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Osuwai
Osuwai — daikon and carrot dressed in sweet vinegar
Julienned daikon and carrot are dressed in sweet vinegar with fried tofu — its name said to be a contraction of "su-ae," or vinegar dressing, close in spirit to namasu. Its red and white colors make it a fixture of New Year's boxed meals, and it doubles as an everyday side.
- Origin: Toyama
- About 260 km northwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Julienned daikon radish and carrot tossed in sweet vinegar, close kin to a namasu-style pickle. The radish's crisp bite and the carrot's sweetness meet the richness of fried tofu, all held together by the vinegar's mellow tang. The red-and-white color is festive, and a touch of sesame oil or yuzu is said to lift the fragrance — the gentle sourness makes it easy to keep eating, and its keeping quality has long made it a pantry staple.
How it's made
Fried tofu is blanched to remove excess oil, cut into strips, and briefly simmered in dashi and soy sauce. Daikon and carrot are julienned, salted until they soften, then squeezed dry. A sweetened vinegar is mixed and tossed with the daikon, carrot, and simmered tofu. A scatter of white sesame or a bit of yuzu peel on top is said to sharpen both the fragrance and the color.
Why it took this shape
The red-and-white coloring is said to suit celebratory occasions, and the dish is said to have become a fixture of the New Year's tiered boxes. At the same time, its easy preparation and the way it welcomes whatever seasonal vegetable or fruit is on hand let it drift into everyday cooking too, said to have settled into households as a dish that crosses between festive and ordinary days alike.
Before you go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Agonoko UmaniThe roe of egg-bearing flying fish, caught only in early summer, is simmered in stock and soy sauce as an Oki bar snack. Its large grains and dense, sticky texture are prized as a delicacy said to be scarcer even than the fish's flesh.
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Toyama
- Bai no NimonoWhelks from the deep waters of Toyama Bay are simmered whole in their shells — said to appear at celebrations thanks to a play on words suggesting doubled good fortune, with smaller whelks simmered and larger ones eaten raw.
- BekkoMelted agar is seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, then set with egg trailed in like threads — its amber color flecked with egg said to resemble a tortoiseshell hair ornament, giving the dish its name; in the west of the prefecture it goes by "yubeshi" instead.
- BurishabuThin slices of yellowtail are swished briefly through kelp broth, said to cook only the surface while leaving the center rare — versions using Himi's branded winter yellowtail are considered a particularly luxurious cold-weather treat.
- Genge no MisoshiruEelpout, a deep-sea fish covered in a gelatinous layer, is cut into chunks and simmered into a miso soup — long treated as an unwanted bycatch of sweet shrimp fishing, its flavor has since been reappraised and spread beyond the fishing villages that first ate it.
- Himi UdonA hand-stretched udon developed in Himi, Toyama, in the mid-Edo period by adapting somen-making techniques from Wajima. It was once presented to the Kaga domain as tribute.
- Hoonko RyoriA catch-all term for the dishes served at houonko, the memorial gathering held on the death anniversary of Jodo Shinshu's founder — the season's better vegetables and wild greens are said to be set aside for it apart from everyday use, with the devout Gokayama area of Nanto known for hearty stews of dried greens and local tofu.