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Osechi ryori

Osechi ryori is special food that is cooked to celebrate the New Year in Japan. It consists of numerous dishes eaten throughout the New Year’s holidays until about January 3rd.

Traditionally osechi was completed on New Year’s Eve and made to last for a few days so homemakers could lessen their housework load during the holidays.These osechi dishes are neatly placed in jubako (layered lacquer boxes), stacked in tiers of as many as four levels, and all of the dishes hold meaning including happiness, good health, fertility, good harvest, and long life.

Though osechi ryori differs from household to household, some dishes that make up osechi dishes are tai (sea bream), kombu (edible kelp), kazunoko (herring roe), datemaki (sweet egg roll), kamaboko (processed seafood), and kuromame (black bean).

To avoid the time-consuming process of cooking the dishes, more people these days order osechi at department stores, grocery stores, convenient stores, restaurants and even online.　More people are also straying away from the traditional Japanese osechi and are ordering organic, vegetarian, western, or Chinese style osechi for health reasons or to bring variety to the plate.