Osechi Cooking Timeline

Make a rough plan

• Decide what to make, buy, or skip: Cook the dishes your family loves, buy the labor-intensive ones, and skip anything no one eats.
• Review and update your recipes from the previous year.
• Be realistic and cook a manageable number of dishes. Start small, and add 1–2 new dishes each year to gradually build your menu. Above all, enjoy the process.

Check your inventory

• Check kitchen equipment: Gather osechi boxes (jubako), serving dishes, cutlery, pots and pans, storage containers—tools you’ll need for cooking and serving.
• Organize the pantry and check ingredients: See what dry goods, condiments, and garnish leaves you have and make a list of what to buy.
• Purchase osechi box dividers: Bamboo leaves and mini containers are helpful; read my How to Pack Osechi Ryori post to learn why.
• Order any missing items early, as holiday shipping can be slow.

Finalize your menu

• Plan your layout: Use sticky notes to mark what dish goes where in the jubako. This simplifies food packing on New Year’s Day.
• Print or bookmark the recipes: Read through the steps and note the ingredients and equipment you will need.

Shopping trip #1

Don’t wait till the last minute, as they may sell out!

• Purchase condiments:
  • soy sauce, sake, mirin, rice vinegar, sugar, salt
  • saikyo miso (for Kansai-style ozoni)

• Purchase dry ingredients:
  • katsuobushi and kombu, or dashi packets, for dashi (Japanese soup stock)
  • black soybeans (kuromame) for sweet black bean/soybeans
  • Hidaka kombu and dried gourd strips (kanpyo) for salmon kombu rolls
  • dried shiitake mushrooms for simmered chicken & vegetables
  • dried sardines/anchovies (niboshi) for candied sardines
  • white sesame seeds for pounded burdock root
  • dried red chili peppers for pickled chrysanthemum turnip and pickled lotus root
  • chestnuts in heavy syrup (kuri kanroni) for candied chestnuts & sweet potatoes

• Buy ingredients for accompaniment dishes (optional):
  • mochi (rice cake) for ozoni and zenzai
  • soybean flour (kinako) if you’re making Japanese rice cake; see How to Enjoy Mochi in three popular flavors
  • soba noodles to make toshikoshi soba for New Year’s Eve
  • azuki beans for sweet red bean paste (anko) if you’re making Zenzai (sweet red bean soup with mochi)

Clean the house

• Clean the house: Clean the entry, living room, and bathrooms.
• Make room in the fridge for groceries, prepared dishes, and packed boxes.
• Plan out your meals through December 31st: I make easy hot pots (Sukiyaki, Shabu Shabu, and Oden) for dinner and udon noodles for lunch.

Shopping trip #2

• Stock up on regular groceries:
  • eggs (set aside some for sweet rolled omelette)
  • milk, bread, salad, and fruit for the week.
• Buy alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
• Buy root vegetables for osechi: These items last longer, so purchase them early:
  • Japanese sweet potato (Satsumaimo) for candied chestnuts & sweet potatoes
  • carrots for daikon and carrot salad and simmered chicken & vegetables
  • gobo (burdock root) for pounded burdock root and simmered chicken & vegetables
  • lotus root (renkon) for pickled lotus root
  • satoimo (Japanese taro) for simmered chicken & vegetables
  • konnyaku (konjac) for simmered chicken & vegetables
  • daikon (Japanese radish) for daikon & carrot salad
  • Japanese turnips (kabu) for pickled chrysanthemum turnip.
• Tip: Cut off the leaves of daikon and turnips to prevent them from drying out.

Cooking day 1 + continue cleaning

• Start cooking!
  • Make Candied Sardines: Start with this recipe, as it’s one of the longest lasting among all osechi dishes.
  • Make Herring Roe: De-salt, peel, and marinate.
• Clean the house (continued): Clean the dining room and kitchen.

Shopping trip #3 (final)

• Buy fresh ingredients (final shopping trip #3): Do not buy these fresh proteins and vegetables prior to December 29th.
  • black tiger shrimp for simmered shrimp
  • yellowtail (hamachi/buri 鰤) for yellowtail teriyaki
  • salted salmon for salmon kombu rolls (or make Salted Salmon the previous week)
  • ikura (salmon roe)
  • chicken for ozoni and simmered chicken & vegetables
  • kamaboko fish cakes (pink and white)
  • hanpen fish cake for sweet rolled omelette
  • snow peas for simmered chicken & vegetables
  • mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley) for ozoni
  • yuzu for daikon & carrot salad and ozoni

Cooking day 2

• Work on decorative cuts: Prepare flower-shaped carrots and lotus root and store in the fridge; it’s not necessary but adds a special touch to your dishes.
• Make vinegared dishes: Dishes in vinegar last a long time, so cook them next!
  • Pickled Lotus Root
  • Pickled Chrysanthemum Turnip
  • Pounded Burdock Root with Sesame Sauce, if you have time; or make on December 30th
  • Daikon & Carrot Salad, if you have time; or make on December 30th
• Store all dishes: Pack in airtight containers and store in the refrigerator.
• Rehydrate ingredients:
  • Soak dried shiitake mushrooms before bed for chikuzenni.
  • Soak black soybeans up to 8 hours; soak at midnight and start cooking at 8 am on December 30th.

Cooking day 3

• Prepare good dashi to use for simmered dishes and ozoni; see how to make dashi
• Make more vinegared dishes:
  • Pounded Burdock Root with Sesame Sauce
  • Daikon & Carrot Salad
• Cook simmered dishes:
  • Sweet Black Soybeans (takes 4 hours to cook!)
  • Simmered Chicken and Vegetables or Instant Pot Nishime
• Make Sweet Rolled Omelette
• Cook Candied Chestnut and Sweet Potatoes
• Store all dishes: Pack in airtight containers and keep in the refrigerator.

Cooking day 4

• Cook more simmered dishes:
  • Simmered Shrimp (Ebi no Umani)
• Make grilled dishes (or make the next morning):
  • Yellowtail Teriyaki
  • Butter Soy Sauce Scallops
• Prep ozoni:
  • Kanto-style (Tokyo area), or
  • Kansai-style (Kyoto area)—add Saikyo miso before serving
• Cut the kamaboko: Cut the decorative fish cake and sweet omelette.
• Store all dishes: Pack in airtight containers and keep in the refrigerator.
• Make Toshikoshi Soba: Don’t forget to eat soba noodles today on New Year’s Eve!

Before going to bed…

• Set the table: Set up plates, chopsticks, glasses, sake cups, etc.
• Chill your drinks: Make sure there’s enough ice in the freezer.

Cooking day 5 (2.5–3 hours)

• Grill: If you didn’t make it yesterday, cook Yellowtail Teriyaki and Butter Soy Sauce Scallops and cool to room temp (hot food can damage lacquerware and create condensation, which lead to spoilage).
• Bring food to room temp: If you do not want to eat cold food, take out the dishes from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to packing. By the time you enjoy the dishes, they should be room temp.
• Pack in osechi boxes: See my step-by-step guide on How to Pack Osechi Ryori in jubako.
• Prepare the mochi: Toast mochi and season.
• Finish the ozoni: Reheat and then add miso (for Kansai-style) and mochi.
• Prepare the drinks: Heat up sake and prepare other beverages.
• Clean up the kitchen: If you have time or a helpful guest, clear the sink and run the dishwasher.