My mother, Michiko’s, handmade osechi for 2023
I have always been a kitchen minimalist (I use a protein blender bottle to roll out babka dough), but time with a kitchen maximalist and regular access to his KitchenAid (no-mess babkas!) and thermometer (fully baked babkas!) has made me revaluate my philosophy1. New York kitchens are small, but some tools are worth the square footage, especially when they are multitaskers. A KitchenAid can even make mochi - or rice cakes - so appropriate for Oshogatsu - Japanese New Year celebrations2. The association with mochi and the New Year is rooted in the veneration for rice and its chikara (power). Thus, mochi, a concentrated form of rice would be the most appropriate food with which to welcome the new year and to celebrate the various Japanese kami (deities).
Mochi as a term can broadly encompass a range of chewy rice products (as I have written about previously), but the mochi that I speak of today is made by pounding sweet rice into a smooth and sticky mass that is partitioned into squares or circles (regional and family preference) and served in ozoni (the traditional mochi soup for New Year’s)3. While packaged mochi is sold in any Japanese supermarket, families still make mochi at home because when fresh, the mochi is intensely sticky and gooey, a fleeting treat. I like my mochi with soy sauce alone, but nori and sweetened soybean powder are other popular options. A combination of soy sauce and maple syrup is a quick hack to approximate mitarashi, that salty-sweet coating of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin that is often used for mochi. I swiped too many bites of fresh mochi from the KitchenAid this year, knowing that in a couple of hours it would harden and require toasting or poaching in order to be edible.
KitchenAid mochi in progress
My push for homemade mochi was driven by a desire to create the classic New Year decoration of kagami mochi - literally mirror mochi. Kagami mochi is comprised of a round mochi that is topped by a smaller mochi. It is said to resemble old mirrors that were made of bronze and is set out throughout Oshogatsu festivities to provide a resting place for the gods. In addition, one of the mochi symbolizes the sun and the other the moon. A tangerine (usually not stuffed) tops the mochi, which can also be adorned with other decorations such as dried persimmons. This display would traditionally be dismantled on January, when the mochi layers would be cut up and consumed.4
Kagamimochi attempt - topped with a stuffed tangerine souvenir from Jeju
The process was simple - wash 450 grams of mochi rice (sweet rice) until the water runs clear and soak for 10 minutes; cook; run KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment (pausing occasionally to scrape down the bowl) until you have a smooth and sticky mass. Turn out the mass onto a sheet that has been liberally dusted with mochiko (sweet rice powder) and form into two round patties - one larger than the other. Ideally the mochi would have been taller - a lesson to use less water next time, perhaps.
Faced with an enormous quantity of mochi following the KitchenAid experiments, I decided to make a version of ozoni for a New Year’s Eve gathering. My mother’s family (Nara)5 prepares a version based on kombu broth that is sweet from white miso and root vegetables (carrots, daikon, and satoimo) and filled with firm tofu. The responses to this ozoni were mixed. There is no accounting for taste, after all.
If the sweet white miso variant does not entice you, I encourage you to try another version of ozoni, as regional recipes abound. Just as many parts of Kansai prepare a version based on the sweet white miso (saikyo) that is associated with Kyoto, a variant from a region of Niigata with access to seafood features ikura and salmon in a clear broth. Kagawa prefecture in Shikoku, which historically produced white sugar during the Edo period is famous for an ozoni that features mochi filled with sweet azuki paste. Even within my family, my father’s side from Osaka (also Kansai) prepares an elegant version in which a steamed circle of mochi sits in a clear bonito broth that is adorned with mitsuba. With a freezer full of mochi, it would perhaps not be a bad January project to try as many regional ozoni variants as I can!
Ozoni featuring slices of duck in a clear dashi
If you can make miso soup, you can make my mother’s family’s ozoni, which is common throughout Kyoto and Nara. The quantity depends entirely on your appetite.
Peel and slice daikon (about 1/2 large daikon), carrots (2 medium), and satoimo (3-4) and place in a pot with enough water to cover and about 3 inches of kombu. Add one block of semi-firm tofu that has been diced into 1/2 inch cubes.
Simmer until soft - season to taste with sweet white miso. You will need a large amount, as white miso is quite mild.
Toast mochi in oven (400 degrees) or toaster oven and place in bowl. Cover with soup. Serve.
To use up the bags of mochi that are now in the freezer, I am considering trying this riff on an okonomiyaki.
Thinly slice cabbage and scallions (2 cups total) and add approximately two diced mochi. Add egg and combine.
Lightly oil a frying pan, add the cabbage and mochi mixture and cook on low heat with lid. Flip and serve with okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes.
My obsessive babka baking streak was prompted by a taste of the celestially laminated version by Breads. While at least three versions of their recipe are floating around on the Internet, none of them have allowed me to recreate it in the slightest. While very different, I have had much more success with the Ottolenghi recipe featured in Jerusalem.
Many Japanese families own a mochi maker (my mother, Michiko, makes good use of hers) so that they can make fresh mochi at home, and I am happy to report that the dough hook attachment of a KitchenAid works just as well (something tells me more people own a KitchenAid than a mochi maker).
Food in Japan is symbolic, and food during Oshogatsu is especially so. In addition to ozoni, Oshogatsu is also celebrated with osechi ryori, or a collection of up to 20-30 dishes served in stacked lacquered boxes. The assortment would traditionally contain specific categories of foods, with each layer assigned a category of foods. For example, the second layer would contain grilled preparations and seafood, while the third layer would contain simmered vegetables.
The osechi itself requires a not insignificant amount of work because of the variety of dishes involved, so many families now order them. The intricacy ranges from those offered by 7-11 to the most upscale of kaiseki restaurants charging upwards of $1,000 USD.
Japanese families are often faced with a glut of mochi around and after Oshogatsu. As such, recipes abound for creative ways to eat mochi. A popular item appears to be “butter mochi” from Akita prefecture, for which mochi would be “melted down” into a starchy gloop in the microwave or on the stove, flavored with butter and sugar, and left to set.
A quick look at a list of regional ozoni indicates that this is also traditional in Kyoto and that the tofu is not always included. There is certainly variation between families. and that certain families in Nara also serve their ozoni with a dish of sweetened kinako (soy bean powder) on the side to dip mochi.