Ozoni Mochi Soup Recipes

OZONI (JAPANESE NEW YEAR MOCHI SOUP - KANTO STYLE)

Steps:

• Gather all the ingredients.
• Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and put them in a small bowl, add ¼ tsp kosher salt.
• Add 1 Tbsp sake and mix well with hands. Let the chicken marinated for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, blanch the komatsuna or spinach in boiling water and cook until tender (do not overcook). Soak in iced water after removing from pot to stop cooking further.
• Squeeze the water out and cut the komatsuna into 1 ½ inch (3 cm) length.
• Make a knot with each mitsuba's stem. Peel the yuzu skin.
• If there is too much pith (the white fuzzy thing) was removed along with yuzu's skin, trim with knife. Julienne the yuzu peel very thinly.
• Add 4 cups (960 ml) dashi in a large saucepan or pot and bring it to boil. Once boiling, add the chicken pieces.
• Once all the chicken is added, cover to cook for 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of chicken.
• Once the chicken is cooked, skim the foam and fat on the surface.
• Add 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp kosher salt. Mix well and keep it on simmer.
• When everything else is ready, start toasting mochi in a toaster oven. Optionally you can do this on a frying pan or oven as well.
• Serve the chicken and soup, add the mochi and komatsuna, and finally topped with mitsuba and yuzu. Enjoy immediately.

OZONI (MOCHI SOUP)

Steps:

• Make the chicken stock: Rinse the chicken parts. In a pot, bring the chicken, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 2 quarts water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes, reducing the heat as needed to prevent a full boil (which would cloud the broth).
• Strain the broth and discard the chicken or reserve the meat for another use. Add the mirin to the broth and set aside.
• Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the satoimo and blanch until the skin is soft enough to slip off easily, about 3 minutes. Drain the satoimo, then use a spoon to scrape off the skin. Slice the satoimo into ¼-inch-thick rounds, then transfer them to a small saucepan. Add enough of the chicken broth to cover. Bring to a boil over high, then reduce the heat to simmer until soft, about 15 minutes.
• In lacquerware soup bowls or other small bowls, neatly arrange mizuna, satoimo and 1 or 2 slices of Naruto. Peel one or two long strips from the yuzu, then cut the strips very thinly crosswise. In a medium saucepan, reheat the chicken stock. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
• To serve, heat the mochi until puffy and soft, for a few minutes in a toaster oven or under the broiler, or 30 seconds on high in a microwave, and add it to the bowls. Immediately ladle about 1/2 cup hot broth into each bowl - before the mochi hardens - and garnish with a pinch of yuzu peel.

NEW YEAR'S DAY OZONI SOUP

Steps:

• Place mushrooms in a bowl and cover with warm water; let soak, about 15 minutes. Drain and squeeze out water from mushrooms; slice.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler on high. Place mochi on a baking sheet.
• Broil mochi, turning frequently, until inflated, crisp, and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Cut into 1-inch strips.
• Combine water and dashi-no-moto in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until dashi is dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken, soy sauce, and salt; simmer until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 15 minutes.
• Mix shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, carrots, daikon radish, and bamboo shoots into chicken mixture; simmer until vegetables are tender and shrimp is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
• Divide mochi strips among 4 bowls and top with soup. Garnish soup with kamaboko slices.