Osechi Ryori: New Year Ceremonial Foods and Their Symbolic Significance

Ingredients

• 200g Kazuo Onta urushi-finished dashi bowl
• 150g daikon, julienned, for namasu
• 150g carrot, julienned, for namasu
• 30ml premium rice vinegar
• 15g caster sugar
• 3g sea salt
• 8 whole chestnuts, roasted, for kurikinton
• 100g sweet potato, diced
• 20g honey
• 6 medium prawns, for ebi
• 6 whole dried shiitake, premium grade
• 150ml Hinomaru dashi stock
• 20ml soy sauce, Kikkoman or equivalent
• 200g gobo root, cut into strips, for takinoko
• 100g bamboo shoots
• 60ml mirin, aji-pon grade
• 6 whole dried scallops (hotate), graded AA
• 100g dried kombu seaweed
• 200g mochi, cut into rectangles
• 6 fresh yuzu or persimmons

Method

1. 1
   Prepare namasu by tossing julienned daikon and carrot with vinegar, sugar, and salt; let macerate 30 minutes, then drain and reserve.
2. 2
   Simmer roasted chestnuts with diced sweet potato and honey until tender (15 minutes); cool slightly and reserve as kurikinton.
3. 3
   Blanch prawns in salted boiling water 2 minutes, chill in ice bath, and devein; reserve whole for presentation.
4. 4
   Rehydrate dried shiitake in 300ml warm dashi for 20 minutes; remove stems and slice caps thin; reduce dashi with soy sauce and mirin, return mushrooms to glaze.
5. 5
   Toast gobo strips in dry pan 3 minutes, then braise with bamboo shoots in dashi, mirin, and soy sauce for 12 minutes until tender.
6. 6
   Bloat dried scallops in warm dashi 15 minutes, shred finely, and fold into sweet kurikinton mixture.
7. 7
   Arrange all components in traditional six-compartment lacquered jubako box: namasu in one section, kurikinton with scallops in second, glazed mushrooms in third, braised gobo-takenoko in fourth, whole prawns in fifth, mochi in sixth; place fresh yuzu or persimmon as garnish on lid.
8. 8
   Serve at room temperature on New Year's morning with ceremonial sake.