Traditional Japanese New Year meal - Ozoni

The last days of 2016 John and I had a 24-hour stopover in Narita, Japan so I booked a stay at the Crowne Plaza Narita, which offers free airport transfers. A flyer in our room stated that the hotel offered several New Year’s events, one of which was an “osechi” breakfast. When I asked what it was Ayaka Ohara, the public relations director, explained that according to tradition nothing should be cooked on New Year’s Day. 

Osechi is a variety of colorful dishes in a bento box that is part of a traditional New Year’s morning meal that also includes ozoni.  The bento box (a box with single serving compartments) includes a variety of artistically prepared pieces of fish and vegetables. Ms. Ohara said that the next morning, New Year’s Eve morning, the chef would be making ozoni and he would be happy to show us how it is made. Ozoni is a soup containing a rice cake and vegetables – a traditional New

Year’s dish that is said to provide strength and prosperity in the coming year. On the first day of the New Year a dream that includes either Mt Fuji, a hawk, an eggplant, or all three portends a prosperous and happy New Year. 

The Japanese Chef Shimada Ikuhou said that in order to make osoni it was necessary to make dashi, a Japanese soup stock used in many recipes.

Ozoni

Dashi: Japanese soup stock

5 ½ quarts water

1 piece Konbu (dried seasoned kelp)

2 oz dried bonito shavings

Ozoni Ingredients (for two servings)

2 prawns or large shrimp

Dash of salt

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin (rice wine)

½ oz thinly cut white meat chicken

2 Kamaboko (1 pink and 1 white) slice each color in 1/8 in strips and tie in a knot 

6 slices of carrot (rosette cut)

2 snow peas (cooked)

2 thin slices yuzu (citrus rind)

1 Mochi (rice cake) baked

To make Dashi place water in a stock pot, add konbu, bring to a boil and cook for five minutes. Remove konbu and discard. Add bonito bring it to boil. Boil for five minutes. Drain, return to pot and allow to simmer.

In dashi broth cook prawns three to five minutes until pink. Remove. In a new pot add one cup of dashi for each serving. Add salt, soy sauce and simmer for five minutes (season to taste). Add mirin, bring to boil. Add chicken, snow peas, kamaboko, and carrots cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender. 

To make mochi: Preheat oven. Bake at 345 degrees for five minutes. Put mochi under the broiler for 30 seconds. Mochi should be soft with light brown top. 

Presentation: Put one mochi in a serving bowl, arrange prawn, carrots, snow peas, chicken, and kamaboko artfully around mochi. Cover with Dashi. Garnish with yuzu.

Around the world there are different ways to wish people good luck.  In Japan making origami cranes and string them together is a way to wish people good luck. John and I were in Japan few weeks after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Our hotel, the Peninsula, had many origami cranes adorning the artwork in the lobby in the hope of wishing the people good luck in the future. A thousand cranes are said to bring good luck to newlyweds. On the first day of the new year a dream that includes Mt Fuji, a hawk, an eggplant, or all three means that one will be happy. 

Learning how to make Ozoni

We found that taking the train to New York and then a cab to the

JFK airport is a way to save on airfare.  Our round trip ticket to SE Asia was $586. The same trip departing from Syracuse costs between $1000 and $1500 per person. The train and cab for the two of us costs about $350.  Besides the impressive savings we flew ANA (All Nippon Airways) which has more amenities than United – new planes with all the bells and whistles and great service.  

We spent the night at the Crowne Plaza Narita Airport in Japan.  It was New Year’s Eve and I noticed on the flyer in our room that the hotel was offering several New Year’s events, one of which was an “osechi” breakfast.


According to Japanese tradition

nothing should be cooked on New Year’s Day. Osechi is a variety of colorful dishes in a special bento-like box called “jubako” that is part of a traditional New Year’s morning meal along with ozoni.  The jubako (a box with single serving compartments) includes a variety of artistically prepared pieces of fish and vegetables. Ozoni is a soup containing rice cake and vegetables – a traditional New Year’s dish that is said to

provide strength and prosperity in the coming year. All cultures have various symbols and activities that are to bring good luck. In Japan, on the first day of the New Year a dream that includes Mt Fuji, a hawk, an eggplant, or all three means that one will have a prosperous and happy New Year. 

On New Year’s Eve morning, the Japanese Chef Shimada Ikuhou said he would be making ozoni and invited us to watch him make it.  He said that in order to make ozoni it was necessary to first make dashi, a Japanese soup stock used in many recipes.

Ozoni

Dashi: Japanese soup stock
5 ½ quarts water
1 piece Konbu (dried seasoned kelp)
2 oz dried bonito shavings

Ingredients
1 pp prawn or large shrimp
1 tbs soy sauce (or to taste)
1 tbs Mirin (or to taste – mirin is a sweet rice wine used in Japanese cooking) 
½ oz pp chicken
2 pp snow peas (cooked)
1 pp Kamaboko (pink and white) slice in 1/8 in strip of each color and tie in a knot 
1 pp (per person) Mochi (rice cake) baked
1 pp carrot (rosette cut)
2 thin slices yuzu (citrus rind)

To make Dashi, place water in a stock pot, add konbu, bring to a boil, boil for five minutes. Remove konbu and discard. Add bonito bring it to boil. Boil for five minutes. Drain, return to pot and allow to simmer. It is dashi. Put prawns in dashi broth cook three to five minutes until pink. Remove. In a new pot add one cup of dashi for each serving. Add soy sauce and simmer for five minutes (season to taste). Add mirin, bring to boil. Add chicken, snow peas, kamaboko, and carrots cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender. 

To prepare mochi: Preheat oven. Bake at minutes at 345 degrees for five minutes. Put mochi under the broiler for 30 seconds. Mochi should be soft with light brown top. 

Presentation: Put one mochi in each serving bowl, arrange prawn, carrot, snow peas, chicken, and kamaboko artfully around mochi. Cover with Dashi. Garnish with citrus.

The Shinshoji Temple in Narita

I wish it was as easy to get from every airport to our hotel as it was from Tokyo’s Narita. The airport is neat, quiet and efficient. After exiting the luggage carrel area we went to the Information Desk and asked for directions. She looked at the schedule and told us to go to Stop 13 just outside the door and the Limousine Bus would be along in a few minutes. We prepaid $30 by credit card. A taxi into Tokyo can be between $200 and $300 depending on the traffic. We went to the assigned spot where a digital readout listed the next bus, its destination, and how long before it would arrive. Meanwhile an attendant, wearing white gloves, tagged our luggage. The bus pulled up on time, the attendant loaded our luggage, and we boarded the new, clean bus. No tipping. Tipping is not common in Japan; it can be considered an insult! An announcement said, “Please do not use your cell phone. It will annoy your neighbor.” We arrived at our hotel relaxed.

We decided to spend our last two days in Japan in Narita. The Limousine Bus picked us up in front of our hotel in Tokyo and took us to the airport where we walked up one level and were picked up by the free Mercure Narita Hotel shuttle bus; 20 minutes later we were at the hotel in the city center. The hotel has a beautiful covered pool on the top floor, several restaurants and Happy Hour in the Half Time Bar includes free popcorn. The popcorn was our first real taste of home in three months. I said to the waiter, “The popcorn is excellent. Now I am hungry for a hamburger but I don’t see it on the menu.” “No problem we can make you one.” Often times hamburger meat outside the US is “different.” The hamburger was excellent and a great way to start our return to the US.

The next day we walked around the corner from the hotel and took the Retro Bus ($2) to the Shinshoji Temple complex, one of the most popular in Japan. The temple’s park was closed so they could repair the damage from the earthquake. The temple was built in 940 around a stature of the Buddhist Fudo Myoo deity. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and there were plenty of visitors. The temple architecture is beautiful, especially the Three-story Pagoda built in 1712. At the highest point in the complex is the Great Pagoda of Peace built in 1984. In the Great Main Hall we attended a Buddhist ceremony called Sacred Fire Rite. It is conducted several times every day and anybody can attend. During the service wooden sticks are burned on a platform in front of the image of Fudo Myoo. The fire represents the wisdom of Fudo Myoo and aids in eliminating earthy passions, which are symbolized by the sticks, and helps to bring worshipers to a higher state of mind in order to win the favors of Fudo Myoo.

The street by the temple is lined with typical shops and restaurants. After lunch in one of the restaurants we boarded the Retro Bus and completed the loop, which stopped at a large shopping mall and the airport. Anyone with 3 to 5 hour layover in Narita can take the Retro Bus.

Cherry Blossom Time in Tokyo

We were in Saipan when the big earthquake hit Japan, which was followed by the devastating tsunami and the nuclear incident. We were already booked to Tokyo and considered changing our itinerary but decided to stay with our original plan. The city is built to withstand most earthquakes. We were on the 33rd floor of the Conrad Hotel when the 7.2 quake happened. It would have damaged most cities but the hotel swayed a bit as it is built to do. In the nine days we were in Tokyo were daily 2.5 to 6.2 aftershocks.

It was cherry blossom time – usually peak tourist season in Tokyo. There were virtually no tourists but the parks were full of local people making us realize it must be unbelievably crowded most years. As is often our method we stayed at three hotels. The Mercure Ginza, in the center of the shopping area, had hotel-generated do-it-yourself tour fliers. Using one of the fliers we toured Ueno Park famous for its cherry trees. The park has several large museums and a zoo but we chose to go to the small Shitamatchi Museum that recreates the atmosphere of Tokyo from the 1860s to the 1940s when shop houses were prevalent. It was a beautiful, relaxing day. Following the information on another flyer we signed up for a free guided tour of the Imperial Palace’s East Garden.

It worked out perfectly because the tour was scheduled during the time we were at the Peninsula Hotel, which is directly in front of the Imperial Palace. The tour did not include the Palace interior. We were surprised at the simplicity of the Imperial Palace. The previous Palace was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt with low, straight lines. The Peninsula ranks as one of the world’s best hotels. Gotta’ love a hotel that has a fleet of Rolls Royces then purchases a special edition Mini Cooper perfect for city shopping trips. The hotel had two free iPod tours, which we enjoyed. One toured the amazing artwork in the hotel while the other took us across the street to beautiful Hibiya Park.

Our last stop was the Conrad Hotel with an incredible view of Tokyo Harbor. The 28th floor lounge has one of the best Tokyo views. The Conrad is across from Hama-rikyu Gardens where the cherry trees were in full bloom. After wandering the park we took the boat ride on the cherry-tree-lined Sumida River. Japanese gardens are works of art. Interestingly, so many of the cherry trees were destroyed during the war that we sent seedlings from the ones in DC that they had gifted to us.

Midway between the Mercure and the Conrad is the Shimbashi Enbujo Theater, the temporary home of Kabuki, Japanese traditional theater. It seemed a bit expensive until we realized it was about the same as seeing a Broadway show in NYC. We are so glad we attended. Even the least expensive tickets had good viewing. It included three different performances and lasted four hours. The English language headphones made it very enjoyable. Interestingly, between the first and second performances most of the patrons ate from a box dinner that they had pre-purchased or brought with them.

We were glad we didn’t change our plans. We have transited through Japan many times but this was the first time we stayed. The country is amazingly efficient, safe, and genteel.

Exploring Okinawa

Okinawa is one of Japan’s southern islands. It has one of several US military bases in Japan. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the heart of Naha, the capital city, with an incredible array of duty free shopping. We had planned to rent a car for a couple of days and tour the island but we could not because we did not have an international driver’s license. It has been years since we were asked for one so we didn’t even think to get one. However, it turned out to be for the best because we accomplished more by taking two day tours and for about the same price.

Because of the earthquake and tsunami tourism was way down so there were only a dozen people on the tour bus. The guide only spoke Japanese but we had a headset that gave us great narrations. We loved the guides because between the narratives they would sing a beautiful Japanese ballad. Very impressive. One day the tour took us to the northern part of the island where a lookout point called Manzamo, which translates into “where 10,000 people can sit.” We had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant served in what they call a “bento box,” a lacquered portioned lunchbox. We visited the aquarium and saw the dolphin show which was excellent but wish we had more time as the Ocean Expo Park is huge and we didn’t have time to visit the cultural village. The tour also stopped at the site of Nakjin Castle and then Nago Pineapple Park with great pineapple wine tasting included.

Another day we visited the southern part of the island which is where most of the fighting during World War II occurred. We stopped at the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters where the soldiers committed suicide instead of surrendering. That was followed by the Himeyuri Monument where over 200 young volunteer nurses (ages 15-19) killed themselves instead of surrendering. The most impressive memorial to WW II we have ever seen was the Okinawa Peace Prayer and Memorial along with the Cornerstone of Peace that is a place to remember and honor the 200,000 people who lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa and to “appreciate the peace in which we live today and to pray for everlasting world peace.” It lists everyone who was killed in the battle – Japanese and American soldiers along with civilians. It made me wonder where our “peace” memorials are. It was even more profound for us because we had just finishing reading “The Girl with the White Flag.” It is a young adult book written by Tomika Higa who at the age of seven wandered around the battlefield for seven weeks alone. It is an amazing survival story which should be compulsory reading – better than the Anne Frank story because she survives. While looking at photos in the museums we realized that the author was just one of many children caught in the crossfires of war.

There is an excellent monorail in Naha so we took it to the Shuri Castle. The original castle was destroyed during the WW II bombing but the replica is excellent. It was once the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom which ruled the island from the 15th to 19th centuries. It was impressive. Luckily we visited on a day when they had an excellent folkloric show.