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Osechi-ryōri (お節料理) are dishes that are served in a special type of box called a jūbako (重箱) on New Year's Day. The idea is that all food is prepared on the last day of the year - and everyone enjoys a relaxing first day of the New Year. Since it needs to keep a lot of the dishes are pickled or cooked in vinegar and sugar. Some of my dishes had to be cooked before serving though - although some of the prep was done earlier. I definitely go for taste over tradition in my version - never will I make gobo tataki again! Also I made a layer mostly of things Elliot Mason likes - the Baikingman onigiri was a big hit! Mochi is a traditional food - and of course being the Year of the Bunny you can't miss an opportunity to cute-ify it! Osechi - Jubako #1 Full of tradition here! Kuromame (sweet black beans) are the one thing I didn't make from scratch - maybe next year. The carrots, shiitake mushrooms and snow peas were simmered in sake and soy sauce. Pickled myoga is not traditional - but it amuses me to add it in to help forget the last year (too much myoga is said to make you forgetful). It's the kind of puny punning that drives a lot of Japanese tradition. Also - might be hard to see - but the lay out is supposed to represent koi swimming through fallen sakura. The head is the bowl of kuromame and the myoga the tail, with the waved scales of the other dishes in between. Osechi - Jubako #2 Embracing the West here. To be honest not many osechi foods are all that mouth watering - so this layer is more about comforting food. Also I go against tradition in that I made some of these things on New Years Day before we ate - the prawns, renkon, tomatoes & camembert cheese I prepared just before serving. I also fried the chicken after the renkon - but this chicken actually takes 2 days to prepare. Prawns (ebi) are usually simmered in sake, but for the boys I grilled them in olive oil and then we ate them with a squeeze of lemon. Osechi - Jubako Layer #3 Various recipes to follow! Happy New Year!

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