It’s hard to believe that the year is coming to a close and it certainly has been an interesting year. Just when we thought things were going to get back to normal, omicron has changed things for us.
Gathering for New Year’s celebrations is still one of caution but we still need to continue the tradition of cleaning our windows, placing the kadomatsu in the front door, displaying kagami mochi in the house and preparing traditional dishes for the new year.
Cleaning the windows and removing dust is to get rid of the past year. Right now, with COVID, it certainly would be a great thing to do, if only that would rid us of it!
The kadomatsu of bamboo and pine is placed in front of homes to welcome ancestral spirits of “kami” of the harvest. They are placed after Christmas and until Jan. 7, as they are thought of as temporary housing for the spirits.
Kagami mochi is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration, consisting of two round mochi, the smaller on top of a slightly larger one, and a daidai or tangerine on top. A sheet of kombu or dried seaweed and dried persimmon may also be added. The mochi display is usually left on the family alter (or in the kitchen or bedroom) and then broken into smaller pieces before being eaten. Eating the kagami mochi signifies a prayer for health and good fortune for the new year.
The two mochi symbolizes going and coming years, the human heart, “yin” and “yang” or the moon and the sun. The daidai, which means generations, symbolizes the continuation of the family from generation to generation.
KTA Super Stores is now carrying kagami mochi, but if you wish, here’s a recipe for mochi so you can make your own. Just a word of caution though, with our heat and humidity, the mochi may get moldy before Jan. 7.
Microwave Kagami Mochi
1-1/2 cups mochiko flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups water
2 drops distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup potato starch for dusting
In a microwave-safe, medium sized bowl, combine mochiko, sugar and water. Mix until well combined. It should resemble the texture of cake batter.
Add the two drops of white vinegar into the kagami mochi mixture to soften.
Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap. With a fork, poke through the plastic to allow airflow.
Microwave on high for a total of 8 to 10 minutes, in 2-minute increments. Make sure to fold the sticky mochi after every increment.
Remove your bowl from the microwave and let it sit until cool enough to touch.
On a flat surface, lay out a piece of parchment paper and dust heavily with potato starch.
Spoon out the desired size of mochi onto the surface and evenly coat it with potato starch. The cooked mochi should no longer be as sticky and is easy to handle with your fingers. Form a round mochi, one larger than the other.
The traditional New Year’s Day dish is “osechi-ryori” or several items from various regions with history and tradition attached to them. In Japan people pay supermarkets or restaurants several hundred dollars for fancy “osechi-ryori.” It could come in three or four-tiered containers called “jubako.”
This tradition dates back to the Heian Period (794 to 1185) when it was believed that no one should cook a meal (with the exception of making ozoni, the traditional mochi soup) on the first three days of the new year. That is why the osechi-ryori consists of dishes which usually can be kept at room temperature for those three days. It certainly would be nice not to have to cook for three days, but in reality, we do not have the cold weather like it is in Japan, so our “osechi-ryori” would probably not be safe to eat after two days.
Items on the “osechi-ryori” include:
• Kuromame of sweetened black beans, which symbolish good health.
• Kamaboko comes in pink and green and can be used as borders to separate dishes.
• Kazunoko, or herring roe, are very salty. Soak them in water to remove a lot of the salt, then season with light soy sauce. Eating kazunoko symbolized fertility.
• Kurikinton, or boiled mashed sweet potatoes and sweet chestnuts. The characters for “kinto” mean “group of gold” which represents a wish for wealth and financial success in the New Year.
• Nishime, or boiled vegetables such as burdock or gobo, carrots, lotus root, and taro.
• Kabu-no-sunomono, are baby turnips cut to look like a chrysanthemum flower. It is pickled in vinegar, salt and sugar with some chili peppers in the middle. The chrysanthemum is the symbol of the emperor and is used for joyous occasions.
• Boiled shrimp or ebi, cooked with sake and soy sauce. Ebi symbolizes long life, that you will like until your beard grows long and your waist bends.
• Sea bream or tai could be replaced by our local red fish like onaga, the word “tai” is related to the word “medatai” which means “auspicious.”
• Namasu is a vinegar and sugar salad consisting of carrots and daikon. The combination of orange and white colors represents happiness.
• Konbu in the form of konbu-maki as the word “konbu” is related to the word “yorokobu” which means happiness and joy.
• Kimpira gobo is burdock cooked in soy sauce and sugar. The burdock root grows into the earth, so represents good health and harvest for the coming year.
• Datemake is a sweet rolled omelet mixed with surimi or fish paste. The rolling of the omelet resembles a scroll which means luck in academics.
• Subasu or lotus root seasoned with vinegar and sugar symbolizes an unobstructed view of the future with its many holes.
Here’s wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year and a hope that things will soon get back to normal!
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.
