Japanese Ozōni: New Year's Rice Cake Soup and Regional Variations

Ingredients

• Kantō clear broth
• 1 litre cold water
• 10 g kombu, wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 15 g katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
• 150 g chicken, sliced or cut into small pieces
• 4 slices kamaboko (fish cake), sliced
• 80 g komatsuna greens, trimmed and cut into short lengths
• 4 pieces kirimochi (rectangular rice cake)
• Kansai white miso broth
• 1 litre cold water
• 10 g kombu, wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 80 g Kyoto shiro-miso (white miso)
• 4 pieces marumochi (round rice cake), not toasted
• 100 g satoimo (taro root), peeled and sliced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 1 small bunch mitsuba (Japanese parsley), trimmed
• 1 tsp yuzu zest, finely grated; added at the last moment
• 4 g katsuobushi (bonito flakes), to garnish

Method

1. 1
   Kantō broth — place the kombu in 1 litre of cold water and bring slowly to just below a simmer over a medium flame. Remove the kombu before the water boils. Add the katsuobushi, bring briefly to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to steep for two minutes. Strain through a fine cloth. The broth should be pale gold and clear.
2. 2
   Poach the chicken pieces in the strained dashi over a gentle heat until just cooked through. The surface of the broth must not boil hard; maintain a quiet shiver. Remove the chicken and reserve with the kamaboko. Blanch the komatsuna briefly in the broth until bright green and just tender, then lift out and reserve. Season the broth with a small measure of soy sauce and salt to taste — it must remain delicate, not salty.
3. 3
   This is where the Kantō bowl lives or dies. Toast each kirimochi over a low gas flame or in a dry pan, turning, until the exterior is blistered and lightly charred in places, the interior puffed and beginning to yield when pressed. An untoasted kirimochi added to clear broth will turn the liquid starchy and cloudy and the mochi itself slimy — the broth is lost. The surface should blister audibly.
4. 4
   To assemble each Kantō bowl: place one toasted kirimochi in the bowl, arrange the chicken, a slice of kamaboko, and a portion of komatsuna around it. Ladle the hot clear dashi over the top. The mochi must go in at the last moment; do not allow it to sit in the broth long enough to dissolve into the liquid.
5. 5
   Kansai broth — place the kombu in 1 litre of cold water and bring to just below the boil. Remove the kombu. Reduce the heat to low. In a small bowl, dissolve the shiro-miso in a ladleful of the hot kombu water, stirring until smooth, then return to the pot. The broth should be creamy, pale, and sweet-smelling — not reduced to sharpness.
6. 6
   Simmer the satoimo and carrot in the white miso broth over a low heat until the satoimo is fully tender when pierced — it should offer no resistance. Add the round marumochi directly to the broth without pre-toasting and allow them to soften in the liquid, swelling gently until yielding to pressure.
7. 7
   To assemble each Kansai bowl: lift a round mochi and the vegetables into the bowl, ladle the white miso broth over, lay mitsuba on top, finish with a pinch of katsuobushi and a small scraping of yuzu zest added at the very last moment. The yuzu fragrance lifts immediately on contact with the hot broth — this is the final sensory signal that the bowl is ready to serve.