Mimi udon

Mimi udon is a Japanese noodle dish originating from Tochigi. The udon noodles are folded into the shape of an ear and they're traditionally eaten for New Year. These ears symbolize a bad deity, and if one eats his ears, the bad deity won't be able to hear anything from your house, so no bad luck will come to your family for the rest of the year.

The chewy noodles are boiled until cooked with various ingredients such as miso slices, shiitake mushrooms, leeks, dried bonito, carrots, and fresh greens before they're served with the broth and the vegetables in a bowl.