Happy New Year!
Happy 2023 from the Oishii Nippon Project!
In Japanese, the greeting changes after the New Year arrives and now, as of 1/1, we can say あけましておめでとうございます！(Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu)
There are so many New Year's traditions in Japan, but today we will share a little bit about Osechi 御節. Osechi or New Year’s dishes are another tradition (along with O-souji / New Year's cleaning) that started in the Heian period (794-1185).
Osechi is arranged beautifully in stacked lacquered boxes, called Ojubako. The stacking of them is intended to convey hope for continuous layers of wealth, happiness, and good to come.
Each dish also has a symbolic meaning filled with hopes for the New Year. Here are just some of the Osechi dishes and their meanings:
- Datemaki 伊達巻 / sweet rolled omelette: wisdom, scholarship, learning
- Kuromame 黒豆 / sweet black beans: health
- Renkon 蓮根 / lotus root: foreseeability, bright future
- Kamaboko かまぼこ / fish cakes: the Sun
- Kombu 昆布 / seaweed: joy
- Ebi えび / shrimp: longevity
We wish you all of these things and more in 2023!
２０２３年も宜しくお願いします！
