Zōni

Zōni (雑煮^?), often with the honorific "o-" as o-zōni, is a Japanese soup containing mochi rice cakes.^[1]

The dish is strongly associated with the Japanese New Year and its tradition of osechi ceremonial foods.

Zōni is considered the most auspicious of the dishes eaten on New Year's Day.^[2]

The preparation of zōni varies both by household and region.^[1]

It is said that zōni finds its roots in samurai society cuisine. It is thought to be a meal that was cooked during field battles, boiled together with mochi, vegetables and dried foods, among other ingredients. It is also generally believed that this original meal, at first exclusive to samurai, eventually became a staple food of the common people. Zōni was first served as part of a full-course dinner (honzen ryōri), and thus is thought to have been a considerably important meal to samurai.

The tradition of eating zōni on New Year's Day dates to the end of the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The dish was offered to the gods in a ceremony on New Year's Eve.^[3]

The Muromachi period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (Muromachi bakufu or Ashikaga bakufu), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration (1333–1336) of imperial rule was brought to a close.