Thanks to everyone for their kind and encouraging comments on Part 1 of my Osechi making post!
I had a lot of questions in that post which i think i answered them all but in case i didnt..

Do Japanese people celebrate Lunar New Year?
No we dont, we celebrate New Year which is 01 Jan as per western calendars. New Year is a huge deal and we get quite a few days off. Its one of the rare days that most shops even supermarkets are shut.

What is the osechi?
[From wikipedia]Osechi-ryōri (御節料理 or お節料理) are traditional Japanese New Year foods. The tradition started in the Heian Period (794-1185). Osechi are easily recognizable by their special boxes called jūbako (重箱), which resemble bentō boxes.”

How did the osechi tradition start?
[From wikipedia] “Originally, during first three days of the New Year it was a taboo to use a hearth and cook meals, except when cooking zōni. Osechi was made by the close of the previous year, as women did not cook in the New Year.”

When do you eat osechi?
it is eaten on the first day of the year ie New Year. We are meant to keep eating it for 3 days hence the enormous amount of food. However like most japanese people, i do get sick of it by the 2nd day. XD

Any other questions? let me know and i’ll get back to you ^^
Ok back to the osechi making!

After making all the different components, its time to start assembling

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Do you know what Osechi Ryori is?
[From wikipedia]Osechi-ryōri (御節料理 or お節料理) are traditional Japanese New Year foods. The tradition started in the Heian Period (794-1185). Osechi are easily recognizable by their special boxes called jūbako (重箱), which resemble bentō boxes.”

Today most families order/purchase their osechi from either department stores or at local supermarkets. The prices usually start at around 10,000yen [USD$120] and the sky is the limit. Some osechi made by famous restaurants or high end department stores [takashimaya, mitsukoshi] can cost even more [we are talking almost 10 thousand usd!~!!]

But like most japanese people, i feel that new year isnt new year unless your osechi is homemade XD. Whilst its not usually my job to make it, this year it has fallen upon me to do so XD

I admit, this is my first time doing it all on my own. I have been collecting osechi related cooking articles/magazine cutouts for a really long time now so i spent almost a whole month reading/planning my cooking XD

Note: i ganked a lot of info from wikipedia cos i was lazy to translate descriptions but all the recipes are translated by me so please do not repost!
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