Aomikan, or ‘green tangerine’ mark the beginning of autumn. They are more sour than sweet and make a wonderfully refreshing snack in the still hot late afternoons and early evenings of this season.

The early autumn aomikan has a delightful, berry-like ‘tingle on the tongue’ tartness to it, similar to the sensation of a perfectly fresh strawberry.

The mikan (ripe) tangerine are a winter staple and favorite of Japanese. During the New Year’s holiday, Oshogatsu, families will often buy a whole crate or more of mikan to enjoy together during the lazy several days of the family-centered, Christmas-like celebration.

In this season though, mikan are not quite ripe, but that makes them all the more tasty! Aomikan is one of Peko’s favorite fruit of all time. Mikan only stay ‘ao’, green naturally for a short time, so this is the time to enjoy them!

Ao, literally means blue, but in the case of aomikan it means green. Japanese often don’t differentiate between blue and green clearly. And that irks Peko.

Aomikan don’t just look exotic and taste great, they have medicinal value! Aomikan contain lots of hesperidin, which is an antioxidant. Hesperidin strengthens blood vessels and reduces cholesterol and blood pressure. There are lots of supplement type products available in Japan now that are extracted from aomikan. Now this is all very important stuff, but for a foodie, most importantly, it tastes novel and damn good!

Enough talk, now feast your eyes!

Aomikan

Actually, these aomikan are getting fairly yellowish. More expensive aomikan, especially those from a fruit specialty store would be deeper green.

Aomikan

Aomikan Peeled

Expertly peeled by Paku. Japanese like to have the skin be neatly in one piece after peeling.

Aomikan on Blue

Japanese often have difficulty articulating the difference between blue and green. I think this photo makes it clear!

Aomikan Inside and Out

Inside is mikan orange.

Aomikan on the Supermarket Shelves

I took this photo with Paku’s new and shiny iPhone a few weeks ago. Now, citrus, especially oranges and mikan are available year-round in Japan but green mikan are only available for a short time in the early autumn. By the way, these aomikan were grown in a greenhouse to make them ‘ready’ by Obon, in early August.

Aomikan Abroad
Aomikan is one of those things that could easily be available back in the US, where I (Peko) am from. But, I have never seen any. Have you?

Aomikan aren’t a new and exotic fruit, they are just a new and exotic approach to enjoying our existing tangerines!

Osechi (お節料理) is a traditional meal for the Japanese New Year (oshogatsu, お正月) that dates back to the Heian Period, more than 1000 years ago. There are various versions of osechi; from traditional to modern and even exotic (Italian, French, Chinese, etc), but all based on the meal being hozonshoku, literally ‘preserved food’.

The New Year’s celebration in Japan was the one time of the year that mothers and housewives could get a few days off of work. All the cooking was finished before the new year and no cooking was done for the three days (with the exception of ozoni, a kind of soup).

Osechi-ryori is a bit unlike other dishes in Japanese cuisine as it doesn’t seem to have changed much over the centuries. All the dishes are cooked with sake, mirin, shoyu and sugar and while tasty, seem decidedly austere to us.

All the different preserved items are served in a box.

We had osechi-ryori at Paku’s house this year. Paku’s mother made the traditional osechi dishes and her father made a snapper baked in salt. Snapper, or tai, as it is called in Japanese is traditional at New Year’s, however this version, baked in salt, though it may look Japanese is actually based on the Western dish of a whole fish baked in salt.

Osechi-ryori, Box 1

Mainly simmered and boiled foods; matsutake mushrooms (upper right), simmered whole octopus (lower right) simmered cod eggs and cod meat (upper left)

Osechi-ryori, Box 2

Baby sardines, egg roll, (grilled) salmon (top, left to right). Carrots, bamboo shoots, konyaku, ankimo (the liver of the angler fish, a kind of monkfish, said to be the foie gras of Japan) (bottom, left to right). In the middle are two pieces of smoked salmon wrapped in senmai-zuke (white turnip tsukemono), a popular and modern addition to osechi-ryori.

Osechi-ryori, ‘Box’ 3

Buri teriyaki, black beans, kinkan (kumquat) simmered in sugar and shochu, awabi (abalone) (clock-wise, from the top left)

Whole Snapper (tai, 鯛) Baked in Salt

Whole Snapper (tai, 鯛) Baked in Salt – garnished with Sudachi

This is the meat from around the head area, said to be the sweetest. Notice that the sudachi is now ripened to nearly orange. The juice of the ripe sudachi is surpisingly sweet and deep yellow-orange in color.

Yuzu Mushi (steamed yuzu)

The fruit of the yuzu is scooped out and it is filled with dashi (soup stock) and buri, ginnan (nut), etc are steamed inside the yuzu shell. Exceptional! (This is not a traditional New Year’s dish.)

Wagashi (和菓子)

A beautiful Kyoto wagashi. Notice the dab of gold leaf on the top.

Hatsumode is usually thought of as January 1st, although it can be a few days later. People visit a shrine or sometimes temple and pray for comfort and health in the new year. It is very common to see women in kimono and quite a few men too.

In photographing the shrine in it’s New Year’s get-up and the goings on of the visitors, I was very struck by how prominent food and drink is a part of this cultural and religious celebration. We visited Shimogamo Shrine, a UNESO World Heritage Site in the north of the city, in the early afternoon of January 1st.

People Entering the Shrine to Pray

Hatsumode Crowd

The lad in white is directing visitors to move along and keep order.

Praying

Pictured here is the shrine for people born in the year of the Sheep or Snake. In Japanese this is called eto (干支), the 12 zodiac animals, this of course, comes from China. But the actual shrine and it’s shinto religion are native to Japan. This is another example of how Japanese mix and match native and foreign cultural elements.

Shopping

All sorts of talismans and charms are for sale to help usher in and retain happiness and prosperity in the new year. From tiny items placed in a wallet or coin purse, attached to a mobile telephone or school bag to large items that are attached to a wall in a prominent place in the home.

New Year’s Offerings of Food and Drink

Drink consists of mainly sake, given by companies and individuals.

Chinese White Cabbage and Cases of Beer

The cabbages, called hakusai in Japanese, literally ‘white vegetable’ are from an individual, and the Asahi Super Dry Beer is from Asahi Beer Corporation.

Offerings of Mochi and Sake

The two red and black containers on the upper left are lacquered ritual containers of sake, an offering from a local photo studio.

Offerings of Sake

Hundreds of Bottles of Sake

Near the Main Gate of the Shrine Offerings of Rice

Offerings of Rice in Traditional Woven Straw Bails
The names of the donors are written on the wooden plaques, mostly area restaurants and inns (ryokan).

Offerings of Rice – Detail

A life insurance company and the Shimogamo Shine Ladies Associations have offered these bails.

Outside the Main Gate, Enjoying Amazake

On the right, people sit down to enjoy amazake (甘酒), literally sweet sake. Amazake is served hot and with a bit of grated ginger, it warms up the shrine goers.

Amazake Served on a Wooden Tray

Amazake is very thick and needs to be stirred while drunk, hence the wooden stick.

Oshogatsu Waiter

The boy in white standing is a waiter, notice his boy scouts uniform underneath.

People Washing Their Hands and Drinking Water at the Entrance to the Shrine
This is an essential purification ritual done by Japanese upon entering the precinct of a shrine. Japanese have a religious devotion to cleanliness, this is surely one of the reasons that so many kinds of food can be enjoyed raw in Japan.

Stoking the Fire

Visitors stop to warm themselves by the fire. This fire will be burned continuously for about three and a half days, during the peak of hatsumode.

Omikuji

Omikuji, literally ‘sacred lottery’ predicts the year’s fortune and comes in a vast variety, depending on region and shrine. The visitor’s fortune for the year is obtained randomly by various methods and is written on a piece of paper. The paper fortune is tied to sticks, ropes, tree branches, etc somewhere on the grounds of the shrine. There are 12 different possible fortunes available, ranging from very good to very bad. The ones with good fortune are often taken home and the bad ones invariably left at the shrine.

Food Stands

Food stands line the path in and out of the shrine and visitors snack on various treats after praying.

Ichimi and Shichimi For Sale

Ichimi, one spice and shichimi, seven spice for sale. Japanese food is rarely spicy, when it is it is on account of ichimi or ihichimi. These chili, or togarashi based spices are most commonly sprinkled on noodle and nabe dishes.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Japanese love baked sweet potatoes in the winter.

Tsukemono – Japanese Pickles

The Orange Torii Gate of the Shrine Can Be Seen in the Background

Yakisoba

Yakisoba, fried Chinese soba/ramen noodles are always popular in Japan. Here it is served on a shrimp flavored rice cracker with a sunny side up egg on top. We tried one of these, not bad.

Coffee and Sake Bar?

Getting modern on us! Even chai (from San Francisco) and hot cocoa!

Young Shrine Goers

The young lady wears a kimono in the winter style with fur (probably not real), the couple are enjoying some snacks purchased at the food stands.

The New Year’s celebration, in Japanese, Oshogatsu (お正月) is the most important celebration of the year, like that of Christmas in Western countries.

The food eaten at Oshogatsu are many and varied. There are numerous traditional dishes that are only eaten at New Year’s, and it is also now common to purchase the highest quality fish, beef and poultry for family feasts.

I went to Nishiki Market this afternoon to do some of my own shopping and to snap some photos for KyotoFoodie.

Nishiki Market cannot be beaten for shopping for Oshogatsu feasts, it not only has everything, it also has the best. And the delicacies are priced accordingly!

Oshogatsu Shopping Crowd in Nishiki
Nishiki Market is just a narrow shopping arcade street, normally it is literally wall to wall people. On the last days of the year, it is even far more so. The crush of the crowd not unlike the rush hour trains of Tokyo and Osaka!

All kinds of fish for sale!

herring (nishin), herring-kombu roll (nishin-kombu maki), yellowtail (buri), Spanish mackerel (sawara)

New Year’s decorations for sale.
This temporary stand was set-up on a side street.

New Year’s Flower Arrangements

Shinise invariably have oshogatsu flower arrangements in and about the store.

Nishiki Tea Shop with Nishiki Bancha

Bancha is the popular ‘everyday tea’ in Kyoto.

Various Teas for Sale, Roaster in the Background

The roaster produces bancha, and plenty of rich, aromatic smoke.

Roaster Detail

Roasted tea leaves spill out into the container on the floor.

Customers Sampling Kyoto White Miso
White miso is sweet and is the most ‘Kyoto’ miso. It contains very little salt — and quite a few calories!

Sozaiya-san

This shop sells various ippin ryori type dishes, think of it as a Japanese deli.

Sozaiya-san

Scooping up goodies!

Osechi-ryori for Take Away

The boxes seen and beautifully wrapped contain the osechi-ryori for one person’s oshogatsu. These are for sale, or perhaps pick-up for orders.

Dried Persimmons

Tanaka, Wagashi Shinese

Mochi (rice cakes). Mochi is a necessity for Oshogatsu and often handmade by families or neighborhoods.

Bodara – Oshogatsu Cod

Bodara (棒だら), cod simmered in shoyu, mirin and sugar. This is a shogatsu staple. On the bottom left are sweetened black beans with candied chestnuts.

More Oshogatsu Osechi Fixins

In the center are candied kumquats — candied WITH the leaves still attached. I had never seen them with the leaves still attached. This is the kind of thing that makes Nishiki Market a cut above the super markets.

Another Busy Fishmonger

This shop had lots of crab for sale. Japanese love crab, especially in the winter.
Tsukemono Shop

Japanese LOVE tsukemono (pickles)!

A Well Loved Grilled Fish Shop

At oshogatsu everyone wants to eat snapper (tai), so this shop changes it’s offerings to only salt grilled snapper (tai no shioyaki). Prices are steep!

10,000 Yen Snapper!

Priced from about $50 to $100+, think of tai as the Christmas goose of the Japanese New Year’s celebration.

Cooking and Selling Snapper

The men in the background are tending the ovens.

Fugu (Pufferfish) Specialty Shop

This shop specializes in fresh fugu, another popular Oshogatsu feast. A very special treat.

Fugu, Fugu and More Fugu

On the left is chunks of fugu with large, heavy bones intact for nabe (hotpot). I always think of this as being like whole chopped chicken soup in Chinese cuisine, the meat is nibbled off the bone which is discarded on a plate. Next is paper thin sliced fugu for tessa, fugu sashimi. Next, fugu no shirako, this is the sperm sac of the male fugu. Thinly sliced fugu skin, called teppi on the lower right.

Fugu, Fugu and More Fugu

Fugu, Fugu and More Fugu

Fugu no shirako, this can be eaten raw, steamed or lightly grilled. Again, it is the sperm sac of the fugu, you might want to give it a miss, although if you had it and did not know what you were eating, I bet that you would like it!

A Popular Mochi Shop with Popular Oshogatsu Mochi Flavors
On the left is the No. 1 ninki (popular) mochi, mame mochi (mochi with black beans), and No. 2 ninki is yomogi mochi, it is green because it is made with the mugwort (yomogi) plant. Yomogi mochi is slightly astringent with a feel something like mint. Next, to the right, the yellowish colored mochi is awa mochi, awa is one of several kinds of millet that was eaten in ancient times. Now it is mostly used in confections and mochi.

Various Kinds of Mochi

The pink mochi is ebi mochi, shrimp mochi. Baby dried shrimp are added to the mochi. These ‘loafs’ of mochi are sliced and usually roasted and eaten with shoyu and sometimes a bit of sugar. The bags of round mochi to the right is for ozoni soup.

TORO!

Honmaguro chutoro is wild maguro (tuna). Chutoro (middle toro) is the cut between the red meat maguro of the back and the fatty ‘pork belly’ bottom called ootoro. The prices are around $70 for a block of toro. While that is not cheap it can provide 4 or 5 people with a generous amount of toro to go with a New Year’s family feast.

Dried Cod

This dried cod is that is reconstituted and simmered with sweetened shoyu to make bodara, an oshogatsu staple.

Chinmi – Namazu Kabayaki (Catfish)

Chinmi, literally ‘delicacy’ is especially popular with drinkers in Japan (who are not on a tight budget). This item was labeled at ‘chinmi‘, it is broiled catfish (namazu). I have never seen catfish for sale in Japan before. Catfish are regarded as an indicator of a coming earthquake, rather than food in Japan. This shop specializes in fish from Lake Biwa.

Red Snapper Heads for Sale

The head of the tai are popular for making tai no ara, a nimono (simmered dish) ever popular with the Japanese. The slowly simmered tai head is carefully picked apart and the sweetest meat of the fish is teased out with chopsticks. Tai no ara is simmered with shoyu, sake, mirin, shredded ginger and sometimes gobo.

Fugu

Notice how rotund the fugu is. When fugu is written with the Chinese kanji characters, it is usually written as ‘河豚’. 河 is ‘river’ and 豚 is ‘pig’.
Dashimaki-tamago, Serious Business at Oshogatsu
Notice the sign with the number 2 on it. This shop is so busy that customers have to get a number and reservation at a different location and come to pickup their dashimaki at a set time, in order to lessen the chaos.

Tanaka Keiran (Tanaka Chicken Egg Shop)

The stacks in the background at the center of the photo are wooden forms that the dashimaki is put in and takes it’s rectangular shape as it cools down.

Making Dashimaki

Making Dashimaki — Frantically

Making Dashimaki

Miki Keiren — The Most Famous Dashimaki Shop in Nishiki
Miki Keiren is insanely busy. The sign at the upper center shows where to go to get a number and reservation for a New Year’s dashimaki.

Side Street with People Queuing for Miki Keiren Dashimaki Reservations

Queuing for Miki Keiren

Mishimatei in Daimaru Department Store

Right around the corner from the west end of Nishiki is Daimaru Department Store which is also an excellent place to buy tasty things. Here, the man holding the sign shows where the end of the line currently is for people waiting to buy their Mishima-tei fine beef for Oshogatsu dinner. I took this photo about 4:30pm when they were nearly sold out and therefore the line was short. On the 30th and up until early afternoon on the 31st, the line would be hundreds of people long, taking hours buy some Mishima-tei beef, which many people are perfectly willing to do.