Ozoni (Kanto-Style New Year Mochi Soup)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 東京都
Servings: 2人分
Ozoni, also searched as Kanto-style New Year mochi soup, is the clear-broth New Year bowl of toasted square mochi, chicken, and greens. In the Kanto style the mochi is toasted first, then served with kamaboko, mitsuba, and yuzu in a pale kombu-and-katsuobushi broth.
At a glance
Time: about 35 min · Serves 2 · Difficulty: easy · ≈ 220 kcal per serving (estimate)
Ozoni, also searched as Kanto-style New Year mochi soup, is the clear-broth New Year bowl of toasted square mochi, chicken, and greens. In the Kanto style the mochi is toasted first, then served with kamaboko, mitsuba, and yuzu in a pale kombu-and-katsuobushi broth.
Ingredients
- Square mochi (kirimochi / cut mochi) 2 pieces
- Chicken tenderloin (or thinly sliced chicken thigh) 100 g
- Komatsuna 1/2 bunch (about 100 g)
- Kamaboko (fish cake) enough for 4 slices
- Mitsuba (Japanese parsley) a few sprigs
- Yuzu zest (yellow yuzu) a little
- Water 600 ml
- Kombu 5–8 g (about 1 piece, 10 cm square)
- Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) 10 g
- Usukuchi (light-colored) soy sauce 2/3 tsp (about 4 ml)
- Salt 2/3 tsp (about 4 g)
Steps
- Put 600 ml water and the kombu in a pot and heat over medium. Just before it boils, remove the kombu, let the liquid come to a brief simmer, then turn off the heat. Add the katsuobushi and leave it undisturbed; after about 1 minute, strain through a sieve lined with a cloth or paper towel to make the dashi (if using a store-bought dashi pack or granulated dashi, prepare 600 ml according to the pac
- Blanch the komatsuna in boiling water with a pinch of salt until the stems soften, then transfer to cold water, squeeze out the moisture thoroughly, and cut into 2–3 cm lengths. Slice the kamaboko into easy-to-eat thickness, and cut the mitsuba into 2–3 cm pieces. From the yuzu, take only the thin yellow zest and cut it into fine strips or peel it with a citrus zester.
- Remove the tendon from the tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces, and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bring water to a boil in another pot and briefly blanch the chicken until it turns white, then remove (if using thigh meat, cut it into bite-size pieces and blanch the same way).
- Toast the mochi in a toaster oven or on a grill until both sides take on a fragrant brown color. Cutting each piece in half before toasting makes it fit the bowls more easily.
- Put the dashi in a pot and bring it to a gentle simmer, then season with the usukuchi soy sauce and salt. Add the komatsuna and warm 1–2 minutes. Arrange the tenderloin, toasted mochi, komatsuna, kamaboko, and mitsuba in bowls and ladle over the hot clear broth. Finish with the yuzu zest.
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Notes
In the Kanto style it is standard to toast square mochi and then add them to a clear broth. This is a different lineage from the round mochi and miso-based ozoni of Kansai.
A combined kombu-and-katsuobushi dashi is the base. When you are short on time, a store-bought dashi pack still makes a very good bowl.
Usukuchi soy sauce adds saltiness while keeping the color pale. If you only have regular (dark) soy sauce, use less of it and finish with salt.
Over-toasted mochi turn hard; under-toasted ones stay sticky. Aim for a puffed surface with a fox-brown color.
For a homestyle twist, spinach can replace the komatsuna and naruto (swirled fish cake) can replace the kamaboko. Chicken thigh is fine if you do not have tenderloin.
Time and temperature
Prep 15–20 min · Heat kombu to just below a boil, steep katsuobushi about 1 min · Blanch komatsuna until stems soften · Blanch tenderloin until white · Toast mochi on both sides to fox-brown · Warm greens 1–2 min in the simmering broth
Nutrition
220 kcal · Protein 14 g · Fat 3 g · Carbs 32 g
about 1 bowl (1 of 2 servings) estimate
Substitutes
- Usukuchi soy sauce → less dark soy, finish with salt
- Komatsuna → spinach or other greens
- Kamaboko → naruto (swirled fish cake)
- Chicken tenderloin → thinly sliced thigh
- Yuzu zest → a little lemon zest
Storage
Best eaten hot. Mochi left sitting in the broth turns soft and sticky, so refrigerate leftover mochi and broth separately and eat within about 1 day. The next day, reheat the broth first, then toast the mochi briefly or warm it in the hot soup. Freezing the bowl together spoils the mochi texture.
FAQ
- Why is my toasted mochi hard or sticky?
- Over-toasting makes it hard; under-toasting leaves it sticky. Toast both sides until the surface puffs and turns fox-brown, and cut the pieces in half first so they heat more evenly.
- The broth came out dark and too salty?
- That usually means too much regular soy sauce. Loosen the color with a little hot water or extra pale dashi, then add salt gradually instead of more soy sauce.
- Can I make ozoni ahead for New Year morning?
- The dashi, blanched komatsuna, and chicken can be prepared the day before and chilled. Toast the mochi the same day, reheat the clear broth, and assemble the bowls just before serving.
- What if I only have regular soy sauce?
- Use less of it and finish the seasoning with salt so the broth stays pale. Usukuchi soy sauce exists precisely to add salt without darkening the soup.
- What can replace komatsuna?
- Spinach is the most common stand-in: blanch, squeeze dry, and cut into lengths. Mustard greens also work; warm them briefly in the hot broth so they do not turn drab.
Origin and history
Ozoni is the classic New Year soup of toasted mochi with chicken, greens, and other garnishes in a clear broth. In Tokyo and the rest of Kanto, the mainstream version toasts square mochi until fragrant and seasons a kombu-and-katsuobushi dashi with usukuchi soy sauce and salt into a clear, pale broth.
It looks and tastes different from the round-mochi miso ozoni of western Japan, and is known as a clear-broth ozoni that grew out of the Edo-period culture of dark and light soy sauces. The garnishes—komatsuna, kamaboko, mitsuba, yuzu, and so on—vary a little from household to household.
This recipe is a 2-serving Kanto-style clear ozoni. Because you draw the dashi and prep the garnishes first, then assemble them in the bowls, you can make it on New Year's morning without rushing. The key is to toast the mochi separately and add them at the end.