Ozoni - New Year's Good luck mochi soup

This is an old post for poetry month, but my oldest boy asked for his grandma's new year's soup recipe, so I'm reposting.

Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu, Mino-chan. (Happy 2012 Isaac No'eau Minoru)

The phone starts ringing at 6 am,

never mind that we've been sleeping for two hours,

never mind that we're thick headed with dreams,

groggy from days of food preparation for New Year's eve,

lightheaded from the sulfuric pungency of the firecracker showers,

the phone will keep ringing until we pick up.

"Soup's ready,"

my mother-in-law's voice on the other side

chipper and alert in that way that people that are retired

can be alert at 6 in the morning.

"Take your time. . .come when the kids get up,"

that's what she always says,

that's never what she means.

We urge each other out of the cocoon of blankets,

knowing that if we wait too long,

say 7 am,

the phone will start ringing again.

Eyes thick with maka pia pia,

ears still ringing from the fireworks,

the five of us obediently arrive

for our bowl of ozōni,

clear broth soup

with a soft mochi sunken under

bright green mizuna

and floating hokkigai,

a New Year's tradition,

a luxury of simplicity,

a samurai's sustenance on the battlefield.

We sip unconsciously,

let the hot saltiness of the broth

clean the residual sulfur in our throats,

nibble at the crisp mizuna stalks

that taste like lazy summer afternoons

and pull long taffy like pieces of mochi

into our mouth

feel the glutinous melting,

the satisfaction of stickiness.

Another year begins,

started with clear broth, water to purify,

greens to cleanse,

mochi to hold us together,

a familiar first step.

- 4/7/11

Grandma Ikeda's Ozoni (New Year's Mochi Soup)

5 cans chicken broth (Swanson brand, full salt)

1 can hokkigai (Japanese surf clams) **We have access to the frozen hokkigai on a tray. We now prefer this and just thaw. Do not cook. 

Mizuna (Japanese water greens) chopped and kept uncooked on the side

Heat the chicken broth. Meanwhile, since we use frozen or packaged mochi, get a pot of water simmering. When it starts boiling, put in the mochi and let it boil like pasta until it is soft.  Put the hokkigai into the chicken broth at the last minute otherwise it gets chewy. Put the raw mizuna on the bottom of the bowl, the soft mochi on top and pour the hot broth over it. 

Note: the mochi water gets glutinous, so change the water often.

**As of 2020, we boil the packaged mochi until soft in the fresh water, then put it on a non stick grill until the outside gets puffy and crackly. Put this mochi in the soup. Make extra and eat with shoyu sugar (heavy sugar, light shoyu).