Japanese Cuisine - Dishes For Special Occasions

Dishes For Special Occasions

In Japanese tradition some dishes are strongly tied to a festival or event. These dishes include:

  • Botamochi, a sticky rice dumpling with sweet azuki paste served in spring, while the term Hagi/Ohagi is used in autumn.
  • Chimaki (steamed sweet rice cake): Tango no Sekku and Gion Festival.
  • Hamo (a type of fish, often eel) and somen: Gion Festival.
  • Osechi: New Year.
  • Sekihan, literally "red rice", is served for any celebratory occasion. It is usually sticky rice cooked with azuki, or red bean, which gives the rice its distinctive red color.
  • Soba: New Year's Eve. This is called toshi koshi soba (ja:年越しそば) (literally "year crossing soba").
  • Chirashizushi, Ushiojiru (clear soup of clams) and amazake: Hinamatsuri.

In some regions every 1st and 15th day of the month people eat a mixture of rice and azuki (azuki meshi (小豆飯), see Sekihan).

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