Sushitaro Osechi 2022 寿司太郎お節 2020

As always, we are so spoiled to have Sushitaro osechi.

This is a picture of the upper box.  I am not going into the details but its all good stuff. Many items are hidden behind and under the items on the top.

This is the lower box.

This was what we ate from the box the evening of January 2. I just served whatever caught my eye. This round was mainly items that go well  with sake.

The next picture shows is an assortment of goodies. I lightly heated (toasted) “Karasumi” 唐墨 mullet roe or botargo, and wagyu roast beef 和牛ローストビーフ, which makes the beef unctuous melting in you mouth and the karasumi soft with enhanced flavor. Of course, “ankimo tofu” あん肝豆腐　or Monkfish liver terrine is one of our favorites.

In this three compartment plate, I served (from left to right) “Mushi uni” 蒸し雲丹 or steamed sea urchin, “Uni shutou with yuzu-chilli” ウニ酒盗 柚子胡椒 from Maruhide 丸秀 and  “ikura shouyu-zuke”  いくら醤油ずけ soy marinated salmon roe.  I added wasabi-soy sauce to the steamed uni and made a cucumber boat to contain the ikura. All perfect for sake.

After these, we had simmered vegetables (again lightly warmed in the microwave) and finished with a mayo-biscuit my wife made that afternoon (subject of another post).

P.S. In the January 1, 2022 post, I mentioned that we thought we had some better zodiac figurines for the year of tiger but the ones we displayed in the blog were the only ones we had. My wife quickly remedied the situation by ordering two figurines from Japan, one (the first picture) perfectly matches the style we have for the other zodiac animals (it is made from earthenware as a bell called "Do-rei" 土鈴).

The fellows below came from the same kiln as the one above. But they have more accoutrements. Aren't they cute?

Hope we can used these figurines again.