🍲 White Miso Zoni (New Year s Soup Dish)

This dish is prepared with white miso soup, round mochi, beautifully cut and arranged daikon radish, carrots, taro, and the like. The history of the Zoni New Year's Soup goes back an incredibly long time, and it's said that it was already eaten even during the Muromachi period. It was served to celebrate the societal elite, but it is said to have spread among the masses and common people during the Edo period. Even today, eating Zoni on New Year's Day is a nationwide custom, but the ingredients and seasonings used vary by region and household. The Zoni variety using round mochi and white miso has been widely popular since long ago, not only in Osaka, but also in the Kansai region. The daikon radish and carrots that make up part of the recipe are cut into round slices. Round ingredients are used because they carry the auspicious meaning of the Japanese saying of, "may we spend our time harmoniously without raising any corners." The "raising corners" refers to the act of causing offense or creating hard feelings. When the New Year's season draws close, supermarkets in Osaka will begin to sell Zoni daikon radish and Kintoki carrots to be used as New Year's vegetables. Zoni daikon is a smaller, thinner daikon variety, and when cut into circles, they happen to be just the right size for a bowl of Zoni soup. The Kintoki carrot is slim in the same way and is also an heirloom vegetable that has been grown in Osaka since long ago.