Japanese Recipe of the Week: Shiruko

Shiruko or o-shiruko is a Japanese red bean soup with mochi rice cakes. It's sweet and is often eaten during the winter in Japan. There is a Japanese tradition called kagami biraki which literally means "opening the mirror." It actually indicates breaking of kagami mochi (a stack of two round rice cakes) which was placed in the house during New Year's holidays. Kagami biraki is held on January 11th, and the broken pieces of kagami mochi are cooked in various ways. The most commonly eaten mochi dish on this day is o-shiruko. If you don't have the time to make anko yourself, buy a can of yude-azuki (boiled red beans) and make the soup.

Shiruko Recipe

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Zoni Recipe
_{Shiruko Photo © Setsuko Yoshizuka, licensed to About.com}