Osechi 2 : kintoki ninjin and daikon for namasu

These carrots are really as red as tomatoes. They are also longer and more slender. I have red they were brought from China in Edo Era. They are now one of the Kyoto vegetables used for kaiseki ryori, and of course, they are ideal for Osechi Ryori…
There name is kintoki ninjin 金時人参.

Daikon radishes.

Kohaku namasu

紅白なます, kohaku namasu is a standard of Osechi Ryori, simply because it is red (ko) and white (haku). The red and white association of color is considered auspicious for New Year in many Asian countries. Add to that they are the color of Japan, like in the flag with the red sun on a white surrounding.

Recipe :

It’s easy. Of course, you can use an ordinary carrot. Grate carrot and daikon (more daikon than carrot). Sprinkle a little seasalt, toss well. Let 30 minutes. With you hands squeeze well the water out of the veggies, discard it.
Add a seasoning of rice vinegar plus sugar (1 ts of sugar per cup of vinegar). The normal recipe is white vinegar and white sugar. I don’t have that in stock. So I used black rice vinegar and yellow cane sugar.
No so nice.. but it’s good.
Let the seasoned veggies one day in the fridge before serving. You can keep them about 3 days. Seal well the container as the smell is strong.

I squeezed it again and placed it on a sheet of baking paper inside the box.

Osechi ryori compilation