Junes Ozoni Recipes

Steps:

• Make chicken stock by cooking chicken breasts in 8 cups boiling water and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes, (add dried scallops here if you like) then lower heat and cook for about 30 minutes. While making stock, wash and drain all vegetables. Cut mizuna into 2 strips (you won't need much of this-just to add green color). Slice the kamaboko fairly thin. Put a few mochi into toaster and toast until puffy.
• Remove chicken from stock onto a plate. While chicken is cooling, strain the soup in either cheesecloth or some kind of cloth to strain* to a clean pot. Add the carrots and daikon and cook until tender (about 10 to 15 minutes). (Shred 1 breast of chicken and add to broth. Save the rest to make chicken salad or whatever for another time.) Check flavor and add salt if needed. Just before serving, put mizuna in soup just to parboil-must be crunch/crisp. Put toasted mochi in a bowl, pour the soup over mochi, then put several slices of kamaboko on top and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat a toaster oven (or regular oven) to 450 degrees F.
• Place the mochi on a small baking sheet, spacing the pieces at least 2 inches apart, and bake until lightly golden and puffed up, about 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Using a spider or tongs, transfer the spinach to the ice bath just until cooled, then drain. Squeeze any excess liquid from the spinach. Form into a tight "log" about 5 inches long, then cut crosswise into 4 equal pieces and set aside.
• Combine the chicken, 2 tablespoons of the sake and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a very small saucepan. Add 3/4 cup water (or enough to just cover the chicken). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and gently simmer, stirring once or twice, until the chicken is just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring the dashi to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the daikon, shiitakes and carrot and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce, remaining 1 tablespoon sake and 1 teaspoon salt. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
• Drain the chicken and divide it among 4 soup bowls (preferably narrow and deep). Place a piece of mochi and fish cake, if using, in each bowl. Top with the broth and vegetables, followed by a parcel of spinach. Sprinkle with yuzu or lemon zest, if using, and serve.
• Combine the kombu and 6 cups cold water in a medium saucepan and let sit for about 30 minutes. (You can skip this step if you're short on time, but it does lend a little extra flavor.) Heat over medium heat just until the water comes to a near boil, but doesn't actually boil, about 5 minutes. Discard the kombu.
• Scatter the katsuobushi evenly over the water, bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately remove from the heat. Let steep, undisturbed, for about 10 minutes.
• Pour the dashi through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl or quart-size measuring cup. Do not press down on the katsuobushi, which can make the dashi cloudy and/or bitter.
• Dashi is best used the day it is made but can be cooled and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Makes about 5 cups