Ozoni attempt

Had some mochi in the fridge and didn't think I could eat it all fried so decided to attempt ozoni. Went to the market in search of:

• kamaboko,
  
• araimo,
  
• mizuna,
  
• konbu,
  
• shiitake, and
  
• carrots.

Had to sub out some white stem cabbage or bok choy or something for the mizuna. Same thing. I was looking for dried konbu like my mom uses (pictured above), but could only find this other stuff (pictured below). I don't know what you call it. It looked fresh, but it wasn't in the refrigerator section or anything. And had little grains of salt on it.

I poured four cans of chicken stock into a big pot. It didn't look like much but the time I put in everything else, it was a lot!

I peeled the araimo with a potato peeler and then cut into thin slices. Put that in first so it could cook through. Figured it should cook for about 30 minutes. Put in shiitake and mochi next. The mochi started puffing up. It was cool! Then the bok choy, carrots (sliced thin like coins) and kamaboko (also sliced thin).

Fail
The kamaboko smelled funny as I was slicing it--even though it looked right--the bright pink half moon on the little piece of wood. It was way too fishy. I ended up picking it out. I might go look for more tomorrow. The kamaboko was frozen at the store, which I thought was weird, but I don't think it would affect the taste like that.

The soup was also way too salty--from the konbu I'm sure. I should've soaked it first. The instructions said that was an option but I figured I'd just throw it in. I ended up fishing all of them out too and tried to water down the soup.

Mochi dissolved a little more than I'd like. Next time I think I will put the mochi in maybe 5-10 minutes before I'm ready to eat.

I'll taste it again tomorrow and water down more if needed.