Quick and easy Recipe

Enjoy hearty Ozoni (Japanese New Year Mochi Soup) for New Year’s Day breakfast.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken thigh 
• ¼ tsp salt (for the chicken)
• 1 tbsp of cooking sake
• 4 stalks of Asian spinach
• Yuzu/ Lemon zest (optional)
• 4 pieces Japanese rice cake (mochi)
• 4 cups of dashi

How to cook Ozoni:

1. Before you start cooking, make a small pot of Dashi (you need 4 cups). Best to prep it a night before and store your dashi soup in the fridge for convenience.
2. Cut 1 chicken thigh into bite-sized pieces and put them in a small bowl. Then, add ¼ tsp of salt,
3. Add 1 tbsp of cooking sake. mix well with your hands and let the chicken marinate for at least 15 minutes.
4. Whilst waiting for the chicken finish marinating, boil your spinach for 3 to 4 minutes. When done, remove the spinach from the pot and soak it in iced water to stop the cooking.
5. Squeeze the water out of the spinach and cut it into pieces 1½ inches (3 cm) long. Set aside for now,
6. Next, peel 2–3 thick strips of yuzu zest (optional – this is for the garnish,
7. Add 4 cups dashi to a medium pot and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the chicken pieces and cover the pot with a lid to cook for 5–7 minutes.
8. Skim off the foam and fat from the surface of the soup with a fine-mesh strainer when the chicken is done.
9. Turn down your heat to small or medium heat then add 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp salt. Stir well and keep it covered on a simmer.
10. Once the soup broth and toppings are ready, place 4 pieces mocha directly on the rack of a toaster oven or oven and toast until puffy. Set your oven to 250C to toast your mochi.

Serve the gorgeous soup in individual serving bowls. Add one piece of toasted mochi on top of the soup in each bowl and top with spinach (optional) and yuzu (optional). I would definitely recommend you to enjoy it ASAP!