OZONI おぞに MOCHI SOUP

It is a Japanese custom that on every New Year's morning, to eat ozoni, or mochi soup. For as long as i can remember, and probably for my whole life, we have had this to start the year. This soup is traditional like yokan and kuromame. These are for good luck and are eaten on and around New Years celebrations. The oshougatsu preparations are strong and bring in luck and good for the coming year. Everybody makes their soup differently and prefer certain ingredients. Here is the recipe, from my papa, for our version of ozoni soup. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 cans chicken broth

shitake mushrooms

mochi

baby clams

mizuna or water cabbage

kamaboko

Directions:

Soak shitake mushrooms overnight. Soak mochi overnight, until it is soft. In the morning, have a medium sized pot ready. On a low heat, pour four cans of chicken broth into the pot. cut shitake into small pieces horizontally, then add into pot. Then, put clams into the soup. (some people like expensive big clams, but we like any kind.) Keep on low heat for about an hour (simmering with the cover on.) Meanwhile, chop the mizuna. The stem portion should be about an inch and the leafy portion, just cut. remember to keep the two parts seperate, as you now add the stem portion into soup, but hold the leafy portion. Now, in the pot, you should have softening shitake, the stems of mizuna, the baby clams, and the broth. Now, after letting the soup simmer, add in cut up pieces of kamaboko. Next, put into the soup the leafy portion left over from before. around three or four minutes before turning off the heat, place the mochi into soup. *remember that the mochi is the absolute last ingredient because it will soften and melt in the pot if you aren't careful!

Now, enjoy your ozoni and Happy New Year! !

あけましておめでとうございます! !