New Year’s day is a very special day in our household. We wake up early to watch the sunrise and pray for health and happiness in the coming year. Once we return home, Chi Chi makes Ozoni, a special New Years Day soup that is light and refreshing, and steeped in his family’s tradition. Every Japanese family has their own Ozoni recipe. Chi Chi’s recipe has the earthy flavor of dried shiitake mushroom (donko) and yuzu citrus.

初日出：Hatsuhinode

Watching the first sunrise of the new year 　

Dried shiitake mushroom brings earthiness to the dashi soup stock

The Dried Shiitake Mushroom that Chi Chi uses for the Ozoni dashi soup stock is known in Japan as “donko”. Donko is a high quality shiitake mushroom that is bursting with umami. Chi Chi starts making the dashi soup stock the day before by simply adding the dried shiitake mushrooms to water and allowing them to soak over night. The longer that they soak, the softer the mushrooms become and the resulting soup stock becomes a golden brown.

In Chi Chi’s traditional family recipe he only uses the dried shiitake donko to make the dashi stock. Many other Ozoni recipes call for a bonito stock, which is also easy to prepare using a dashi pack. For instructions on how to make a bonito dashi based ozoni take a look at our Udon Soup with Bonito Dashi recipe. For an extra earthy ozoni, combining both donko umami soup stock with bonito dashi soup stock is another option.

Chewy and sweet, mochi adds a hearty bite to Japanese New Years Day Ozoni Soup

Mochi has a satisfying chewy texture and a mild, but sweet flavor. In this Ozoni soup, Chi Chi places two mochi in each bowl along with the other ingredients. Chi Chi lightly scores the top of each mochi across the middle of each side, then he toasts the mochi before adding it to the ozoni soup to allow the mochi cake to puff up. You can use your toaster oven to toast the mochi or use frying pan over the stove. In my recipe below, I share steps for both ways of preparing mochi.

Japanese garnishes make this New Years Day Ozoni Soup extra special

Chi Chi loves to garnish his New Years Day Ozoni soup with sprigs of mitsuba and thin slices of fresh yuzu. Mitsuba is an herbal plant that tastes and looks similar to flat leaf parsley. Yuzu is a citrus fruit that is somewhere between a lemon and a lime. Not only are these garnishes beautiful, they also build on the subtle flavors of the shiitake mushroom and mochi to add a brightness to the soup.

Each bite, each sip, of the new years day ozoni soup is savored slowly. While eating our ozoni, we are often in a reflective mood. Happy to have come through the previous year and feeling hopeful for the new year.

Japanese New Year Mochi Soup (Ozoni)

Recipe by Chi ChiCourse: Soups and Stews, Special OccasionsCuisine: Japanese

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Soaking Time

12

Hours

Ingredients

• 8 dried whole shiitake mushrooms (Donko)

• 4 cups filtered water

• 1 bonito dashi pack (optional)

• 4 oz chicken thigh

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced carrot

• 1/4 cup daikon chopped into 1/4 inch spears

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tsp mirin

• Salt to taste

• 8 mochi cakes

• thin slices of yuzu for garnish

• 4 sprigs of mitsuba for garnish

Directions

• Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms (donko) overnight in 2 cups of filtered water to make the mushroom dashi stock base. If also adding bonito dashi, boil two cups of water. Once boiling, remove from heat and add the bonito dashi pack and allow it to sit for 10 minutes then remove and discard the dashi pack.
• To prepare the ozoni soup, remove the shiitake mushrooms from the dashi stock and set aside. If using bonito dashi, combine mushroom stock with bonito stock in a pot. If omitting the bonito dashi, add 2 additional cups of filtered water to the mushroom stock in a pot. Add soy sauce, mirin and salt. Bring to a slow boil. Add sliced daikon and chopped chicken slices and simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Add slices of carrot and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes until ingredients are soft then remove pot from heat.
• Toast the mochi cakes while the ozoni is simmering. First score the mochi with a sharp knife along the middle of the long and short side. To toast in the toaster oven, place them on a sheet of lightly oiled aluminum foil and toast on each side approximately 3 minutes each. To toast in a non-stick pan, warm the pan on the stove over medium heat. Add Mochi cakes once the pan is hot, and toast on each side until each side has puffed up and lightly browned, approximately 5 minutes on each side.
• To assemble the ozoni soup, pour dashi into 4 bowls. Cut the stems off of the shiitake mushrooms and add to each bowl. Place 2 Mochi Cakes in each bowl. Add carrots, chicken and daikon. Then Garnish with sprigs of mitsuba and slices of fresh yuzu. Serve immediately.

Notes

• If you are not able to find yuzu in your area, try slices of lemon or lime. If you are not able to find mitsuba, try flat leaf parsley. However, whenever possible this dish should incorporate these ingredients as they are an important part of ozoni!