12/31/2011

Toshikoshi Soba (Year End Soba)

On New Year’s Eve, as young girl I would sit in front of the T.V. and watch Japanese television. I didn’t know what the heck was going on, but every year since I can remember when I was little, we watched this same show. I was in a dark house with beige pull-up blinds, curtains much older than I and avocado-colored carpet. The house always smelled of something sweet and something salty, with the freshness of amazing produce from the hands of a woman who couldn’t pick a bad piece of fruit or vegetable from the market if she tried, my Bachan (Grandma in Japanese).

Bachan would prepare something very simple to bring in the New Year and I’d sit with a hot cup of green tea and a steaming bowl of Soba in a simply flavored broth with spinach and kamaboko (pressed fish cake) and slurp up the New Year in style. At midnight we would say, “Happy New Year!” and within minutes, the phone would ring and my parents would be on the other line saying, “Happy New Year!” and telling me that they would see me in the afternoon for Oshogatsu (the New Year’s Celebration) and Osechi-ryori, which are traditional Japanese dishes for good luck in the new year. We would finish our soup and then make our way to bed knowing this year was already starting off on the right foot.

Year end soba is almost written into the rest of my life. It’s something I must eat at 12:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day and something I just can’t miss out on and need to feel right (AKA I’m addicted). I love these traditions and I hope to keep them the rest of my life.

Toshikoshi Soba