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.