Yay my osechi cooking is almost complete! This one had to be hand delivered, so boxed it in real typical bento style. I am going to now work on another box for tonight.
Each items will be introduced & explained in the following posts!
A little story around osechi🍱✨
Osechi is a celebrative Japanese bento to be enjoyed at home on the New Year’s day. Each item has special wishes, with many good luck meanings behind. Also, it was meant to be a preservative bento that lasts for several days in the new year (to lessen the burden of housewives- I wonder if it gets offset with this extreme cooking pressure though…😂).
We can usually get Osechi items in super markets, department stores, even in convenience stores like Seven-Eleven as soon as Christmas is over😳
I think there’s not much people cooking /having full set osechi these days, but my grandmother used to cook, and the memory of family gathering around her handmade osechi is always special.
Usually we have three boxed bentos (formal is five). They are called “Oju/お重” or “Juubako/重箱”.
This time I did two – there are all sorts, but usually in theory:
First box (top): Celebrative hors d’oeuvre
Second box(middle): Fish, seafood items, pickled items
Third box (bottom): Braised veggies
As for flavors – almost non oil and no garlic / ginger / onion etc – which is typically the case for traditional Japanese cooking – we really go with the taste of dashi & soy sauce & umami the ingredient has.
Special point this year🇸🇬 Singapore is warm even in this season… 😇🌞So kept everything in fridge & drained much juice as possible with paper towels, so food will not get bad💡
✨🍱✨🍱✨🍱✨
おせちがほぼ出来上がりました😇
海鮮系がなく＆少量だったので、作業量としてはそこまでハードではなかったものの、夕方からほぼ徹夜になってしまいました。
英語でお節の紹介を書きながら、”クリスマスの翌日から、コンビニ含めて街のあらゆる場所で売ってる”という事実に妙に感動を覚えました😳笑
こんなにすごい季節限定のお弁当、世界を見ても、なかなかないですよね。。！
祖母の手作りおせちが大好きすぎて、お料理を学び始めたことを思い出します。。🥰✨
お重は無事旅立ち（本当に重詰って難しいです。。！）、お皿へも盛り込んでみたいと思います。
色々と発見や反省点もあり、次回より各品目について、総括してまいります。
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