Osechi Ryori

Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou!

New Year's traditions change over time. As a kid, we'd make a big bowl of popcorn, rent a stack of movies and watch as many as we could before midnight, at which point we'd catch the (rebroadcast) ball drop in Times Square. The next day we'd have a big celebratory meal with extended family.

By the time I reached a legal drinking age, I'd moved across the country from family. New Year's Eve was celebrated with friends, either at nightclubs or over special prix fixe dinners at restaurants. New Year's Day was for sleeping and relaxing.

Now that we live near my mother-in-law, Reiko, our traditions have drifted towards her Japanese tastes. The eve is either spent on a condo rooftop watching the professional displays, or setting off our own fireworks in Pālolo valley. (Is it just me, or were there a lot more illegal aerials this year, many of professional caliber. It looked and sounded like a war zone.)

The next day, we re-convene at Reiko's where she prepares a traditional selection of dishes to welcome the new year. Many of these dishes are unfamiliar, as we only see them once a year, but I've tried to ask questions and do additional research.

Osechi Ryori

Osechi ryori refer to special Japanese dishes prepared for the holidays, and in particular to usher in the new year. No cooking is allowed during the first few days of the new year, so my mother-in-law typically spends most of December 30 and 31 preparing her dazzling assortment, which she then artfully displays in beautiful lacquered Jyubako boxes. We greeted 2009 with a selection of Reiko's finest...

1. tempura - fried asparagus, carrots and eggplant with an accompanying yuzu salt
2. tofu - compressed with mirin(?) I don't know the name for this one.
3. kobu maki - thick konbu seaweed, simmered, rolled and tied with kanpyo. This dish represents happiness.
4. konnyaku - a gel-like tofu
5. sashimi - sliced raw tuna, salmon, hamachi, octopus and squid, along with a personal favorite, salmon roe.
6. shiitake no nimono - shiitake simmered in mirin, dashi and shouu.
7. taro nimono? - I honestly have no idea, but that's my best guess.
8. kuromame - simmered black beans, slightly sweet. A symbol of health.
9. kamaboku - sliced fishcake. The combination of red and white is considered good luck.
10. more fishcake - the specific name escapes me.
11. ozoni - (not pictured) a clear bonito stock with spinach and charred, gooey mochi.
12. sake - (not pictured) Reiko prefers hers warmed.

Other years we've also had inari sushi, chirashisushi, unagi kabayaki and toshikoshi soba.

Serving is informal, with each of us snacking on small plates while we lounge around her condo. She says her family back home in Japan would play games around a low table and sing boisterous karaoke. I've never been a big fan of karaoke, but the rest of this is a tradition we can repeat every year. Gochisosama.