Osechi Ryori, Japanese New Year's Eats

Osechi Ryori, Japanese New Year's Eats
In some countries there are special dishes during the new year. Japan has osechi ryori, a variety of food served in a special box. Each specially selected foods and symbolizes the hope of the Japanese in the new year.

For the people of Japan, New Year is the most special celebrations, like Christmas in the United States. On New Year's Eve, they gathered at the temple and pray for luck and happiness in the years to come.

People go back to my hometown, gather with family. The children were given angpau. When celebrating the new year with family, Japanese people usually eat osechi together.

Osechi derived from the word 'o-sechi' which means the season or during important in Japanese. Osechi-ryori tradition itself stems from the Heian period (794-1185 AD).

During the first 3 days at the beginning of the year, Japanese women may not use the stove and cook food in addition to zoni (soup contains moci). This is done to avoid injury or burns caused by cooking, which signifies misfortune throughout the year.

So, all dishes freshly prepared at the beginning of the year towards the end of the year. To be durable, osechi foods preserved in a way made pickles, marinated, or dried and eaten cold.

Initially, only consists of nimono osechi (steamed vegetables with soy sauce and sugar / mirin) are presented in jubako box, like a bento box. Now there are a variety of foods commonly served during the new year in Japan. Container was not always the bento box-shaped, sometimes round and have barriers, such as the sweets.

This arrangement follows osechi kanjinya meaning corresponding letters, among them:

Daidai (bitter orange): hope for children
Datemaki (egg omelet that tastes sweet rolls, mixed with minced fish and dried shrimp paste): hope for good days to come
Kamaboko (steamed fish cake red and white): similar to the Japanese flag, a symbol of celebration
Kazunoko (herring eggs): hope to have many children in the new year
Konbu (a kind of seaweed): meaningless fun
Kuromame (black soybeans): symbol of health
Kohaku-namasu (pickled radish and carrots are sliced ​​into thin strips)
Tai (red sea-bream, one type of fish): symbolizes an important event
Tazukuri (salted fish cooked with soy sauce): symbol of abundant harvest
Zoni (soup broth / miso nodes contain moci)
Ebi (shrimp cooking sake and soy sauce which pierced like kebabs)
Nishiki tamago (egg rolade): symbol of gold and silver
Traditionally, osechi made themselves at home. However, because it takes a lot of time, Japanese people are now choosing to buy osechi ready-made in supermarkets, although prices are relatively expensive.

Posted in: Culinary News,Food News