470502 Tue Dec 18 02:39:19 -0800 2007 17 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 3217624 Anyone know of a place in SF that'll be selling osechi for shogatsu? Or, failing that, a large Japanese family I could blend into long enough to jack a few mouthfuls of kuromame, kombu, and gobo from.... Oh wait. Large Japanese family. I guess that's an oxymoron nowadays. Tue Dec 18 02:39:19 -0800 2007 93338 uchinanchu 1 3217712 I recall Delica RF-1 at the SF Ferry Building took advance orders on them last year, they're likely your best bet. Some Japanese restaurants might offer this too but I'd be hard pressed to even guess which ones (Kitsho in Cupertino did last year, only mentioned in passing by the owner to his regulars, he used no preservatives in his). Tue Dec 18 05:24:41 -0800 2007 3217624 12872 K K 2 3219167 I was at Delica RF-1 last week, and they were offering them this year. I also walked by Nijiya in SF Japantown recently, and it looked like you could order them there as well -- which probably means you can also order them from the other branches. Tue Dec 18 12:07:49 -0800 2007 3217712 14041 Debbie M 1 3218219 Suruki and Takahashi markets in San Mateo both have an Osechi platter you can order. I think Tokyo Fish in El Cerrito does as well. Tue Dec 18 08:33:28 -0800 2007 3217624 96224 kungful 2 3218447 El Cerrito? Berkeley, I think. Tue Dec 18 09:25:35 -0800 2007 3218219 10133 wally 3 3219924 oops, yup Tokyo Fish 1220 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94706 Tue Dec 18 15:15:29 -0800 2007 3218447 96224 kungful 1 3219953 This link may be helpful in translating your post for us gaijin. http://www.bento.com/fexp-osechi.html Tue Dec 18 15:24:15 -0800 2007 3217624 105235 wolfe 2 3220841 Here's the New Year's Day spread at the home of the large Japanese family that has adopted me, http://farm1.static.flickr.com/37/80649150_b257706dae_b.jpg . Not much help to the OP, as they make everything themselves, but this gives an idea of the tradition. Tue Dec 18 21:13:10 -0800 2007 3219953 10039 Melanie Wong 1 3220026 See page 2 of the Nijiya ad: http://www.nijiya.com/SalesAd.asp Can anyone out there translate? Tue Dec 18 15:52:52 -0800 2007 3217624 105166 PorkButt 2 3222890 Which part? That's a lot of text... looks like "OS-1" is a 3 tier jubako and the rest are single boxes. OS-2 is labeled "top" and OS-3 is labeled "regular." Ummm... my japanese is terrible and I can only make out a few things. Kuromame, kurikanruni, ajitsuke kazunoko, tazukuri, something with sweet bean jelly, kurikinton, some kind of stuff wrapped around poles(?), kamaboko, ikura... ok, now i'm going blind. What I'm wondering is whether or not that OS-1 is supposed to last 3 days. I think that'd last me about an hour. What's even more interesting is that Nijiya seems to be selling sujiko from Alaskan salmon... 14.99/lb. I emailed the address listed on RF-1's website. Hopefully they'll get back to me. Also, melanie... you are mean. Wed Dec 19 13:21:56 -0800 2007 3220026 93338 uchinanchu 3 3223865 Uchinanchu, as I recall from the brief glimpse at the flyer, the RF-1 osechi was large enough for 4 people, and was around $200 (give or take $100 either way; I just remember thinking it was kind of pricey). So, is the kid in your avatar eating tankan? Wed Dec 19 19:11:18 -0800 2007 3222890 14041 Debbie M 4 3224025 I received a response from them (quite quick!). Their osechi is $300 for a 3 tier box (for 4~5 people). With the following included.... First tier • Seasoned Prawns • Roast Beef with Salted Olives • Smoked Salmon • Slow-Cooked Baby Abalone • Marinated Herring Roe • Rolled Kobe-Style Beef with Burdock • Kombu-Cured Sea Bream Second tier • Pickled Daikon and Carrot with Dungeness Crab • Bottarga (Mullet roe) • Braised Burdock Root with Sesame • Caramelized Dried Anchovy with Pine Nuts • Sweet Black Beans with Candied Walnuts • Mashed Sweet Potato with Chestnuts • Pickled Chrysanthemums-Shaped Radish Third tier • Braised Medley of baby taro, bamboo shoot, carrot, lotus root, konnyaku, shiitake mushroom and snap peas • Baked Omelet with Seafood Puree • Baked Black Cod with Sweet Miso • Minced and Roasted Chicken with Saikyo Miso topped with White Sesame • Wrapped Kombu I always assumed the kid was eating a mikan... but I guess that'd have to be one huge mikan. Wed Dec 19 20:24:50 -0800 2007 3223865 93338 uchinanchu 5 3248729 $300? Are we still talking about the same OS-1 ($145) from Nijiya? Here's a link to bigger color pics of the same osechi from Nijiya in PorkButt's link: http://www.nijiya.com/SeasonalAd2.asp Actually a lot of Japanese chefs will prepare an osechi for you if you ask. I know Taka-san of Sushi Tomi in Mountain View is offering this for his regular customers. Vincent Mon Dec 31 02:42:00 -0800 2007 3224025 50138 vincentlo 6 3249758 Naw, the $300 osechi was from delica rf-1. I finally decided to suck it up and make my own this year. Supermarket osechi is usually not that awesome to begin with and I can make better ikura and konbu dishes anyway (I've seen sujiko at both Nijiya and Uoki Sakai). Also, if I'm gonna spend $300 on something I can eat in a few hours I'd rather save it for sushi in LA, NYC, or Ginza. Mon Dec 31 11:54:10 -0800 2007 3248729 93338 uchinanchu 7 3252650 This was my first time in 10 years that I was in the Bay Area for New Years, and missed my parent's osechi. I ended up making some Japanese food (not necessarily "osechi"), b/c New Year's w/o some Japanese food is just plain strange for me, and foisting it on some friends. I used to have a Japanese group in grad school that got together periodically to make Japanese food. Do Chowhounders ever do a "chowdown" get together--e.g. a potluck osechi party or osechi-making party of sorts? (is that an appropriate question to post on the Bay Area board?) Tue Jan 01 23:39:42 -0800 2008 3249758 116395 anzu 8 3262862 Munching on some gobo salad leftover from NY's day . . . there are potlucks and there are cooking and baking groups, but I'm not aware of any that focused on osechi or Japanese food specifically. If you're a member of one of the chowdown lists on yahoo, please feel free to float the idea to the list and let's make it happen. Fri Jan 04 20:28:15 -0800 2008 3252650 10039 Melanie Wong 9 3262929 I was just finishing off the New Year's kimpira gobo, as well. I posted the spread on my webpage: http://kjparis.net/osechi.html Fri Jan 04 21:03:57 -0800 2008 3262862 96224 kungful 10 3262938 Heheh, we had Spam musubi too. But my favorite bite was the wild abalone sashimi. Fri Jan 04 21:06:38 -0800 2008 3262929 10039 Melanie Wong