Traditional Japanese New Year's soup - Zouni

zouni
Originally uploaded by SAIE

In Japan, each area or each family has its own zoni, a special New Year's soup containing grilled rice cakes (Mochi).
In the Kansai area, people enjoy a zoni miso soup which use white miso.
White miso has sweet taste and tender flavor than usual miso.
In Kanto (around Tokyo area), as Zouni, clear fish broth and soy sauce soup is more popular.
Zouni style and recipe is various in Japan.

For examlple,a Zoni at Takamatsu in Shikoku area, people eat red bean jam stuffed mochi in Miso soup.
When I think of this recipe, salty flavor of miso soup might complement a sweetness of red bean jam. It sounds interesting to me and yummy.

My zouni experiences are ...

Paternal lineage
Shimabara, Kyushu style. Cock with clear fish broth and soy sauce soup with long thin strips of radish, carrot, burdock root and chicken. Put grilled rice cake.
Before I got married, we ate this zouni at January 1st every year.

Maternal lineage
Kyoto, Kansai style. Cock with sweet white miso with fan-shaped (quarter sector) boiled white radish and red Japanese carrot. Put boiled rice cake. These white and red color project a festive atmosphere in a small bowl.

Husband's lineage
Hashio, Nara style. It is so unique. Soup it self is similar as Kyoto style but also add hard tofu and aroid (Satoimo). Vegies are cut roughly and it seems more provincially-style.
To give attractive colors, put trifoliate leaf (Mitsuba) on top.