Tokyo-Style Ozoni (Japanese New Year Soup)

By Japanese Cooking 101 · 45 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Blanch the spinach in boiling water for one minute. Drain, squeeze out the water once cool, and cut into 5 cm lengths.
2. Cut the carrot into 1 cm thick rounds and stamp them with a flower-shaped cookie cutter. Remove the stems from the shiitake and cut a star shape into the caps. Cut the chicken into large bite-size pieces. Slice the Naruto fishcake 6 mm thick. If using yuzu, cut only the yellow zest from the skin into very thin strips. Set everything aside.
3. Put the 4 cups of water in a pot with the kombu and heat over low heat. Just before it boils, remove the kombu. Add the katsuobushi and leave for one minute. Strain out the katsuobushi, then add the remaining soup seasonings: 1/4 tsp salt (adjust to taste), 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sake and 1 1/2 tbsp mirin.
4. Add the carrot, mushrooms and chicken to the soup and simmer until the vegetables and meat are cooked through. Skim off any scum from the surface. Keep warm over low heat.
5. Meanwhile, bake the mochi in a toaster oven for about 5 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
6. Add the fishcake to the soup and warm it for one minute.
7. Place a mochi in each bowl, divide the vegetables and meat among the bowls, and pour the soup over. Top with the spinach and yuzu zest and serve immediately.

Summarized from Japanese Cooking 101's video. Watch it for the details.

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CarrotMushroomChicken thighSpinachShiitake mushroomKombuBonito flakeYuzu