently, there was some miscommunication on the number of sushi trays that were supposed to have been ordered. Oh well...
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Makizushi is prepared by rolling assorted things like egg (the yellow part in the photo), spinach, and carrot within white sushi rice and dried seaweed (nori). It looks like a tube which you then slice into pieces so that they look like the ones in the photo.

Inari are sushi rice gently put into flavored fried age skin pouches. Sometimes jokingly referred to as 'footballs'.

kuromame (Oshogatsu foods - kuromame)

I eat a little bit. It's too sweet for me, but it's supposed to be good luck.

When I was younger, I was told we were supposed to eat one for each year of our life. I don't know if that's true, or just something my family said to make me eat them. I don't see them eating their age!
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This is a good luck Oshogatsu dish. It's black beans that are kind of sweet.

I was told when I was younger that you're supposed to eat one for every year of your life. So, if you're ten years old, you need to eat ten beans. I'm not sure how true that is, or if it was just a ploy to get us kids to eat them. I don't see my aunts and uncles eating that many beans...

nishime vegetables ( (Oshogatsu foods - assorted vegetables))

These also came prepared in a tray. I'm not actually a fan of these particular of vegetables.
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This New Year's platter contained assorted cooked vegetables including carrots, renkon (lotus root), sato imo, shiitake, konbu, gobo, and takenoko (bamboo shoots).

tempura & other fried foods (Oshogatsu foods - tempura, korokke, renkon, and gyoza)

My family no longer makes everything from scratch for the New Year's meals. These were ordered from a local Japanese market.

To make it easier and fair, every family is assigned a particular traditional New Years dish. The dish selections rotate every year. There's even a printed schedule so they can keep track. They're very organized that way. I guess you have to be with such a large family.
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Tempura, korokke, fried renkon (lotus root), and gyoza made up this New Year's platter.