January 1, 2011

Humble Osechi/質素な御節(おせち)

On New Year's Eve, my family had toshikoshi soba (year-crossing buckwheat noodles) for supper, like tens of million people in Japan, together with some tempura, but we skipped "toshitori zakana", which is salmon in Niigata. Toshitori zakana is the fish that is eaten on New Year's Eve, and is buri (adult yellowtail) in Kansai (Western Japan) and salmon in Kanto (Eatern Japan). That being said, the term "toshitori zakana" itself was unheard-of when I lived in Tokyo.
大晦日には、日本にいる何千万の人と同じように、我が家族では年越しそばを天ぷらと一緒に食べました。年取り魚(新潟では鮭)は食べませんでした。年取り魚とは、大晦日に食べる魚のことで、関西ではブリ、関東では鮭です。と言うものの、東京にいた頃は、年取り魚という言葉自体、聞いたことはありません。

And, today, we had o-zoni for late breakfast. In Niigata, o-zoni contains salmon and seasoned with soy sauce (and salt). The mochi are rectangular. (In Kansai, they are supposed to be circular, although I have no idea whether this is still true.) To the surprise of someone like me, who was born and bred in Tokyo, the people in Niigata simmer mochi, not grill, before putting them in zoni.
そして今日は、遅い朝食としてお雑煮を食べました。新潟では、お雑煮には鮭が入っていて、しょう油(と塩)で味付けします。餅は長方形です。(関西では、丸餅ということになっています。今でも本当にそうなのか、分かりませんが。)私のように東京で生まれ育った人間にとっては驚きですが、新潟の人たちは餅を雑煮に入れるまえに、焼くのではなく、煮ます。

My family's humble osechi and o-zoni
我が家族の質素な御節(おせち)とお雑煮


Warning: Don't expect to see gorgeous osechi in my blog!
警告: このブログで豪華な御節を見れるとは期待しないで下さい!

Edited to added:
The osechi and the o-zoni (or zoni) shown above were made (or bought) and arranged by my wife.
This arrangement of flowers (ikebana in Japanese) was also by my wife.
追記: この御節とお雑煮は、妻が作って(または買って)、飾り付けたものです。
この生け花も妻によるものです。

7 comments:

  1. To keep with tradition is beautiful enough! I hope you and your family has a Happy New Year!!! I look forward to reading more of your post in the future!

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  2. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Happy New Year! I have been reading for a long while but am commenting for the first time today. I hope your family enjoys a prosperous and peaceful new year.

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  3. Rose and Lisa: Thank you both for your respective comments!

    Happy New Year!
    あけましておめでとうございます!

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  4. Happy New Year to you and your family, Hiroyuki!

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  5. Nancy Heller: Happy New Year to you, too!

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  6. Happy new year Hiroyuki. Hope you enjoyed your meals - even when there were bought. I don't think that anyone prepares nicely coloured and shaped fishcakes right from the scratch.
    We had fondue chinoise or hot pot or shabu shabu - as you call it, it's allmost the same. Fondue is a tradional food for new years eve in germany. Afterwards I put some soba in the remaining broth, this is so not german, but I like it. The firework afterwards was great too. Next day was simply curing the hang over, my husband suffered the most :-)
    Looking out for more of your wonderful postings in the year of the rabbit.

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  7. Kiki: Happy New Year to you, too!
    I'm glad you had a wonderful new year's eve dinner, too!

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