Zōni

Zoni soup (Japanese雑 煮, Zoni orお 雑煮, O - Zoni ) is a Japanese soup meal, which was mainly eaten with rice cakes ( mochi), today especially on New Year's ( shogatsu ).

Zoni is said to have its roots in the cuisine of the samurai society. It is believed that it was originally a court was that uA battles composed of cooked mochi, vegetables, dried food was prepared. It is further believed that the court was first reserved the Samurai until it established itself as a staple food of the common people. Zoni was first served as part of a multi-course meal ( honzen ryori ) and to have been very important to the samurai.

The variants of the soup differ depending on the region, in most cases, is in the eastern parts of the country with a flavored dashi and soy sauce clear soup ( sumashi - jiru ), in the western parts of the miso soup base.

In eastern Japan rectangular cut Mochi are used in the west they are usually round. In some areas - particularly on islands and in mountainous regions where there is little rice growing - tofu is used instead of mochi.

Usual deposits of soup include meat (usually chicken, fish or meat balls), leafy vegetables (eg Komatsuna or spinach), mitsuba (a Japanese parsley), Naruto or other types of kamaboko, carrot flakes for color and flakes from the shell of certain citrus fruits (Citrus junos, in Japanese yuzu ) for the smell. Regional specialties are often used. A little Shichimi is sometimes added at the table.