From the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | |
| Round rice cakes with sweet bean filling | 5 |
| Kintoki carrot (3 to 5 cm thick) | 50 g |
| Daikon (3 to 5 cm thick) | 150 g |
| Tofu | 1/3 block |
| Aonori seaweed | as needed |
| Seasonings and liquids | |
| White miso | 100 to 130 g |
| Niboshi dashi stock | 5 cups (adjust to the number of rice cakes) |
In the Edo period, growing sugarcane was encouraged in Kagawa, which has a warm, dry climate. White sugar from the Sanuki area, bright white and smooth, became a famous product, one of the “Sanuki Sanpaku” (three white products of Sanuki) along with cotton and salt.
Sugar was precious then, and ordinary families could not eat it every day. From about the Meiji period, people began to put their treasured sugar into zoni once a year as a special New Year dish. This is said to be the start of anmochi zoni.
The white miso used in the soup is said to have been brought by people traveling from Kyoto to Sanuki, where Retired Emperor Sutoku had been sent after losing the Hogen Rebellion. It has been used in many winter dishes.
The white miso is sweet. It is made with less soybeans and more rice koji, with less salt, prepared around December for the New Year and aged for about a month.
Niboshi stock is made first. Round slices of daikon and carrot are added, then the anmochi when they are soft, then tofu. When it comes to a boil, white miso melted in the broth is added.
In the bowl, a slice of daikon goes on the bottom so that the rice cake does not stick, then the anmochi, then more daikon and carrot, and finally aonori is sprinkled on top. Some homes add taro or white onion.
Families eat it at New Year, together with osechi dishes. The ingredients and flavor differ by region and home and are handed down as local and family tastes.
It is also used as teaching material in some high schools and junior colleges, and restaurants serve it in winter.
There is no single right answer. Talking it over with someone at home is a good way to learn.