Osechi ryori

[Jeff S]

One of the great things about taking this adventure, in my estimation, is the exposure to an ancient and exotic (at least by western standards) culture filled with spirituality. Take the traditional Japanese New Year's food, called osechi ryori. Sechi  means the change of seasons, and ryori means cuisine. Originally started in the Heian era in Japan (~ 800-1200 AD) each of the food items has its own significance, and is eaten for a purpose. Kazunoko (herring roe) signifies the importance of your children, gobo (burdock root) signifies a connection to the earth and energy, kuro mame (black soybeans) signifies hard work and productivity, hasu (lotus root) to see your purpose into the future, gomame (tiny anchovies) signifies a bountiful harvest, kamaboko (fish cake) signifies the rising sun or new beginnings, datemaki (rolled whipped eggs) signifies the importance of knowlege and continuing education, takenoko (bamboo shoot) signifies virtue and fidelity, and kobumaki (rolled seaweed) symbolizes happiness.

Osechi ryori is taken pretty seriously, and everyone should eat at least a little of each item to remind themselves of the upcoming year and their necessity to strive to acheive the goals the foods symbolize.

Mariko has been in the US for nearly 20 years and considers herself pretty Americanized, but she still insists on preparing a traditional osechi ryori. It's an important tradition to her. BTW, she makes most of these dishes far better than even some of the very expensive resturaunts in Tokyo, where my in-laws used to buy it every year, Anyway here was our 2005 osechi ryori:

http://www.spirainternational.com/pictures/osechi.jpg

- Jeff

[Ray]

... in response to Osechi ryori, posted by Jeff S on Jan 2, 2005

Very interesting Jeff!

The Filipinos have similar traditions where a large spread of food is laid out on New Year’s Eve for a midnight feast.

I’m not positive of the significance of some of the stuff, but in general, most represents some kind of prosperity or good luck for the New Year.

There are usually noodles, pancit or spaghetti, to signify long life. The wife was going to cook pancit (Filipino noodle dish), but since I made lasagna, we just went with those noodles instead. I told her that lasagne noodles are better than the chinese noodles because you not only guarantee a long life, but a wide one as well :-).

Then there is lots of fruit, but only round fruit. Maybe bananas are bad luck? There must be 7 of each fruit (or 12), maybe for good luck or maybe one for each month of the year?? We had seven apples, seven oranges, twelve lanzones, twelve grapes, one(?) cantaloupe, etc.  Maybe she thought 7 cantaloupe were too much??? Beats me!

Then we cooked fried rice, ham, puto (no, not the kind you find on the Latin forum), longoniza sausages (don’t ask – don’t tell), and of course a black-eyed pea dish. The traditional black-eyed peas signify loud farts, which help you simulate fireworks to celebrate the New Year.

Happy New Year! BRRRRRRRRRRRT! OOPS! I just stepped on a frog…

Ray

[Jeff S]

... in response to Re: Osechi ryori, posted by Ray on Jan 3, 2005

That's great Ray - and I agree, a long wide life is a lot more fun than a long skinny one. And since we Californians can't be trusted with fireworks (for the children, you see) you gotta simulate them with something!

- Jeff

[Bob S]

... in response to Osechi ryori, posted by Jeff S on Jan 2, 2005

We were wiped after our world tour trip, so no osechi for us (and forget the ichi-man yen osechi bento boxes you get at the depato).  But Ako-chan made a tasty ozoni to kick off the new year (hey, where's my black-eyed peas?).  She got us up at dawn to see the sunrise on New Years Day.  She misses the omikuji (fortune-telling sticks) but not the fukubukoro (department store happy grab bags) which she considers wasteful junk.

Well, back to the grindstone.

[Jeff S]

... in response to No osechi, how about Ozoni, posted by Bob S on Jan 2, 2005

Sure, you gotta have zoni with mochi. It always reminds me of unleavened bread and bitter herbs. As long as you have plenty of ohtoso to wash it down with, I guess it's palpatable.

It's interesting how Japanese don't make a deal out of staying up til midnight on New Years Eve to pop champagne, eat pickled herring, and watch the ball drop at Times Square, but do about getting up to see the first sunrise.

I spent four or five shogatsu in Japan but never did the omikuji. Mariko was never too interested. I've seen people doing them at Kamakura and of course on TV, though. I miss throwing money at the shrine, myself.

- Jeff

[Stephen]

... in response to Osechi ryori, posted by Jeff S on Jan 2, 2005

Looks great.  Thanks for sharing.

I'm getting hungry.  Let's do lunch at our favorite viet nam place.

Stephen