Tokyo Style Zoni (Mochi Soup)

Zoni is mochi (rice cake) soup commonly eaten on New Year holidays.
Ingredients and cooking method of zoni differ from region to region.
This time, I show you Tokyo style zoni.
We place toasted mochi in small bowls and pour soy sauce tasted clear hot soup.

Ingredients ( for 4 )
-----for making dashi (soup stock)-----
5 cups ( 1 liter) water
10 g kombu (kelp) , wiped with damped kitchen towel
20 g katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
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4 blocks mochi
150 g boneless chicken thighs , cut into bite size and blanched in boiling water
150 g komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) , washed
(you can cook spinach instead)
8 slices kamaboko (steamed fish paste)
a tablespoon soy sauce
a tablespoon sake

Direction
-----(making dashi soup stock)-----
Bring the kombu and water to a saucepan.
Heat them at medium heat.
Remove kombu just before the water comes to a boil.
When the water comes to a boil , stop heating.
Add the katsuobushi to the water and restart heating.
When the water returns to a boil, stop heating.
Wait until katsuobushi start to sink.
Strain contents of the pan with kitchen paper , and reserve the liquid.
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Boil the komatsuna in boiling water with a pinch of salt.
Put the komatsuna in cold water too cool.
Squeeze out excess water from the komatsuna and cut into 4 cm length.
Heat the dashi at medium heat in a saucepan.
Add the chicken thighs to the dashi.
When the dashi comes to a boil, turn the heat to low.
Add the soy sauce and sake to the dashi.
Simmer them until the chicken thighs are cooked.
Toast the mochi with a oven toaster(or pan-fry with a non-stick pan without cooking oil) until the mochi puff up.
Place the mochi,chicken,komatsuna,kamaboko on each small bowls, and pour the soup on them.

Oyakodon

Oyakodon is a bowl of rice topped with simmered chicken and egg.
Japanese word, "Oyako,親子" means parents and child.
In the name of the dish, chicken is compared to parents, and egg is compared to child.

We usually simmer bite-size cut chicken and sliced onion in mildly sweet soy sauce based broth.
Add beaten egg to them, and simmer until egg start to harden.
Put them on hot rice in a bowl.
Finally, put nori or mitsuba-leaf on it.

Hina arare

Hina arare is a traditional sweet for Japanese Girl's day (March 3rd).
On that day, families who have girl set dolls in their house and prepare special food to celebrate in hope of growth of girl in healthy.

Hina arare is popped rice coated with sugar.
Those colours, pink, white, and green are compared to peach blossom, remaining snow, and young grass ( fresh leaf) each.

Nabeyaki Udon

Udon is a Japanese noodle made from wheat flour.
Nabeyaki udon is a hot type udon dish made by simmering udon noodles with other ingredients in soy sauce taste broth.
Usually those are simmered in an earthen pot, and served.
Popular ingredients are shrimp tempura, kamaboko, egg, spinach, shiitake-mushroom, carrot, green onion(Japanese leek), etc.
Nabeyaki udon is popular in cold winter.

Horenso no Gomaae

Horenso means spinach.
I have already introduced you "Horenso no shiraae" as a dressed food.

In this time, I introduce you other dressed dish of spinach.
This is boiled spinach dressed with sesame sauce.

We usually boil spinach in hot water.
Put it cold water.
Squeeze it, and mix it with sesame sauce which is made by mixing grounded sesame seeds, soy sauce, and sugar.

Hiyamugi

Hiyamugi is a Japanese thin noodle made of wheat flour.
Hiyamugi noodle is similar to "Somen noodle".
But hiyamugi noodle is slightly thicker than somen noodle in size.

HIyamugi is usually served in cold water with ice and some vegetables.
We take a bite full of noodles and dip in the dipping sauce, and eat.
Hiyamugi is nice in summer.

Yomogi Mochi

Yomogi mochi is a traditional Japanese sweet which is also called "Kusa Mochi".

It is a mochi (glutinous rice cake) flavored with Japanese mugwort.

Usually it is stuffed with sweet red bean paste.

Yomogi is a Japanese herb.

It has a nice fresh fragrance.

Sekihan

Sekihan (赤飯) literally means red rice.
Sekihan is steamed mochi rice (glutinous rice) mixed with red beans.
Usually it is sprinkled with sesame seeds and salt after it is steamed.

Originally it is made by steaming with bamboo basket.
But, if we cook it at home, we usually cook it with rice cooker.

Sekihan is usually served on celebratory and congratulatory occasions.

Takenoko no tosa-ni

This is a simmered bamboo shoot with dried shaved bonito.
Takenoko means bamboo shoot.
Spring is nice season to have takenoko in Japan.
Tosa-ni is a type of simmered dish which has rich flavor of dried bonito.
Takenoko has nice texture and plain taste.
Dried bonito has rich taste.
This combination makes wonderful taste.

Sakura mochi (Domyoji mochi)

I have already introduced you Tokyo style sakura mochi.
In this time, I introduce you kansai-area style sakura mochi.
It is called "Domyoji mochi.

Sweet red bean paste is covered with dough which is made from domyoji flour, sugar, food red and water, and wrapped with sakura (cherry blossom) leaf which is pickled in salt.
Domyoji flour is made by steaming mochi rice, later dried, and ground coarsely.

Sakura mochi (Chomeiji mochi)

This is a Tokyo style sakura mochi.
Sakura means cherry blossom.
Sakura mochi is a Japanese traditional sweet.
It is pink dough and sweet red bean paste wrapped with sakura leaf.
We have two style of sakura mochi.
One is Tokyo style, and another is kansai area style.

In this time, I introduce you Tokyo style sakuramochi.
It is also called chomeiji mochi.
Sweet red bean paste is wrapped with fried dough and wrapped again with sakura leaf.
The dough is made from mochi rice flour, wheat flour, sugar, food red, and water.
The sakura leaf is pickled in salt, it has nice fragrance.

Rakkyo

Rakkyo (rakkyo-zuke) is pickled Japanese shallots.
(We also call Japanese shallot "Rakkyo" )
Cleaned rakkyo(shallots) are pickled in the sauce which is made from water ,vinegar, sugar, salt, and red pepper.
usually, those are pickled around three weeks.
Rakkyo is well known healthy food.
Personally, I eat a few piece of rakkyo every day.
It is rich in mineral.
And, allyl sulfides which is included in rakkyo aid the absorption of vitamin B1.

Goma Dofu (Sesame Tofu)

This is a traditional vegetarian dish (shojin-ryori).
Goma dofu looks like tofu.
"goma dofu" literally means sesame tofu.
( "goma" means sesame )
It is not made from soy bean.
Goma dofu is made from sesame seed , arrowroot flour, dashi-soup.

It has a rich taste and smooth texture.
We usually dip it with wasabi-jyou ( soy sauce mixed with wasabi ) and eat.

Aji no Nanban-zuke

"Nanban-zuke"(nanbanzuke) is a type of marinated dish.
It is made by marinating deep-fried fish ( or meat ) into vinegared sauce.

"Aji" means Japanese horse mackerel.
It is rich in DHA and EPA, it is a healthy food.

Cut filleted aji into around two bite size.
Coat them with wheat flour slightly, and deep-fry them.
marinate deep-fried aji into sauce which is made by mixing vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, dashi-soup, and red pepper.

Ikura no Gunkan-maki

This is a salmon roe sushi.
Ikura means salmon roe.
It has a rich taste.

Gunkan-maki(gunkanmaki) is a style of nigiri-zushi.
Hand formed sushi rice is surrounded with nori.
And Ikura is toped on the rice.
Nori works just like a wall, so ikura is set on the rice.

Vegetables for Osechi おせちの野菜

Carrots and renkon (lotus root) cut for osechi ryori. The trimming don't go to waste but find their way into soup.

Kazunoko no Nigiri-zushi

Kazunoko means herring roe.
It is dried under the sun, or pickled in salt.
Those roes are very small, but adheres and became lump.
It has a pleasant unique texture.

This photo is herring roe sushi.
Herring roe is put on oblong shaped sushi rice which is formed by hand.
And those are bound with nori.

Osechi Tataki Gobo おせちのたたきごぼう

The earthy flavor of gobo (burdock root) rounds out the osechi ryori which is filled with many sweets. The gobo is whacked (tataku or tataki) and cooked until tender and then dressed with a sesame dressing. Here you see my mortar and pestle for grinding the sesame seeds.

Daikon and Carrot Pickles おせちの紅白なます

The colors of red and white are fortuitous and the colors are represented here in the julienned daikon and carrot pickled in a sweet vinegar, kohaku namasu. This is for the New Year's osechi ryori. 

Gomame - Sweet Soy Simmered Dried Sardines

For New Year's Day I worked on making "osechi ryori" for my husband's family. This dish, gomame, are dried sardines that are cooked in a sweet soy sauce. The sardines are dry roasted in a pan then set aside. The sauce is made of soy sauce, sugar and mirin in the pan and then the sardines are added back. The results are crispy sardines with sweet covering to them.