Ever since we read about osechi-ryori in the Times last week we’ve become a tad obsessed with this traditional cuisine that the Japanese whip up for the New Year. Stacked jubako, a more elegant take on the bento box, are filled with delicacies deriving from an age-old taboo forbidding women from cooking during the first three days of the New Year. In addition to sweet potato and burdock root and bits of grilled meat or fish, the boxes often include kamabako, or fish cake, whose red and white color are synonymous with festivals in Japan and kuro-mame or black soybeans. Mame means "health," symbolizing a wish for health in the New Year. Although Julia Moskin’s piece included several recipes, Gothamist decided to purchase a premade jubako or go to a restaurant for this festive fare. We quickly ruled out Kai, the elegant Upper East Side kaiseki spot, which was offering a 30-item jubako for $350. Also out of the running was Hakubai's $80 brunch.
Despite the economic setbacks, we were determined to sample some Japanese New Year’s fare and settled on mochi. Fans of food films may remember the glutinous rice cake from a scene in Tampopo when an old man chokes and is saved by having the sticky mass removed from his craw via vacuum. Since it was just before the New Year, we decided to purchase the festive okagamimochi seen here. Ours was decidedly smaller and less ornate than those seen sitting atop the bars at Japanese restaurants around town at this time of year. Total cost: $3.49. On New Year’s day, we smashed the top of the plastic dome and removed it, uncovering the two-tier white mochi. Apparently the stuff about choking is no myth; the label on the bottom warned children and the elderly to chew thoroughly because of the gooey texture. With a glass of water in hand, we popped a shard of the white stuff into our mouth. It wasn’t chewy at all, in fact it was kind of gritty.
By now the desire for osechi-ryori was positively overwhelming. So we began frantically calling restaurants. Chanto and Sobaya were both closed. While impressed with our knowledge of Japanese cuisine, the gent who picked up the phone at Kasadela informed us that they didn't have any specials for the New Year. Then we called Village Yokocho. Jubako, was a no-go at this popular East Village izakaya. This disappointment was washed away when we heard they were serving zoni, a grilled mochi soup traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day. Gothamist also found out that the supermarket next door, Sunrise Mart, was selling jubako, but when we saw the $79.95 price tag, we balked and headed to Yokocho. After a 20-minute wait spent listening to techno and watching Kill Bill with the volume down we copped a seat at the bar and ordered up a bowl of zoni for a whopping $4.50.
The light fish-based broth bobbed with brownish broiled mochi, carrots, chicken, fish cake, daikon and greens. The whole thing felt incredibly healthy after the excesses of previous night. As for the mochi, it was indeed pleasantly chewy. And then it dawned on us: Perhaps we should have boiled our okagamimochi before trying to eat it. To insure prosperity in the new year we also had some red and white botan shrimp sashimi. The sweet-tasting raw bodies of the crustaceans were accompanied by their tempura-fried heads. We're not quite sure what shrimp heads have to do with prosperity, but the crunchy little guys were darn tasty in any case.
Village Yokocho, 8 Stuyvesant St, 212-598-3041
