Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2016 is a brilliant year for everyone. In Japan, New Years Day is one of the most important celebration in the year. Here is a fact file on New Years Day.

• New Years Day lasts for 3 days
• In Japan, a special meal is made called osechi and the idea is that you eat it for the three days but recently, you can buy osechi and it is not always eaten for the three days.
• Along with the osechi, there is a soup called ozōni.
• The ozōni contents can vary, for example our ozōni contained chicken, rice cake and a decorative fishcake
• Most parts of the osechi represents prosperity, good health and health
• Presentation and colour is very important in osechi ryouri

Here is a description of some of the components in the osechi that we had this year

Our osechi ryouri

1. Kamaboko- a dense cake of fish cake in the colors of New Years Day (red and white)
2. Kobumaki- some salmon wrapped in konbu and tied together with a ribbon of gourd.
3. Datemaki- An egg and fish paste roll that is quite sweet.
4. Gomame- Small dried fish (we used dried anchovies) which is covered in a sweet sauce that is made
                     out of sugar, miring, sake and soy sauce.
5. Kurogoma- Black beans boiled in a sweet sauce.
6. Kurikinton- Made out of candied chestnuts and Japanese sweet potato.
7. Namasu- Grated carrot and daikon radish pickled in sweet vinegar.
8. Chikuzeni- Simmered chicken and vegetables
9. Kazunoko- Crunchy herring roe which is sometimes marinated in soy sauce, sake and dash
10. Kanten- Agar jelly containing milk and peach slices
11. Ozoni- A soup containing rice cakes and sometimes a decorated fish cake which has a spiral in it.

I hope that you had a brilliant New Years Day. Goodbye 2015 and hello 2016!