eG Foodblog: Torakris - New Year's Festivities in Japan

[Jake]

Cable and a large screen TV with those prices!! Sitting in the isles can't be comfortable for a short movie, let alone a longer one.

[torakris]

I feel like I am getting two blogs for the price of one!

Could either one of you talk a little about mochi?

what would you like to know?

Last year the Washington Post had an article about them. For the most part they were described as New Years desert cakes. Yet, earlier in this thread they were used in what sounded like a savory dish. Now I am totally confused. What are they made of and how are they used?

MOCHI

I am going to break the mochi discussion into 3 types of mochi

"dried" mochi

"fresh" mochi

mochi like things made from mochi flours

Both the "dried" and "fresh" mochi are made from the mochi rice (glutinous rice called mochi-gome), this rice is steamed and then pounded until it is smooth. A long time ago most households pounded their mochi, nowadays it is more common to buy it in a store. These "dried " mochi are hard and mostly commonly seen as rectangles or circles. They can be used either in savory or sweet applications, because they are hard they need to be softened and the best way to do this is to grill them. This can be done on a special grill over a gas flame, in a toaster oven, or even is a fry pan. When grilled they puff up to close to twice their size, you want it nicely browned (not blackened like my MIL always does!). The grilled mochi can then be dipped in soy sauce, wrapped in noria dn eaten as a snack, it is also common to sprinkle it with kinako (sugar sweetened toasted soy flour) for a sweeter snack or it can be added to a sweet soup like dish or adzuki beans called zenzai.

Some people prefer it softer and boil it or microwave it.

Very hard mochi that has cracked is often deep fried and eaten as a snack.

The "fresh" mochi is that, that is freshly pounded and basically eaten soon after being made. This is very soft and is often formed into rounds and eaten topped with an adzuki bean puree, kinako, grated daikon and soy sauce.

Mochi hardenes quite quickly and in the olden days this handmade mochi that hardened was used in the applications above for "dried" mochi.

Then there are the mochi flours that are made from ground mochi rice, these called joshinko, shiratamako and mochiko are mixed with water to form a paste. They are then boiled and used mostly in Japanese sweet style dishes.

[helenjp]

Please feel free to refer to me as Princess Kristin.......

Well, that may be a better option than "Dessert", which I thought for a moment referred to the picture of you, and not the picture below!

You look like you are surviving the partying veeery well!

We had that buri-daikon (shhhh!) for breakfast along with a congee. Same again for lunch...in the afternoon the boys are going to help me make the namasu salad and the simmered vegetables for the New Year box.

[helenjp]

"Pacific oyster from New Zealand"???? Kris, you've been had! Those darn things are invaders off boats from Japan -- big, flabby, and tasteless. The NZ oyster to go for is the smaller, darker Bluff oyster...not now in season, because it's summer there.

[torakris]

Here are some pictures of the mochi pounding process (with some English to help!), the bottom shows the kagami mochi ("mirror" mochi because of its shape) that is a common decoration in homes during the New Year's holidays.

The kagami mochi consists of a small circle of mochi on top of a larger circle of mochi topped with a mikan (mandarin orange) or daidai (another type of citrus).

http://www.powerlabo.com/oe/contents/mochi.html

[torakris]

"Pacific oyster from New Zealand"???? Kris, you've been had! Those darn things are invaders off boats from Japan -- big, flabby, and tasteless. The NZ oyster to go for is the smaller, darker Bluff oyster...not now in season, because it's summer there.

I know now!

By the way they were the cheapest ones on the menu, half the price of the Kumamotos and at least 100yen ($1) cheaper then the next cheap one.

YOU DID NOT make buri daikon ....???!!

[SobaAddict70]

ok, help me out here.

What IS buri-daikon, anyway?

S.

[torakris]

buri daikonis a dish of simmered buri (yellowtail) and daikon, read this thread to find out what we are talking about:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33811

[torakris]

forgot to post my breakfast!

I jus quickly made some scones with cranberries (fresh) and orange zest, we also ate some ponkan, a type of citrus fruit.

and in between then and now I had a handful of cheetos, my son has discovered my hiding place for them......

[torakris]

I am planning on an early dinner, so we are just sort of snacking our way until then.

first off, some grilled mochi with soy sauce and nori

the kids are also having some Campbells vegetable alphabet soup.

This is one of the dishes I have just finished preparing for the osechi tomorrow, a kinton made with dried apricots. kinton is a sweetened puree of satsumaimo, the Japanese sweet potato, it is normally served alone or with some chestnuts added.

[herbacidal]

Good luck tonight with the children. I may not know a bunch about Japanese living but I know about life with children attached at the hip  . I hope it works out.

This thing has been fascinating so far. Whoever comes after you and Jackal has got some work cut out.

hmm. we haven't had anybody do one from southern US yet, have we?

I was thinking the the same thing.....

goody. these blogs are just as they should be:

educational info on how people in different areas of the world eat.

really cool pictures, Kristin.

gotta add, i didn't know movie prices were that high in japan.

in hong kong, i remember movie prices were like $90HK, roughly $12 US.

$18 US just seems waay out of whack. much like nonnie's southern.

[torakris]

Today the 31st of December is called omisoka in Japanese. Rather than going off to parties, this is a time to be with family. The last of house cleaning and osechi preparation should be done and the evening will probably be spent in front of the tv watching the red and white singing battle on NHK. Close to midnight most families dine on toshikoshi soba, the name given to soba that is eaten on the last day of the year. The long strands of soba show hope for a long life. At midnight many people head off to the local temple to hear the ringing of the bells. Called joya no kane, the bells are rung 108 times. Temples sometimes pass out a drink called amazake, a sweetened fermented rice wine, that is one of the most disgusting things on earth (in my opinion! ).

We never make it to the temple because the kids can't stay awake that long, but we did enjoy our toshikoshi soba for dinner. The most popular way of preparing it is with shrimp tempura or kaki-age (sort of a tempura of mixed vegetables and seafoods). Like everyone else at my neighborhood, I purchased these two product at the supermarket where they had a special stand set up.

This one of my favorite days of the year to shop because many supermarkets will be closed the first 2 to 3 days of the new year and need to get rid of the perishable foods, so I can get most meats, fish and vegetables fro 1/2 off. When iw as at the store this evening, I smashed my head on the corner of a shelf as I was reaching for some bread and now have a huge lump on my forehead.

dinner

the tempura, kaki-age, scallions, and some purchased pickles

the completed product, with ashitaba soba (ashitaba is a type of green), the soup is homemade

You may have noticed I often serve things on my cutting board......

This is because I am lazy

I also have a tiny kitchen with no dishwasher so I try to use as few dishes as possible.

[torakris]

well I am off to join my husband in front of the tv, no we are not watching the ever popular NHK battle of the singers, he is watching the K-1 battle between Bob Sapp (one of the biggest sports names in Japan) and Akebono the former sumo champ. This should be an interesting fight.....

for more info look here

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/sports/o...JAPA.html?fta=y

Edited December 31, 2003 by torakris (log)

[jackal10]

This is so good! Happy New Year!!

[helenjp]

we are not watching the ever popular NHK battle of the singers, he is watching the K-1 battle between Bob Sapp (one of the biggest sports names in Japan) and Akebono the former sumo champ

We tried that, but our cable connection is so bad it's like watching the fight in triplicate! We've gone back to the battle of the singers, and our younger son is at this very moment (11:36pm) yelling at the singers for missing notes in one of his favorite songs.

We had our toshikoshi soba too...we passed on the tempura at the supermarket, and made an "oyako tsukimi" soba -- chicken and a poached egg, with nori and chopped green onion.

I still haven't finished the New Year simmered vegetables, owing to a last minute trip to the bookshop with husband, who felt he didn't have enough books to last an entire day, and also somewhat under the influence of a NZ Cloudy Bay Riesling my husband bought me for Christmas, not to mention an hour or two lolling in the kotatsu reading Martin Cruz Smith's "Tokyo Station", just too depressing, but don't forget to read it all the same!

[Rhea_S]

Excellent blog. Thank you Kristin and Helen. I've learned lots from this blog and jackal's. The next blogger is going to have an awful tough time; the last three (beginning with Ronnie) have been truly memorable.

[Pan]

Thanks again for the great pictures, Kris. I wish a fast recovery to your head and a happy, successful, and above all healthy new year to you, Helen, and all other eGulleteers. And may this year bring us peace.

[hillvalley]

Princesses Kristin and Helen, thank you for a fabulous blog and answering all of my questions. I have learned so much. We certainly ended our blogging of '03 on a great note, from ronnie through now!

I hope everyone has a happy, safe and delicious New Year!

[Jake]

Add my thanks to both Kristin and Helen. This has been really, really interesting. It certainly makes me want to visit Japan at my first opportunity, and to follow any of your future threads.

Happy New Year everyone, and all the best in 2004.

[torakris]

AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU

HAppy New Year to everyone, it has been 2004 here for over 8 hours!

I am drinking my morning tumbler of iced coffee and in just a bit we will be heading over to the in-laws (around the corner) for our traditional new year's breakfast of osechi treats, ozouni, and wine

The fight last night was just as I expected, Akebono went down just halfway into the first round. I felt sorry for his wife, they kept flashing to her in the audience with their two kids and she looked absolutely terrified.

[torakris]

Well the osechi feast is over!

Here is what we ate at my in laws house, all of the following products were purchased except for what I made.

The ozouni or New Years Day soup, my MIL makes this typical Kanto style (Kanto being the name for the Tokyo and surrounding areas, in comparison to Kansai the Osaka area) with a clear, soy based broth (Kansai ozouni usually adds miso) and beef, carrots, daikon, gobo (burdock root) and garnished with mitsuba (trefoil) and naruto (the white and pink swirl that is made from fish paste), a piece of grilled mochi (rice cake) burned as usual is placed inside.

Next come the typical osechi products various simmered vegetables (shiitake, carrots, gobo, bamboo shoot, butterbur--fuki in Japanese, and taro), two kinds of sweet beans--black and green, two kinds of "candied" fish--cooked with soy and sugar these are sort of a sticky sweet, herring rolled konbu (kelp), and in the middle is kurikinton the Japanese sweet potato pureed and heavily sweetened and mixed with chestnuts.

then there is the kazunoko (herring roe) the long brown pieces, these ones are soy flavored and the sweetened egg omelette formed into a roll, the yellow stuff is the kinton that I made with sweet potatoes and dried apricots, in front of it is matsumaezuke a popular dish of dried shredded konbu (kelp), dried squid, carrots and sometimes kazunoko (herring roe), next to those are the grilled shrimp.

the sashimi platter, my FIL cuts all of this himself, he refilled the platter 3 times!

All of the fish was bought at Costco

not pictured are my other two dishes, oops!

I made a platter of nagaimo (the slimy mountain potato) wrapped in smoked salmon and sprinkled with lemon zest, lemon juice and EVOO, I also made a snack of toasted almonds and baby sardines that had been sauteed in EVOO and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt.

We also ate ice cream and strawberries and hot sake was drunk thoughout the meal, had some and then switched to oolong tea with my MIL, the kids had pink grapefruit juice.

Speaking of the kids

Mia holding sumooru (Japanese pronunciation of the English word small), Hide and Julia holding Jackie (named after Jackie Chan)

these are my MIL's dogs

[torakris]

After we had our fill, we took the kids to Toys R Us so they could buy something with their otoshidama. Otoshidama is a gift of cash that children recieve on New Years Day, from parents/relatives/close friends of the family. The amount depends on the family and the kids age. Since my kids recieve it from their grandparents my husband and I don't give it to them.

The girls picked out barbie dolls and Hide bought 2 bey (bay?) blades, not even sure if these are popular outside of Japan.

This where we went

yup, Toys R Us, Sports Authority and Starbucks! and if you just turn to the left....

Baskin Robbins!, Sometimes I don't even feel like I have left the US!

[ronnie_suburban]

My son, who is nearly 7, loves Beyblades

=R=

[helenjp]

Wow Kristin, that was quite a spread, and great photos! Your ozouni is the way we normally make it, but this time I used fewer ingredients (the better to fit it in the bowls!) -- just chicken, komatsu-na greens, trefoil, and...shimeji, because I absent-mindedly used up all the shiitake in the teppanyaki the other day.

The boys sat in the comfort of the kotatsu (low table with a heating unit under it and a quilt or blanket to spread over your legs) and prepared all the veges for the nishime simmered veges. One is holding a burdock root, and the other a large type of taro --yatsugashira -- seen only at New Year.

Our finished osechi...bowl of red rice (should be a small plate, but husband complains that's not enough...) side dishes of tazukuri (tiny dried fish candied in sweet sake and soy sauce with almonds and sesame seeds) and namasu (shredded daikon and carrot salad, topped with ikura)...and served with a glass of sparkling apple juice, a treat for the boys. We don't serve the traditional spiced sake.

In the photo, the nishime is on the left (simmered root veges), then kinton (sweet potato puree with lightly toasted chestnuts). The middle box had buri pickled in sweetened miso then grilled, raw salmon pickled in salt and honey, broccoli in a ginger/onion/soy/vinegar dressing, chicken meatballs in ginger glaze. The top box, which is supposed to contain the "lucky" or really traditional New Year foods, had much the same as Kristin's photos show, plus some kohada fish pickled in vinegar and millet. Other items - black beans, egg and fish puree roll, kelp rolls...and 5 prawns PLUS ONE SAUSAGE, for the son who hates prawns!!!

Happy New Year to you all! And Kristin, congratulations on the wonderful food, wonderful photos, and wonderful family -- you and your kids look like a walking motto "You Are What You Eat"!

[helenjp]

Forgot to say...if Kristin does all her serving on her chopping board, mine is all done on the open door of the microwave!

As for otoshidama...we hand out pocket money to our kids and Keiji's nephew, and also to his father and wife.

There are plenty of "six-pocket kids" around here -- single offspring of only-child parents, meaning that one child has access to the purses of two parents and 4 grandparents with no other kids to spend their money on!

Our kids get a much smaller haul, and complain that Dad is pretty stingy -- but they have Christmas as well!