Ozoni お雑煮 Kanto Style | Japanese New Year’s Mochi Soup
- Holidays & Seasonal, Japan, New Year's Eve, Soups & Stews
Ozoni お雑煮 Kanto Style is a traditional Japanese New Year’s Soup with a light dashi broth, chicken, radish, carrots and mochi | Japanese rice cakes. It is a healthy, warming and nourishing soup recipe and a great way to start off the New Year.

The Ozoni お雑煮 Japanese New Year’s Soup is prepared differently in Japan depending on the region, so a distinction is made between Kanto Style and Kansai Style. This recipe is prepared in Kanto Style, which includes the regions of Tokyo and East Japan. The Kanto Style Ozoni お雑煮 Soup is eaten with a clear dashi broth. The Kansai Style, which is common in the regions of Kyoto, Osaka, and West Japan, prepares this traditional soup very similarly, but with the exception that it is based on a white miso broth. The added fillings for soup not only vary with the different methods of preparation, but each family also has its own preferences when making a selection.
The Ozoni お雑煮 New Year’s Soup is traditionally eaten on New Year’s morning as part of the Osechi Ryōri おせち料理 (traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes) and is said to provide a good start to the New Year.
Ingredients you will need for this recipe:
- 1 chicken thigh | about 250 g with bone
- 200 g Daikon | daikon radish
- 2 thick carrots
- 8 shiitake mushrooms | dried
- 4 mochi | Japanese rice cakes
- 1,5 liters dashi stock | Japanese fish stock
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Shoyu | soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon Sake | Japanese Rice Wine for cooking
- 250 ml shiitake water | from soaking the mushrooms


How to make Ozoni Kanto Style:












(1) For the Dashi Broth
For the dashi broth, bring 1.5 liters of water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of instant dashi powder to a boil. Rinse the chicken thigh, pat dry, and add to the dashi broth and cook over medium-high heat for about 30-45 minutes.
(2) Prepare the Soup Fillings
In the meantime, prepare the soup fillings. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water, then remove the stems and slice into thin strips. Peel the radish and carrots, cut into slices about 1/2 cm thick and optionally cut out with Japanese cutters – here I used cherry blossom and plum blossom cutters.
Optionally, you can also cut 1 spring onion into very thin rings.
(3) For the shredded Chicken
When the chicken is done cooking, carefully remove the chicken thigh from the pot and allow to cool slightly. Then remove the meat from the bone with your hand or a fork and shred into small pieces.
Strain the broth with a fine-mesh strainer to remove bone, meat, and fat deposits.
(4) For the Ozoni Soup
In the clarified broth, cook the previously prepared shiitake mushrooms, carrots and radish for about 5 minutes over medium to high heat, then add the shredded chicken, 2 teaspoons shoyu | soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sake | Japanese cooking rice wine and the remaining mushroom water from soaking the mushrooms and simmer for another 5 minutes.
While the soup garnishes cook, prepare the mochi | rice cakes. To do this, bake the mochi in the oven with the grill function for about 3-5 minutes at 250 °C, until they puff up and turn slightly brown.
Alternatively, the mochi can also be prepared in the frying pan. To do this, heat the pan over high heat without oil and cook the mochi from both sides for about 1-2 minutes. Similar to the oven, they puff up and get a little color.
(5) Serve the Soup
In a Japanese Soup Bowl | Owan お碗, add one mochi and pour in the broth and the soup garnishes.


Ozoni お雑煮 Kanto Style | Japanese New Year’s Mochi Soup
Course: Soups & Stews, New Year's EveCuisine: JapanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes45
minutes60
minutesOzoni お雑煮 Kanto Style is a traditional Japanese New Year's Soup with a light dashi broth, chicken, radish, carrots and mochi | Japanese rice cakes. It is a healthy, warming and nourishing soup recipe and a great way to start off the New Year.
Ingredients
1 chicken thigh | about 250 g with bone
200 g Daikon | daikon radish
2 thick carrots
8 shiitake mushrooms | dried
4 mochi | Japanese rice cakes
1,5 liters dashi stock | Japanese fish stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Shoyu | soy sauce
2 teaspoons Sake | Japanese rice wine for cooking
250 ml shiitake water | from soaking the mushrooms
Directions
For the Dashi Broth
For the dashi broth, bring 1.5 liters of water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of instant dashi powder to a boil. Rinse the chicken thigh, pat dry, and add to the dashi broth and cook over medium-high heat for about 30-45 minutes.
Prepare the Soup Fillings
In the meantime, prepare the soup fillings. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water, then remove the stems and slice into thin strips. Peel the radish and carrots, cut into slices about 1/2 cm thick and optionally cut out with Japanese cutters - here I used cherry blossom and plum blossom cutters.
Optionally, you can also cut 1 spring onion into very thin rings.
For the shredded Chicken
When the chicken is done cooking, carefully remove the chicken thigh from the pot and allow to cool slightly. Then remove the meat from the bone with your hand or a fork and shred into small pieces.
Strain the broth with a fine-mesh strainer to remove bone, meat, and fat deposits.
For the Ozoni Soup
In the clarified broth, cook the previously prepared shiitake mushrooms, carrots and radish for about 5 minutes over medium to high heat, then add the shredded chicken, 2 teaspoons shoyu | soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sake | Japanese cooking rice wine and the remaining mushroom water from soaking the mushrooms and simmer for another 5 minutes.
While the soup garnishes cook, prepare the mochi | rice cakes. To do this, bake the mochi in the oven with the grill function for about 3-5 minutes at 250 °C, until they puff up and turn slightly brown.
Alternatively, the mochi can also be prepared in the frying pan. To do this, heat the pan over high heat without oil and cook the mochi from both sides for about 1-2 minutes. Similar to the oven, they puff up and get a little color.
Serve the Soup
In a Japanese Soup Bowl | Owan お碗, add one mochi and pour in the broth and the soup garnishes.