New Year’s Soup

O-Toso

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Preparation info
  • Serves

    four

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
The Japanese Cookbook

By Emi Kazuko and Yasuko Fukuoka

Published 2024

  • About

The elaborate New Year’s Day celebration brunch starts with a tiny glass of spiced warm sake, o-toso. Then, this New Year’s soup, O-zoni, and other festive dishes are served.

Ingredients

  • 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 300 g/11 oz chicken thighs, bones removed and reserved
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Method

  1. First, make the soup stock. Soak the dried shiitake overnight in 1 litre/1¾ pints/4 cups cold water. Remove the softened shiitake and pour the water into a pan. Bring to the boil, add the chicken bones, then reduce the heat to medium. Skim frequently to remove scum. After 20 minutes, reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by a third