Cooking with Dog, the popular and slightly odd YouTube channel, has a very in-depth tutorial on how to make and serve New Year's ozoni soup. Francis (the dog) tells us that this soup has a rich umami flavor because of the kombu seaweed and bonito fish flakes. It's also encouraging that it only takes about six minutes to make the entire soup!

Maki from Just Hungry shares her own ozoni recipe on her website. According to Maki, dried mochi cakes were traditionally used as carbohydrates at New Year's in order to give the cooks a rest from making rice during the holidays. Her soup is a Tokyo-style ozoni, and looks absolutely delicious!

Ozoni actually varies by region, and the Kanto area uses a clear soup called osumashi made with dashi, soy sauce and salt, while people in Kansai will use a miso-based soup. You'll even find ozoni made with anko red bean paste! This also explains why many people's ozoni soup recipes differ greatly from one another in taste and preparation.

Finally, Nami of Just One Cookbook shares her family's ozoni recipe (above) along with some great details on the soup's regional variations. For example, she adds that in the Kanto region, the mochi is grilled and crispy, while in the Kansai region it's boiled and soft.

Excited to know more about this seasonal soup? Read on below!