My Yonsei 2020 Guide for Japanese New Year
As I have been developing more traditions for myself in New England, I have been thinking about how to blend my own cultural traditions from my childhood with my Southern Californian family and my adult life across the country. Some of this blend includes decorating my home, clothing styles, and foods I eat and share. While I do not believe in the Buddhist traditions associated with some of the traditional activities, I do enjoy the different foods and their flavors from the Japanese New Years table.There are well-established traditions for New Years foods in the Japanese culture and much of my concept of New Years foods are based on recipes my family prepared for the celebration. On New Years morning, my family would walk into Grandma's house and we could hear the popping wonton oil and smell of the fried dough. Through the archway, my brothers and I watched the pork-beef-onion wraps sealed with a little water on the edge, and the finished snack would be stacked by the frying pan to drain the excess oil. Often when we were young, Grandma would scoot me and my brothers out of the kitchen, but as we grew older, sometimes I would help stuff and seal the wontons with the Aunties. Last year, I began making the fried wontons myself and enjoyed sharing the process with my roommates in New England.
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| They look something like this. Can't take the photo credit. https://www.lifesambrosia.com/crispy-pork-wontons-recipe/ |
Another tasty dish that my Japanese-American family has adopted is our rice stuffing. Instead of making a bread stuffing, rice stuffing can be described like a fried rice dish, but without egg and soy sauce. Ginger and ground pork are the highlights in this dish for me, however I also enjoy the crunch of the celery and garlic flavor. Even though this dish would be an easy addition to any meal throughout the year, reserving the side dish for special occasions like Thanksgiving and New Years maintains a special memory and taste of the dish for us.
For this year, the final holiday food I will look forward to will be mochi. Mochi is a traditional sticky rice cake eaten during January. While one of the mochi traditions includes leaving out a mirror-like statue made of mochi and an orange, I look forward to the little rice cakes and manju. My dad tells me stories about how Great Grandmother would make Uncle Tom drive from Los Angeles to Gardena just to have the special mochi with red bean filling from Sukara-ya Japanese sweet shop. In recent prior years, Dad has taken Grandma to the same shop to buy some mochi for our New Years celebration. Continuing this trip for mochi has given space and time to remember and reflect on past family memories.
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| Chikara Mochi: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chikara-mochi-gardena |
Even so, although Sukara-ya was only fulfilling reserved orders, Dad and I were able to buy some manju and sweet white rice mochi from Chikara Mochi in Gardena. At this shop, the manju were beautifully decorated, some with shapes of flower blossoms and animal cutouts.The manju have always been a favorite part of the holiday for me because of their beautiful color and sweet flavor. In addition to the manju, we did pick up some trays of the white mochi and will look forward to warming them and dipping in the sweet-soy sauce mix. As a special treat, we planned to purchase enough mochi for me to bring to the East Coast. It is so exciting for me to have made more New Years memories with my family while also enjoying this traditional Japanese food from LA in my Massachusetts home this winter!
This New Years Day, some annual activities like watching the Pasadena Rose Parade, will have to wait for another year, but preparing traditional New Years dishes will serve as a reminder of the for the mindset of cutting loose old ties to the year and starting fresh will continue. Instead of feeling lost or as though I am missing a part of myself in this separation, I look forward to establishing my own New Years traditions by repeating family recipes and learning more about Japanese culture. Blending my cultural traditions with life on the coast of New England has been challenging to do while also maintaining a grounded sense of self. Today and moving into the New Year, I feel more confident in sharing a more authentic version of myself as I find union between the Katie of California and the Kate of Massachusetts. Praying for continued guidance, reflection, and growth this year.Happy New Years!
