Osechi Ryori(おせち料理) is a subset of Japanese cuisine made up of dishes that are traditionally eaten on Oshogatsu (New Year's).
Since it was historically taboo to cook on New Year's day, Osechi dishes are typically stewed with lots of sugar, or they are vinegared to preserve them. There's a huge variety of dishes, each one, a symbolic wish for things like long life, wealth, fertility, and happiness. The food is then meticulously plated in a 2-3 tiered lacquered box called a jubako, which the whole family eats from. Since I was trying to save some money, I went with a cheap plastic dish that's intended to be used for serving cold soba.
Particuraly, no oshogatsu meal would be complete without o-zoni (お雑煮), a ubiquitous soup with rice cake that has about as many variations as there are cities in Japan.
Everything from the stock, to the seasoning to the stuff that's inside varies, but one common thread is that it always has a piece of mochi (sticky rice cake) inside. For my version, I took some dashi taken from katsuo, kombu, and shiitake and simmered some nankotsu (chicken cartilage) in it for several hours, I seasoned it with soy sauce and mirin, then added ribbons of daikon, and of course, a toasted square of mochi.
It's so delicious, so let's try OSECHI!