Toshikiri-soba is Japanese New-Year kiss

Smooch ! Akemashite omedeto ! Happy Noodle Year ! Happy 2011 !

年切り蕎麦 toshikiri soba
is soba that cut the year. It has many other names in different areas of Japan, but I think the custom is the same. The idea is to start eating this a few minutes before midnight in December 31st and pass into the new year with the noodles in your mouth… as a symbol of continued good life and health…

Omisoka ?

Yes, o-miso ! it’s a bad pun. N-Year Eve is called omisoka (大晦日) but it reads like o-miso (the miso) and ka (question mark).
So I had mines with a bowl of hot rustic white miso soup with mizuna leaves. It’s juwari soba (100% buckwheat noodle) and it’s still white because it’s a special quality of buckwheat, superior, luxurious… Hey you need that for a celebration !

And from now you’ll see fresh osechi ryori… I hope you like the new skin too.

Best wishes for all of you dear readers and your dear ones !