New Year's at Okonomi
For many, the world of savory breakfasts - and especially that which includes fish and seafood - is a strange and unfamiliar realm. Such is the menu at Okonomi, a restaurant serving Japanese breakfast in Brooklyn. Typically, it includes miso soup, a bowl of rice, and a main protein with a few side dishes. I love it. Seldom do I feel as satisfied in my need for new and varied flavors - while also being able to lie to my body that I’ve seen the light of health - as I do when I eat Japanese food. And what better than to do so for the most important meal of the day. Recently, I got to try their osechi ryori, or traditional foods eaten on New Year’s, which is a special, larger course meal that they offer during the first few days of the new year. Ah, the sweet taste of symbolic good fortune.
Everyday:
Counterclockwise from the bottom: mackerel, simply grilled with sea salt; ??; sea cucumber, which I’d never had before but had a surprisingly meaty texture; radish salad; sweet oyster with lemon zest and sancho pepper; swiss chard with miso sauce; and omelette. Miso soup in the bottom right, poached egg with added-on uni in upper right.
Mackerel cooked with sake lees. They do not only offer mackerel, but it’s one of my favorite, so I tend to order it whenever it’s on a menu.
Osechi:
- King Mackerel Miso-zuke: miso-marinated, roasted king mackerel. Roasted fish is a prayer for a successful career.
- Namasu: pickled carrot and daikon. Orange and white are celebratory colors.
- Ebi No Umani: simmered shrimp. For long life - the bent back antennae look like an old man.
- Datemaki: sweet, rolled omelette. A wish for development of culture and learning.
- Nishime: braised gobo, carrot, and lotus root. Gobo to bring health and abundant harvest, lotus root for unobstructed view of the year to come.
- Kurikinton: sweet potato with candied chestnuts. Will bring wealth and prosperity in the new year.
- Kuromame: sweet black beans. For good health.
Sashimi: big eye tuna, striped bass, and bright red ikura with yuzu kosho. Red and white represent the Japanese flag.
Ozoni: clam broth with mochi. Stretchy mochi symbolizes longevity.
Multigrain Rice
Poached Egg
Date: February 2015, April 2018, January 2019
Camera: Nikon D40 (2015)