Ozoni is fascinating! Ozoni researcher Hiroko Kasuya and the Ozoni Festival
What kind of ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup) do you eat at home?
Our family's ozoni (New Year's soup) is made with chicken broth and contains decorative cuts of daikon radish and carrots. The mochi (rice cakes) are grilled until lightly browned, then soaked in the broth.
I've grown up with this taste and always thought, "This is what ozoni should be!", but my preconception was completely overturned at the "Ozoni Festival" held in Kamakura.
There, I encountered a variety of ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup) unlike anything I had ever seen before. Oyster ozoni, sweet tofu ozoni that was like a dessert... and even one with chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) and mochi (rice cakes)!
As I stared in amazement at the wide variety of ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup), Hiroko Kasuya, one of the organizers and representative of Ozoni-ya Co., Ltd., and an ozoni researcher, said this to me.
"Even within the same city or town, the ozoni (rice cake soup) can differ. Across Japan, each family thinks their own ozoni is normal. Even though everyone knows that it varies from family to family, there are still huge differences."
The history, culture, and lives of the people of a region can be seen through the dish of ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup). We spoke with Mr. Kasuya about his passion for ozoni and the charm of this culinary tradition.
Ms. Kasuya's interest in ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup) began when she moved to Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, in junior high school due to her father's job transfer. Until then, her "normal" ozoni was either a clear soup with oysters or the one her mother, who was from Kagawa Prefecture, made with white miso and sweet red bean paste mochi. However, when she was invited to a friend's house for New Year's, she was surprised to be treated to a brown ozoni full of bracken and taro stems. She learned that the "normal" ozoni differs from region to region and from family to family.
Kasuya never forgot the shock she experienced at that time, even after becoming a working adult. Although she was busy working as a small and medium-sized enterprise consultant, in 2009 she enrolled in the Women's University of Nutrition, where she studied nutrition and began interviewing people on the theme of zoni (a type of Japanese soup). Two years ago, she moved her base of operations to Kyushu.
"Right now I'm walking around Kyushu trying to pick up grandmas (laughs). I'm going around asking 'Excuse me' here and there. You really can't find out what kind of ozoni (rice cake soup) is made in each region unless you do that. I think there might be a lot of different 'normal' things for each person."
In Tokyo, they make "Natori Zoni" with leafy greens and chicken. So it's komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) and chicken, but in places like Atsugi and Hadano in Kanagawa prefecture, it changes to daikon radish and taro with green laver and bonito flakes. It's interesting that they don't necessarily use fish in areas where fish are caught, and instead value using root vegetables like daikon radish and taro to "keep your feet on the ground."
I also grew up in Kanagawa Prefecture, but my family's ozoni (rice cake soup) doesn't contain any dried seaweed or bonito flakes. What's "normal" to me isn't "normal" even if you're a little further away from the same prefecture.
For example, even the shape of mochi (rice cake) reveals a variety of stories. I've seen on television that the Battle of Sekigahara is the dividing line between round and square mochi. Sekigahara is considered a crossroads for various food cultures, and it's generally said that square mochi is used east of Sekigahara, while round mochi is used west of it. This is because, with the establishment of the Edo shogunate and the resulting increase in Edo's population, mass production of mochi became necessary, leading to the mainstream production method of stretching the pounded mochi and cutting it all at once.
However, in some areas of Kagoshima, square mochi rice cakes are used. This is said to have originated when the Shimazu clan, who stayed in Edo for a long time, brought square mochi rice cakes back to Kagoshima. Various histories intertwine and merge with local culture, giving rise to ozoni soup that is unique to each region and each family.
Even within a single region, there are such vast differences, yet it feels like a shame that there are so few opportunities to try ozoni from other regions. For me, ozoni is something I eat at home during the New Year, and I've only had a handful of opportunities to eat it outside of that time. That's probably why everyone assumes that their own ozoni is the "normal" and typical version.
So I asked Kasuya-san, "Do you have occasions to eat ozoni (a type of soup with mochi) at times other than New Year's?"
"I think Asakura City's 'steamed zoni' is a good model case. In fact, thanks to the efforts of the local tourism association, there are about 10 restaurants in the area that serve steamed zoni throughout the year. It's becoming a local specialty. When that happens, people who travel to the area can learn about the culture behind it. I think it's so unique precisely because it's home cooking. It's not the culture of a chef, but something that's preserved in the closed environment of a home. That's why I think it's been preserved in such a relaxed, traditional way. I hope that this kind of thing will become available to people when they travel to various places."
Because it's not served in restaurants, foreign tourists don't know about ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup). I want to make it so that these foreigners can also try it. It's clear that Mr. Kasuya wants to promote and preserve Japanese culture through his ozoni.
Kasuya spoke about her future activities with a cheerful smile, saying:
"Starting this year, I'm planning to focus on food education and community building activities. Instead of just me trying to pick up grandmas on my own, I want to create a fun system where local people can get their stories heard by local grandmas."
The story of how this particular type of ozoni (rice cake soup) came to be eaten in this region is often known by grandmothers over 90 years old who remember the culture before gas became widespread. It's impossible for one person to travel around the country and gather all the information in detail. Therefore, he shared his desire to work with local people to pass on the knowledge and information about the food culture of ozoni to the next generation.
The "First Annual Ozoni Festival," which Kasuya-san was involved in planning, was a great success, and by the time I arrived, two out of the six varieties had already sold out.
Lineup:
① Hokkaido "Chicken bone broth zoni (rice cake soup)"
② Niigata Prefecture: "Shibata Zoni"
③ Ibaraki Prefecture: "Hitachiota Zoni"
④ Nara Prefecture: Kinako Zoni (rice cake soup with roasted soybean flour)
⑤ Hiroshima Prefecture: "Oyster Zoni"
⑥ Fukuoka Prefecture: "Asakura Steamed Zoni (rice cake soup)"
Each one was different in taste, broth, ingredients, and even the shape and texture of the mochi, and they were all delicious. As Mr. Kasuya said, if we could enjoy ozoni (Japanese New Year's soup) at our travel destinations, it would make traveling even more enjoyable.
And if there's a "second edition," I would definitely like to go again.
Patting my full stomach from eating ozoni (rice cake soup), I decided that when I got home, I would ask my grandmother for the recipe for our family's ozoni.
