Typically consumed just once a year on New Year’s Day, this brothy soup is comforting and nourishing. It’s also said to bring good luck and good fortune to those who eat it. Ozoni is highly customizable, but it must always contain pieces of chewy mochi. The rice cakes are traditionally pounded by hand but are now sold already prepared and are easy to find in Japanese markets around the New Year. This version from chef Chris Ono includes pork belly that simmers in a mix of dashi, soy sauce, sake and ginger until tender. To balance that richness, he serves this soup with lots of mizuna leaves, which can easily be substituted with spinach.

Ozoni (New Year Mochi Soup)

Recipe from Chris Ono Adapted by Khushbu Shah

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce kombu

• 1 3/4 ounces bonito (skipjack tuna) flakes (katsuobushi)

• 2 cups soy sauce

• 1 cup sake

• 1/2 cup mirin

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 (5-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thickly sliced

• 2 pounds pork belly without skin

• 6 ounces mizuna, cut in 2-inch lengths, or spinach

• 8 pieces fresh or thawed frozen mochi squares (see Tip)

• 3 ounces fish cake (kamaboko), cut into 8 (1/4-inch) slices

• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

In a large pot, combine 18 cups water and the kombu and cook over moderately high heat until barely simmering, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for 1 hour. Remove the kombu.

Bring the kombu liquid to a boil. Add the bonito flakes, turn off the heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Pour the kombu-bonito dashi into a clean pot through a fine strainer.

In a large saucepan, combine 4 cups of the strained dashi with the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar and ginger; whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add the pork belly and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the pork belly is tender, about 2 hours. Transfer the pork belly to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Cut the pork belly into 24 slices.

Meanwhile, cook the mizuna in a medium pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Form the mizuna into 8 small bundles.

Assemble the ozoni: Bring the dashi to a simmer. In each of 8 bowls, arrange a mizuna bundle, a piece of fresh mochi, a slice of fish cake, 3 slices of pork belly and about a tablespoon of scallions. Pour the hot dashi on top and serve at once.

Total time: 3 hours, 50 minutes, serves 8.

Tip:

If you can find only dried mochi, microwave it for 35 to 40 seconds until soft and stretchy.

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