Traditional Japanese Foods I Ate During This New Year's Holidays

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Traditional Japanese Foods I Ate During This New Year's Holidays

New Year's holidays, known as oshogatsu (お正月) in Japanese, are the most important holidays for Japanese people. Today, I'm going to share with you what I ate during this year's New Year's holidays.

Traditional Japanese Food for New Year's Eve

In Japan, it is traditional to do osoji (大掃除), a big cleaning, in late December before the New Year arrives. Indeed, my husband and I completed our osoji in late December. The last meal before the New Year was toshikoshi soba. It is a Japanese tradition to eat soba noodles, known as toshikoshi soba (年越しそば, 年越し蕎麦).

Toshikoshi Soba (年越し蕎麦)

This time, my husband cooked soba noodles with tempura shrimp. We bought our favorite frozen tempura shrimp from Costco and added yuzu kosho, a spicy Japanese condiment made from yuzu citrus peel, chili peppers, and salt.

Traditional Japanese Foods for New Year

Japanese New Year (Shogatsu) runs from January 1 through January 7 (O-shogatsu, 大正月) or January 15 (Ko-shogatsu, 小正月). Specifically, January 1 through January 3 is called sanganichi (三が日). During this time, people visit shrines, meet with family and relatives for the first time in the year, and enjoy traditional Japanese New Year's foods.

Osechi (おせち料理)

During the New Year's holiday, people in Japan eat Osechi (おせち) or Osechi Ryori (おせち料理). Osechi is a collection of auspicious foods such as chikuzenni, kuromame, kamaboko, and more.

On New Year's Eve, we spent the entire day preparing these Osechi dishes for the coming New Year.

Zoni (雑煮), Mochi Soup

During the New Year's holiday, it is a Japanese tradition to eat mochi. Specifically, mochi soup, called zoni (雑煮) or ozoni (お雑煮), is commonly enjoyed in Japan during this festive season.

This time, my husband made chicken zoni. We bought kiri mochi at Japanese supermarket before the New Year's holidays. You can also purchase Japanese mochi on Amazon.

Chikuzenni (筑前煮), Nishime (煮しめ)

Chikuzenni is considered a lucky food for New Year's Day because it includes a variety of ingredients, each with symbolic meanings. For example, lotus root represents a clear future, carrots are cut into flower shapes to symbolize growth, and chicken is believed to bring good fortune. The combination of these ingredients in chikuzenni is thought to bring prosperity and happiness for the coming year.

I cooked chikuzenni as part of our Osechi. I used various vegetables, konjac, and chicken. If you're interested in how to cook chikuzenni, you can check out my previous entry, How to Cook Chikuzenni, Japanese Simmered Chicken and Vegetables.

Grilled Cheese Mayonnaise Shrimp (海老マヨチーズ焼き)

Prawn and shrimp are called ebi in Japanese. Ebi symbolizes a wish for a long life because of their appearance. When you are very old, you might have a bent waist, similar to the curve of a prawn or shrimp.

Kuromame (黒豆), Sweetened Japanese Black Beans

Kuromame (黒豆) are black soybeans, and "mame" symbolizes working diligently and healthily.

Just like the previous year, I cooked kuromame again. You can check out my previous entry, How to Cook Kuromame for Osechi, Traditional Japanese Foods for New Year Holiday.

Datemaki (伊達巻)

Datemaki (伊達巻) is a sweet rolled omelet mixed with fish paste or hanpen, creating a fluffy texture and sweet flavor. It is considered a New Year's lucky food because its rolled shape resembles scrolls, symbolizing cultural knowledge and wisdom for the coming year.

I made datemaki for the first time, using eggs and hanpen. I will write about how to cook datemaki in a future entry.

Sweetened Chestnut Paste (マロンクリーム)

Chestnuts are considered a lucky food because they symbolize success and victory, bringing good fortune for the upcoming year.

People usually cook kurikinton (栗きんとん) for New Year's Day. However, since Japanese sweet potatoes were quite expensive, my husband decided to make sweetened chestnut paste instead. Sweetened chestnut paste (マロンクリーム) is a smooth and sweet spread made from chestnuts, often enjoyed during New Year's celebrations.

Happy New Year's Holidays!

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