OSECHI RYORI | Traditional Japanese New Year Food (EP254)

black soybeans

🥗Healthier: edamame

💰Cheaper: canned black beans

Edamame offers similar texture and flavor, while canned beans are more accessible.

simmered fish

🥗Healthier: grilled fish

💰Cheaper: canned fish

Grilled fish is lighter and easier to prepare, while canned fish is budget-friendly.

sweetened chestnuts

🥗Healthier: unsweetened chestnuts

💰Cheaper: fresh chestnuts

Using fresh chestnuts reduces sugar content and cost.

sake

🥗Healthier: non-alcoholic sake

💰Cheaper: rice vinegar

Non-alcoholic sake maintains flavor without alcohol, while rice vinegar is economical.

Dissolve kuzu starch in dashi.

Heat a tamagoyaki pan on medium heat and grease it well.

Pour in the egg mixture and cook for a couple of minutes until the outside is just cooked.

Transfer the omelet to a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Remove from the oven when the surface is golden brown and the center bounces back when touched.

Place the omelet onto a sushi mat, score the surface about 5 millimeters, and gently roll it up.

Let it sit for 10 minutes, then unroll and roll it up tightly, securing it with a rubber band and letting it cool to room temperature.

Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water for at least one hour to overnight.

Open the mushrooms, cut them into thin strips, and place them in a pot with sugar, soy sauce, and water to rehydrate.

Cook on medium-low heat until almost all the liquid is gone, covered, for several minutes.

Thinly slice carrot and daikon into strips and place them in separate bowls.

Sprinkle 1/3 teaspoon of salt on the daikon and a pinch of salt on the carrot, then toss to mix and let soften.

Toast white sesame seeds in a pan on low heat until fragrant, about a couple of minutes, then transfer to a mortar and grind until half down.

Add sesame paste, sugar, rice vinegar, and light soy sauce to the ground sesame and mix until well combined.

Add cooked shiitake mushrooms and squeeze out excess water from the carrot and daikon, then mix everything until well combined.

Slice konnyaku into 5 millimeter slices and cut a slit in the center about 2 centimeters deep.

Pre-boil the konnyaku to soften it and help it soak up dashi.

Add dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar to the konnyaku and cook for about 15 minutes until almost all the liquid is gone.

Cut off the tips of the shrimp and remove the veins with a toothpick.

In a pot, combine sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and two slices of ginger, then bring to a boil.

Add the prepared shrimp, cover, and cook for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for 1 minute more.

Turn off the heat and let the shrimp cook in the remaining heat, covered.

Peel and mash the baked sweet potato, shaping it into a small bowl.

Unroll the date maki and cut into 1 centimeter slices for plating.

Cut off the top of the fruit and remove the inside, keeping it for ponzu sauce, and shape the bottom to stabilize.

Start plating with goma namasu, followed by prepared black beans and yellowtail marinated in miso, which was prepared a month in advance and frozen.

Dust konyaku with katsu bushi to prevent the dashi from leaking out.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens