Ozoni mochi is a savoury, mildly sweet, and chewy Japanese New Year mochi soup. In Japan, this concoction is believed to bring good luck when eaten on New Year's Day. However, you can still eat it all year.
Each region in Japan makes ozoni differently. Kanto-style ozoni tastes saltier because it has soy sauce, while Kansai-style ozoni doesn't. Instead, it has white miso and sometimes the addition of fish, which can make it taste sweeter. However, you can never precisely describe the flavour since it varies depending on the style and ingredients used.
Our recipe will show you how to make the Kanto and Kansai styles with different toppings. So, you don't even have to be in Japan to enjoy this tasty, light yet warming New Year soup.
Jump to:
- Kanto and Kansai Style Ozoni
- Kanto and Kansai Style Ozoni
- Ozoni Ingredients
- How to make dashi for Ozoni
- Substitutes
- Ozoni Recipe (Japanese New Year Mochi Soup)
- Easy Ozoni Recipe (Kansai Style)
- Ozoni Cooking Tips
- Other Toppings
- How To Store
- Other Types of New Year Mochi Soup
- Why do you eat Ozoni on New Year's Day?
Kanto and Kansai Style Ozoni
There are two main styles in the preparation of Ozoni: the Kanto and the Kansai styles.
The eastern side of Japan, such as Tokyo, adopts the Kanto style. Kanto Ozoni has a clear broth made from dashi. In addition, the Kanto style usually uses square rice cakes, representing "defeating bad things."
The Kansai style of Ozoni, which originates from Kyoto and can also be called Kyoto Ozoni, is also used on the western side of Japan. It has a white broth made of miso. Conversely, the Kansai version of the dish incorporates round rice cakes, which means "family happiness."
Kanto and Kansai Style Ozoni
There are two main styles in the preparation of Ozoni: the Kanto and the Kansai styles.
The eastern side of Japan, such as Tokyo, adopts the Kanto style. Kanto Ozoni has a clear broth made from dashi. In addition, the Kanto style usually uses square rice cakes, representing "defeating bad things."
The Kansai style of Ozoni, which originates from Kyoto and can also be called Kyoto Ozoni, is also used on the western side of Japan. It has a white broth made of miso. Conversely, the Kansai version of the dish incorporates round rice cakes, which means "family happiness."
Ozoni Ingredients
For both Kanto and Kansai-style ozoni, you will need mochi, carrots, daikon, fried tofu skin and leafy greens.
- Ozoni Mochi: This is a shelf-stable mochi or kiri mochi. If you can't find this, you can also make it fresh with our easy mochi recipe. However, you won't be able to toast these.
- Carrots: We suggest getting thicker carrots for pretty cut-outs.
- Daikon radish: You can use regular radish, but we highly suggest using this Japanese radish. Unlike regular radishes, daikon radish has a mild flavour. It is usually white, long, and thick. You can also purchase it from any Asian grocery store near you.
- Aburaage: is Japanese fried tofu skins. You can also add silken tofu if you prefer.
- Mushrooms: Any mushroom will work, but we recommend shiitake mushrooms. We like to use mushrooms to make our vegetarian dashi stock.
- Leafy greens: Greens like komatsuna (Japanese spinach) and mitsuba (Japanese parsley) can make the dish healthier.
Kanto Ozoni Soup Broth
To make Kanto ozoni, you will need the following ingredients for the broth:
- Kombu (seaweed) dashi
- Sake or mirin
- Soy sauce
- Salt
Kansai Ozoni Soup Broth
To make Kansai ozoni soup broth, you will need the following ingredients:
- Kombu dashi, or dried seaweed
- Miso paste
How to make dashi for Ozoni
We use the mushroom stock and kombu sheets to make a simple dashi.
The mushroom stock is made from dried shiitake mushrooms. First, rinse and rub away any dirt off the dried shiitake mushrooms. Then, soak them with 4 cups of warm water for at least 1 hour. The longer, the better. The water used to soak the mushrooms will be used as the mushroom stock.
We will bring the mushroom stock to a gentle simmer in a pot to make the dashi. Then, add the kombu and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer you simmer the kombu, the better. Some restaurants will steep the kombu overnight to bring out a deep umami from the kombu.
Only gently simmer the kombu, and allow time to bring the umami out of the kombu. If you boil the kombu, you will get a sticky scum that will add an unsavoury texture to the broth. If you accidentally boil it and scum comes out, use a fine mesh sieve to remove the scum from the surface.
Substitutes
Here are some substitutes for some of the hard-to-find ingredients in our Japanese New Year mochi soup recipe.
Dashi Substitutes
One of the best substitutes for dashi is mentsuyu. It is made from dashi and other seasonings and is great for traditional Japanese soup dishes.
However, you should add only a few additional seasonings. Otherwise, the dish would taste too strong. Another good alternative is Shiro-dashi, which is very similar to mentsuyu.
Miso Paste Substitutes
You can use soy sauce to substitute for the salty and savoury miso flavour. However, soy sauce will affect the texture of your dish. The miso paste is creamy, yet the soy sauce is thin and watery.
Therefore, we recommend substituting ½ tablespoon soy sauce for one tablespoon of miso paste.
You may also use fish sauce to replace miso paste, but this alternative is also watery and may have a more robust flavour than miso.
Sake And Mirin Substitutes
You can substitute sake with dry sherry or Chinese rice wine. You can also substitute mirin by mixing sake and sugar. The ratio of sake and sugar should be 3:1. However, you can use water to replace sake if you cannot use alcohol in your cooking. Similarly, the ratio is 3:1 to replace mirin with water and sugar. You can also get Honteri Mirin by Mizkan, which does not contain alcohol.
Ozoni Recipe (Japanese New Year Mochi Soup)
Video
Ingredients
- 4 mochi shelf stable kiri mochi, cut in half
- ¼ cup daikon cut into cubes or flowers
- ¼ cup carrots cut into cubes or flowers
- 6 dried shitake mushrooms
- ½ cup spinach optional
- mitsuba Japanese parsley, optional
- Yuzu peel for garnish
For Kanto ozoni soup broth:
- 1 kombu 3 x 3 inches sheet
- 4 cup mushroom stock
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 1 pinch salt
Cooking Instructions
- Rinse and rub off any dust from the dried mushrooms. Then, place the dried shiitake mushrooms in water and let them sit for an hour. Pour the mushroom stock water into a pot and set the mushrooms aside. Slice the mushrooms into thin slices afterward.
- Then, bring the mushroom water to a gentle simmer under medium-low heat and the kombu sheet. Allow it to continue simmering under low heat for at least 30 minutes. Once done, remove the kombu from the dashi broth you just made.
- Place all the ingredients for the broth, including mushrooms, daikon, and carrots, in a pot. Bring them to a boil and then lower the heat.
- Cover the pot and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the daikon is tender. Remove the carrots and daikon and set them aside.
- Add the mochi to the pot and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Let it cook until the mochi is tender.
- Then, remove the mochi from the pot and add any green vegetables to parboil for a few minutes or until cooked.
- Pour the soup and mochi evenly into 4 bowls. Then, add the carrots, daikon¸ green vegetables, and mitsuba. Garnish with yuzu peel or other preferred toppings. Serve and enjoy your Kanto ozoni.
Recipe Notes
- Cut the carrots and daikon into cube and flower shapes while soaking the mushrooms and steeping the kombu.
- You can replace the yuzu peel with lemon zest instead. Shave a bit of the lemon skin and thinly slice it. You just need 3-4 thin slices of zest per serving bowl. It adds a refreshing aroma, but don't add too much, as it is bitter when bit into.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Easy Ozoni Recipe (Kansai Style)
Ingredients
- 6 dried shitake mushrooms
- 4 mochi toasted or baked
- ¼ cup daikon cut into cubes or flowers
- ¼ cup carrots cut into cubes or flowers
- 4 slice narutomaki optional
- 4 slice Kamaboko optional
- Yuzu peel for garnish
For the Kyushu or Kansai Ozoni broth
- 1 kombu 3 x 3 inches sheet
- 4 cups mushroom stock
- 4 tbsps miso paste white
Cooking Instructions
- Rinse and rub off any dust from the dried mushrooms. Then, place the dried shiitake mushrooms in a cup of water and let them sit for an hour. Pour the mushroom stock water into a pot and set the mushrooms aside. Slice the mushrooms into thin slices afterwards.
- Then, bring the mushroom water to a gentle simmer under medium-low heat and the kombu sheet. Allow it to continue simmering under low heat for at least 30 minutes. Once done, remove the kombu from the dashi broth you just made.
- Then, add in carrots, daikon, and mushrooms to the dashi broth and bring it to a boil under medium heat. Let the vegetables cook for 5-8 minutes until the daikon is tender. Then, turn off the heat and remove the daikon radish and carrots. Set them aside for later.
- Add miso paste and stir it into the broth until it fully dissolves. Allow it to simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, toast your mochi rice cakes until they brown on both sides or until they almost burst.
- Put the rice cakes, carrots, daikon, and shiitake mushrooms into 4 separate bowls. Then, pour in the ozoni soup. Garnish with narutomaki, Kamaboko, yuzu peel or other preferred toppings.
Recipe Notes
- Soak kombu in hot water overnight if you use dried kombu instead of kombu dashi. Then, use the soaking water as the cooking water.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Ozoni Cooking Tips
Boil ingredients that are hard to cook first. Add the rice cakes once the vegetables are cooked.
Cook the rice cakes thoroughly if you prefer your rice cakes to melt in your mouth. You can also bake the rice cakes instead of boiling them.
Buy pre-made mochi to save time in preparing the dish.
Put the miso in a ladle, then slowly dissolve it by submerging it into the broth. Using another spoon or chopsticks, stir the miso in the submerged ladle.
Do not boil the soup once you've added the miso. Otherwise, it will lose its flavour and nutrients.
Make the Kanto version of the dish if you want to prepare it in advance. The Kanto soy sauce broth will retain its flavour over time. However, the miso-based broth will lose nutrients and flavour over time.
You can re-cook the mochi by adding it to the soup and reheating it for 1-2 minutes before serving.
Other Toppings
Both the Kanto and Kansai versions of the dish use yuzu peel as a garnish. It adds a refreshing aroma to the soup.
Other toppings that pair well with Ozoni are kamaboko and narutomaki (steamed Japanese fish cake) and seaweed. You can also add oysters or dried anchovies, Shikoku style, to make it Hiroshima style.
Eggs as a topping are always a good idea, whether hard-boiled, soft-boiled, or raw. You can also enjoy this New Year's mochi soup dish with salmon and salmon roe, as they do in Niigata.
Indeed, you can never go wrong with whatever you choose. Each additional ingredient will surely surprise you with new flavours and textures.
How To Store
For storage, you can keep the soup in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. You can also portion it into several containers and freeze them for up to 3 weeks.
If you're adding tofu, remove it before freezing it. Once ready to eat, reheat the soup over medium-low heat in a pot.
Other Types of New Year Mochi Soup
You can find a lot of unique versions of the dish in the different prefectures in Japan.
The Kyushu version uses rectangular and square rice cakes that are toasted or baked. Additionally, this version usually contains a piece of fish as a part of the dish. You'll often find the addition of Kamaboko (steamed fish paste) in this new year's mochi soup.
Meanwhile, the Iwate Prefecture uses walnut sauce in the dish. Alternatively, the Nara Prefecture often bakes the New Year mochi and mixes white miso with kombu broth. The rice cakes are occasionally removed from the soup and dipped in kinako (soybean flour).
In Kagawa prefecture, the rice cakes are filled with bean jam. And similarly, the Tottori Prefecture enjoy it with adzuki red beans. Therefore, they call it 'Adzuki Zoni', and in some regions, people consider it 'Oshiruko' due to their similarity.
A tasty variation of this dish is 'Egg Zoni', which contains egg. You can casually find it in Japanese cake cafes and enjoy it anytime besides New Year.
Therefore, we highly recommend eating or making as many versions of the soup as possible. Wouldn't it be a fun adventure to eat every regional Ozoni? Or, add your spin as you omit and add ingredients that you like to your homemade version.
Why do you eat Ozoni on New Year's Day?
Ozoni is a traditional Japanese soup with mochi, vegetables, seafood, and meat. The Japanese traditionally eat this soup on New Year's Day in the morning. The ozoni soup meaning is an offering to the Gods on New Year's Eve to pray for health, prosperity, and happiness.
The tradition began in the Muromachi period (1336-1573) and was believed to bring good luck. However, the dish itself has existed long before that. Samurai families served it as a side dish during banquets for the samurai warriors back in their day.
Each ozoni ingredient's meaning is unique:
- The mochi rice cakes symbolise longevity because of their stretchiness.
- Vegetables or local produce represent a plentiful harvest.
- Chicken meat indicates success.
- Fish roe symbolises fertility.
- Renkon (Lotus root) symbolises the wheel of life.
We hope you enjoy this unique dish and put your spin. Remember to share how they come out and tag us on Instagram @honestfoodtalks.
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