Oden

With the winter coming (although we still have some nice warm days in autumn) it will be time to make some delicious Japanese winter dishes. Oden is a typical Japanese one-pot winter dish, in which all ingredients are slowly simmered in the soup. Preparation-time is very fast, but the dish will also require at least 30 minutes (more likely 40) waiting time.

Ingredients (2p):

• 1/3 daikon, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• 2 boiled eggs, peeled
• 1 atsuage (deep fried tofu), cut into large slices
• 2 or 3 ganmodoki (fried tofu fritters), cut into halves
• 5 chikuwa (tube-like fish paste cakes), cut into pieces 
• hanpen (surimi fish cake), cut into triangles

for the soup:

• 700 ml water
• 2 tsp dashi powder
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar

Feel free to change the ingredients; add some potatoes (peeled) and konnyaku, substitute for other tofu or fish paste cakes.

View our how-to-make movie...

..or use the written instructions and photo's:

Top: Daikon & Boiled eggs
Middle: Atsuage & Chikuwa
Bottom: Hanpen & Ganmodoki

First step is the preparation: boil the eggs (around 5 minutes) and peel them. Cut all other ingredients as listed above.

Then, take a big fry pan and mix the ingredients for the soup together. Place the rest of the ingredients in the soup (do it the Japanese way and group the ingredients together). Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and put on the lid, then let it simmer for about 30-40 minutes. (the daikon should have become soft) Make sure you do not run out of soup, else add some extra dashi-water and soy sauce.

Ingredients arranged in the soup

Finished simmering