It took a bit of shopping (two Vietnamese grocery stores) and a while to cook (about four hours) but the excitement on the kids faces as they watched DaddyO open our Osechi Ryori box made it worth all the effort.

waiting to open the box

I went with five Japanese dishes (plus an Irish stew) and, like most intentional dishes, the majority of the ingredients were fresh and the directions easy to follow.

new years tree at our favorite vietnamese grocery store

Many Japanese friends recommended their favorite dishes. This website was a fabulous resource for easy to understand recipes. I had a long list of ingredients when EJ and I set out to shop.

the ingredients

Traditionally in Japan these dishes are made a day or two in advance so the family can relax and simply eat on New Year's Day. Unfortunately I'm not that organized and spent most of the afternoon preparing the dishes.

datemaki (egg omelet) ingredients... EJ watched a YouTube video which helped her make the majority of the roll herself

could not find dashi (fish stock) anywhere but fortunately it’s easy to make with these two ingredients

japanese sweet potatoes and chestnuts. such a simple yet delicious combination. oh, and the vietnamese grocery store has the special potatoes for under $2/lb!

Our first layer included Kuri Kinton and Datemaki.

In the third layer there was Simmered Ebi and Irish Stew.
The kids eyes lit up as they saw all the Japanese food and dug right in with their hashi.
Oishi!