Osechi – Japan’s New Year Food –

Posted January 2nd, 2010 in Food, Japan No Comments »

Osechi-ryori is traditional Japanese New Year foods.  Many different types of foods are beautifully arranged in a square box, and each dishes that make up osechi has a special meaning celebrating the New Year.  For details, browse wiki.

Restaurants, hotels, department stores, etc start to allow people to book osechi-ryori for the New Year’s Day around October.  People usually collect the osechi on 31/Dec, and enjoy the food in the morning 01/Jan with family.  The prices vary depending on where you are getting the osechi, but usually 1 layer ~ 3 layers of osechi cost around ¥ 10000.00 ~ ¥ 50000.00 (appx AUD$100.00 ~ $500.00), sometimes more than ¥ 100000.00 (appx AUD$1000.00).  Very expensive, but the food is very different from ordinal Japanese food that we eat everyday, and they all have special meaning.

Unfortunately I hadn’t had a chance to eat osechi-ryori for the last 6 years….  Last year on New Year’s Day I was in Japan (2009), but my family didn’t order/make osechi.

When I was little, my grandma used to make mochi (Japanese rice cake.  Japanese people eat mochi in the New Year’s Day)  We also prepare suki-yaki and buy sushi platter.  New Year’s Day is like Christmas here, we don’t go out but eat and relax at home with family 🙂

… this year, however I had osechi-ryori at my friend’s house!

It was so beautiful !  She makes these foods every New Year.  Amazing (#0#)   I enjoyed all the food …



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