It's finally beginning to look like holiday seasons! Are you ready for Christmas and New Year? (or Hanukkah or kwanzaa etc etc... if you don't celebrate Christmas and have different holidays!)
Japanese people don't often celebrate Christmas, but New Year's Eve and New Year are largely celebrated on December 31st to January 1st 2nd and 3rd all over Japan ,and it is believed that the celebration of the New Year started somewhere around the 6th century!
We have many special dishes that are eaten only during new year celebration. The most known dishes would be "Osechi" which is various small dishes to wish for various lucks, resiliency, and strength packed into "Oju", which looks like a few square bento boxes stacked on top of the another. However, my favorite part of the New Year celebration growing up in Japan was... you guessed it. Staying up late! That's right. We are not so different you and I.
Right before the count down started, we started (well let's be honest, I didn't cook anything. my mom did) cooking "Toshikoshi Soba" at our house. Toshikoshi Soba (lose translation is "to transit the years Soba") is also one of the special dishes that are eaten only during the New Year celebration, and it is served to wish end of the hardship you had in this year and to wish our health and resiliency for the coming year. My mom used to add stewed fish on top of the soba noodles, but it varies depending on where you are from. Hot soba noodle soup warm us up from the inside and prepare me and my family to go outside while it's cold to visit a shrine and food stalls around it.
At OkiDoki Tustin, honoring this tradition, We will be selling our handmade soba noodles for Take-Out! You can pre order now and reserve yours to be picked up on December 31st. Please experience this delicious Japanese tradition this year at your own home and let us know what you think!
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