Winter is the best season to eat oden in Japan. Oden is one kind of Japanese stew, which includes fish cakes, boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku (yam cake), and more. Various ingredients are simmered in a kelp-based stock for several hours. Japanese families often cook oden at home in winter. At home, oden is usually cooked in a big pot on the table. It is fun and warm to eat oden around table with others. Oden is even sold in convenience stores too. Japanese love oden!!
Also, as the autumn arrives, many oden yatai (stalls) begin their business on many Japanese cities' sidewalks. Yatai sell various food and drinks. You can find yatai around train stations and entertainment districts. A yatai usually has a small counter with a few chairs. It is inexpensive to eat in any yatai.
Oden goes good with sake. Businessmen on their way home from work often stop at oden yatai and sip sake. People order their favorite ingredients from a large oden pot with beer or sake. You can eat oden at Izakaya bars too. There are a number of receipes for oden, but this is my receipe. It is very easy. Enjoy cooking and eating oden!
~ Oden (Japanese Hotpot) Recipe ~
1. Find your favorite ingredients.
- Daikon (white Japanese radish)
- Potato & Carrot
- Boiled eggs
- Konnyaku (transparent yam starch cake)
- Fried tohu (ganmodoki or atsuage)
- Any kinds of fish-paste cakes available (chikuwa, hanpen, gobouten, okazuten, etc..)*You don't have to get all of the above.
2. Make soup stock. (4 servings)
- Boil 5 cups of water in a large pot.
- Add 1 tsp of soup seasoning (chicken or fish based)*You may find oden seasoning at some stores.
- Add 2 tbsps of sake.
- Add 2-3 tbsps of soy sauce
- Add 1tsp of sugar.
3. Cut the ingredients into bite-sized pieces (except boiled eggs) and add to the soup stock. Peel the boiled eggs and add to the the soup too.
4. Simmer for a couple hours. Add water and soy sauce as needed.*The longer you cook oden, the better the taste.
Oden is served with Japanese hot mustard (karashi.) Please put a tiny bit of karashi on each bite of ingredient. Be careful not to use too much karashi mustard at a time. I hope this oden will keep you warm during the winter.
