Ozoni Soup

January 12, 2022

Ozoni soup is a Japanese soup traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day. Honoring the tradition of osechi ceremonial foods, which represent their own special meanings, ozoni soup is an absolutely perfect dish for enduring the cold. Different regions of Japan may use different ingredients for their soups, but they all contain one common ingredient: mochi, a glutinous pounded rice cake. This specific recipe uses Local Roots vegetables and a combination of dashi and chicken stock, making for a rich and warming, yet lightly-flavored broth. You can pick up mochi at a Japanese grocery store if you're not quite sure where to find it. Remember, also: it's important to chew the mochi well when you eat it. 

 

Serves 2-4

 

Ingredients

2 cups chicken stock

1 Local Roots turnip, peeled and sliced into chunks

1 Local Roots carrot, sliced into chunks

½ cup Local Roots cabbage, sliced into 1-inch thick ribbons

4-6 pieces of mochi (2 per person)

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. mirin

4-inch piece kombu 

¼ cup Iriko (Japanese dried anchovies)

Directions

1. Make the dashi. In a small saucepan, combine one cup of water with kombu. Heat water until just barely simmering, and turn off heat. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

2. Remove the heads and guts from the anchovies by pinching the head and abdomen with your fingers. Discard head and guts, and add bodies to another small saucepan.

3. Cover anchovies with two cups of water. Heat until boiling, and boil for ten minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat chicken stock in a large saucepan until heated through. Skim any scum that comes to surface.

5. Add vegetables and cook for five minutes in chicken stock until tender.

6. Strain both kombu and Iriko stocks into chicken stock to combine.

7. Season with mirin and soy sauce and taste. Add more soy sauce by the teaspoon if necessary.

8. Boil mochi in a saucepan in water for 7-10 minutes, or until mochi is soft.

9. To serve, add mochi and vegetables to a large bowl. Ladle hot broth over top of the vegetables and enjoy! 

This recipe was created by Local Roots Recipe contributor Sachi Nagase / @bothand.nyc.

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