Osechi Ryori - おせち料理

Here is my attempt at making osechi ryori from last year. This is what I made for Shinji and his family. The different components include chicken simmered with carrots, lotus root, bamboo shoots and pea pods, chestnuts with sweet potatoes, kombu wrapped around herring, burdock root with sesame, dried anchovies in a sweet soy sauce, sweet black beans, pickled daikon and carrots, kamaboko (fish cake paste), pickled lotus root, datemaki (sweet egg omelette), kazunoko (herring eggs), and kuwai (arrowhead).

Osechi - Kombu Maki 昆布巻き

The herring wrapped in kombu was the hardest dish to make of all of the osechi dishes, and one that I was disappointed with the results. I will not make this dish again with herring. Next time I will try it with salmon. The white string tying the kombu around the herring is kampyo.

Osechi Ryori - Nishime 煮しめ

Recipe - Kuri Kinton 栗きんとん

Chestnuts and sweet potatoes are a smash hit combination in the osechi line-up. The sweet nuggets of chestnuts add a nice texture to the smooth paste of sweet potatoes.

1 jar of chestnuts in syrup (about a dozen)
350 grams of sweet potatoes
2 kuchinashi (dried gardenia pods)
80 cc mirin
100 cc of reserved syrup from chestnuts
sugar
salt

Peel the sweet potatoes and cook in water until tender with kuchinashi that are crushed and wrapped in cheesecloth or in a tea bag.

When the sweet potatoes are soft, push through a sieve.

In a pot add the mashed sweet potatoes, mirin, and chestnut syrup and cook until the paste is thicker. Add sugar and salt to taste.

Carefully fold in the chestnuts.

Recipe - Osechi Namasu なます Daikon, Carrot, and Yuzu Pickles

Namasu is a great Japanese pickle to master as it adds color to any table, and the pickles can also be used for other dishes like Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches or for fresh spring rolls.

The namasu for osechi ryori has strips of yuzu zest added to it which brings a nice citrus aroma to the pickles. If you can find the Kyoto carrots (Kyoninjin) the dark red color is a nice contrast to the white daikon.

1/2 daikon
1 carrot
salt
2 Tablespoons yuzu juice
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
yuzu zest

Peel the daikon and carrot. Cut daikon and carrots into julienne strips. Place in a large bowl, add about a teaspoon of salt, massage gently and set aside.

In a pan add the rice wine vinegar and sugar. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Then add the yuzu juice.

Cut the yuzu zest into fine strips and add to yuzu and sweet rice wine vinegar.

Squeeze the daikon and carrot of excess juice and add to the sweet rice wine vinegar sauce. Allow to marinate overnight.

Osechi Ryori おせち料理

This article I wrote for bento.com highlights the basic components of osechi ryori, the Japanese food for New Year's day.

http://www.bento.com/fexp-osechi.html

Recipe - Tataki Gobo たたき牛蒡

The earthy gobo (burdock root) rounds out the osechi menu, that has many sweet and soy flavored dishes. Also, this is one of the easiest of the many components of the new year's menu.

3 gobo stalks
rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup dashi
salt

1/4 cup toasted white sesame seeds


Wash and dry the gobo. If it is full of dirt you may want to peel it, but if you can get away with a strong scrub, do it.

With a rolling pin slightly to crush the fibrous gobo.

Cut into bite-size pieces and soak in water and some rice wine vinegar. If you do not soak in water after cutting the gobo quickly oxidizes and turns brown.

In a shallow pan cook the gobo, rice wine vinegar, mirin, dashi, and some salt to taste until the gobo is tender. While the gobo is cooking, crush the sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle.

After the gobo is tender, toss in the crushed sesame seeds.

Recipe - Osechi Datemaki おせちの伊達巻き

One of my favorite parts of the osechi ryori menu is the datemaki, sweet egg omelette. A bit different from regular tamagoyaki, this one has fish cake in it which gives it a fluffy texture. It is actually pretty easy to make if you can find hanpen, a fluffy cake made with yamaimo and fish paste, often from shark's meat.

4 eggs
1 hanpen (about 65 grams)
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon mirin
1 Tablespoon sake
1 teaspoon usukuchi soy sauce (light colored)

Cut up the hanpen into small pieces. Add to a food processor and mix with mirin, sake, light colored soy sauce, and one egg. Mix until combined and add the other eggs slowly. Be careful not to mix too much.

Push through a sieve and add sugar until combined.

Cook in a tamagoyaki (egg omelette) pan. Cover with an otsoshibuta (drop lid). After the bottom sets, flip over and cook the other side. When fully cooked roll in a makisu (sushi roller) and hold shut with rubber binders until it sets.

Slice into thick slices.

Recipe - Osechi Tazukuri おせち料理の田作り

The recipe for this is listed below.

Recipe - Osechi Tazukuri おせち料理の田作り

Last year I made osechi ryori, the traditional New Year's Day Japanese food, for Shinji's family. The easiest of all of the dishes is gomame, or tazukuri. These dried anchovies and dressed with a sweet soy sauce are addictive.

50 grams dried anchovies
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons mirin
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 Tablespon sake
vegetable oil
toasted sesame seeds (optional)

In a dry saute pan, cook the dried anchovies over medium high heat. Cook until the anchovies are crispy. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a large saute pan add the sugar, mirin, soy sauce, and sake and cook until the mixture bubbles. Adde the anchovies and stir until all of the fish are covered in the sauce.

Move to a bowl that is lightly oiled with vegetable oil. Toss in the oil. At this point, if you like, add some toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe - Spicy Konnyaku こんにゃくピリ辛

Top photo is spicy konnyaku.
Bottom photo is Shinji's bento. In the top half is white rice topped with salted and grilled salmon.
On the bottom half from the left: spicy konnyaku, simmered julienned gobo tossed in mayonnaise, eggplant and green pepper in a spicy miso sauce with sesame seeds, hijiki nimono, and hard boiled eggs with green beans and mayonnaise.

Konnyaku, also called devil's tongue jelly, comes in many forms. This one in the top photo came in a block that I cut into slices. It also comes in thin noodles and is called shirataki. This dense cake has a gelatinous and firm texture. Best of all, it is famous for having zero calories and will take on the flavor of whatever it is cooked in, but needs to be simmered for a long time as it is a dense and non-porous cake.

Before using it in the kitchen it needs to be parboiled in water. Alternatively, you can fry it in a nonstick pan until it literally squeeks. By doing this you will rid the konnyaku of some off flavors and it also firms up the texture of the konnyaku.

In the supermarket konnyaku is sold in clear, sealed plastic bags with some liquid. The liquid can be discarded. If you do not use all of the konnyaku, keep it in fresh water in the fridge. The water needs to be changed daily, as is also the case with tofu. Konnyaku will keep up to two weeks if the water is changed daily.

Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo, is where most of the konnyaku is grown and produced. The scientific name for konnyaku is Amorphophalus konjac. It is sometimes seen spelled konjac. The process of making konnyaku is fascinating. The root vegetable is grown (I believe for two years), then peeled, cooked, pounded, coagulated, and then formed into cakes or strings or balls.

The simple recipe for making the spicy konnyaku, also called kinpira follows.

1 block of konnyaku
3 Tablespoons sake
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sugar (to taste)
1 dried red chili pepper, cut into small rings (alternatively, shichimi tougarashi)

Prepare the konnyaku by parboiling in ample water.

Slice the konnyaku into thin slices.

In a saute pan combine the sake, soy sauce, and sugar. Heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the konnyaku and saute. Add the chili pepper and continue to saute until most of the liquid dissipates.

Recipe - Renkon Chips (Lotus Root Chips)

Renkon (lotus root) chips are easy to make and irresistible. Simply thinly slice the lotus root across the grain, this is best done with a Benriner mandolin. Pat dry on a paper towel and then saute in a small amount of oil over medium heat until crispy. Simply season with salt and serve as is, or we love it in our home over salads.