The holiday season is here, and UH News is asking members of the UH ʻohana to share their favorite recipes. The hope is these recipes and the short stories that accompany them will give everyone some recipe ideas for the holidays.
Alan Tsuchiyama, a Kapiʻolani Community College alumnus and faculty member for 23 years, shared his family’s recipe for ozoni, a simmered mochi soup that is traditionally the first meal of the new year as an expression of good fortune and luck for the coming year.
Each family and region in Japan has its own ozoni recipe, and Japanese immigrants carried the recipe to Hawaiʻi. Tsuchiyama inherited this “simple” version of ozoni from his mother-in-law (from the Miura family of Honolulu).
“[She] used to make it for the household,” he said. “Now I carry the tradition.”
According to Tsuchiyama, the key to making this “clean-tasting broth” is to find quality ingredients from local markets.
“The large and orange dried shrimp can be found at Tamashiro Market on North King Street, while the mochi can be purchased at Nisshodo Candy Store on Dillingham Boulevard,” he said. “We teach our students about supporting local businesses and so it’s important to do the same.”
See more UH-mazing holiday recipes
Tsuchiyama teaches the American and Sustainable Cuisines class and also runs the 220 Grill, a sustainable food bistro, on the Kapiʻolani CC campus.
Grandma Yama’s New Year’s Day Ozoni
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients for the clear soup “osumashi”
- 1 gallon water
- 1 ½ cups dried shrimp (good quality, large and orange)
- ¼ cup shoyu
- 1 Tbsp. salt
Directions
- Simmer dried shrimp in water for one hour.
- Strain or remove the shrimp.
- Add shoyu and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Soup garnishes
- 6 mochi, simmered in water until soft and floating
- 2 bunches mizuna, small bunches, blanched, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1 fish cake (kamaboko), sliced into strips
To serve
- In a bowl, place a cooked mochi, blanched mizuna and strips of kamaboko.
- Ladle the hot soup over the mochi and enjoy.
Happy New Year!
