Japanese New Year Dishes

I like Japanese New Year’s holidays. Families  get together to celebrate the new year.  Starting a new year makes me feel very fresh and even greeting my  family on New Year’s Day is a bit special.

At my parents’ house, the Takahashi family, “mochitsuki” (pounding rice cake) was a yearend tradition. When there were many relatives and family members, everyone would get together to make mochi (rice cake) and make sweet bean rice cake or spicy rice cake and eat it.

Various dishes called “osechi ryori” were prepared at the end of the year. New year holidays (about 3 days) people rest and do no house chores.  Moms don’t cook for those days and relax.  We all get into the kotatsu (heated table with blanket) and watch TV… good old days for me.

America’s New Year is completely different. I think Christmas holidays are more special.  On new year;s eve,  people count down, kiss the people around, decide on a new year’s resolution, and January 1st ends quickly.

As a Japanese person with the Japanese tradition, I felt a little unsatisfied with American New years day. But since I love America and am not much of a traditional Japanese person, just a little Japanese tradition will do.  I eat some osetchi ryori  and I’m happy. I don’t care much for rice so I can pass on that.

Still, in order to welcome the New Year properly, I want to enjoy the New Year’s mood just a little.

Here, I just plated readymade osechi ryori (you can purchase at a Japanese store).

Plating is important not only for the look but also sense of taste (you think beautiful things taste better.) Japanese osechi ryori is usually plated in several boxes but here I plated on small plates.

It is perfect for smaller families or even one person. Happy new year to you.