New Year’s Food: Osechi
あけましておめでとうございます (akemashite omedetō gozaimasu). Happy New Year! Literally, it means “honoring the opening of the new year.”
My New Year begins before my family wakes up, preparing the New Year’s ozoni soup. In our family tradition—which I later learned differs greatly by region or household—we use a clear soup. I see it as a clear beginning. The visuals matter too: white mochi (rice cake), an orange carrot cut into a flower (replacing the kōhaku kamaboko fish cake I can’t easily find in Rotterdam), a bit of lemon zest for yellow, a small piece of chicken, and some green like a snow pea. The soup itself is simple: dashi, salt, and a dash of soy sauce.
The different parts of osechi ryōri I prepare the day before. For my osechi, it’s:
筑前煮 chikuzen-ni (chicken and root vegetables)
伊達巻 datemaki (a sweet, rolled omelet mixed with fish paste)
えび ebi (whole shrimp)
なます namasu (thinly sliced daikon radish and carrot in sweetened vinegar)
門松 kadomatsu (a New Year’s decoration made of pine, bamboo, placed at the entrance of homes or buildings. I make it out of chikuwa, broccoli, green beans)
豆 mame (beans)
Each dish has a special meaning:
えび (ebi, shrimp) – A wish to live long, until the back bends with age.
れんこん (renkon, lotus root) – Has many holes, representing a clear view into the future.
ごぼう (gobō, burdock root) – Deep roots for a strong, long life.
だてまき (datemaki) – Rolled like ancient scrolls, symbol of learning and culture.
数の子 (kazunoko, fish eggs) – For fertility and flourishing descendants.
くろまめ (kuromame, black beans) – For health and diligent work.
Osechi isn’t really my family’s tradition. My mother never made it, nor did my grandmother, who was busy until the last moment at the noodle shop selling toshikoshi soba. But loving all things Japanese, I started making it when I moved to Rotterdam. I create my own version, getting creative since not all ingredients are available here. Later, as a mother, I wanted the children to enjoy it too, so I adapt: ebisen (shrimp chips), sushi rolls with egg, gunkan sushi with fish eggs, taiyaki (instead of real sea bream, from medetai), mame daifuku, red/pink and white candy for celebration colors, osekihan (rice with red beans).
Osechi is specially prepared to last three days, giving women a break from cooking in the New Year. My mother never liked osechi—I think because it’s heavily sweetened, salted, pickled, or whatever. Tradition doesn’t have to mean preserving everything exactly as it was. It can evolve. When tradition becomes too old and dusty, it no longer appeals to the younger generation and won’t be passed down.
For me, osechi is about sitting as a family, enjoying food, taking time for each other, and recognizing our roots and our paths.
