Oden is assorted fish cakes stewed in broth. It is a popular dish for the colder months, when the steam rising from the broth and the hot fish cakes warm you. It’s also often served at izakaya (Japanese style pubs) eaten while gulping down some sake or beer.

Ingredients

1 lb daikon, peeled and halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1 inch thick half moons
3/4 lb small potatoes, halved, or larger starchy potatoes peeled and quartered
1 konnyaku (taro gelatin) cake
8-10 satsuma age (fried fish cakes) They should be the same size and shape as ping pong balls.
2 hanpen (fish cakes ) quartered into triangles and rinsed to remove excess oil
1 kamaboko (steamed fish cake) cut into 1/3 inch slices
7 cups kombu dashi. Kombu dashi is the stock from only the kelp stock. Omit the bonito fish flakes (katsuobushi)
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1 tbsp sugar
4 hard boiled eggs, in the shell.

Method

In a pot, put the daikon and cover with enough water to submerge 2 inches. Heat over medium and boil, cooking for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Do the same for the potatoes.

Boil the konnyaku for 1 minute and drain. Cut into 4 triangles. Set aside.

In a large pot, boil the kelp stock, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar over high. reduce to low and add the previous ingredients, as well as the kamaboko and eggs. Cover and simmer for 3 hours. Make sure the liquid does not evaporate. If it does, simply add more water to keep it partially submerged.

To serve, the pot should be brought to the table and placed on a portable stove, so it stays hot throughout the meal. Guests should have bowls to help themselves to everything including the broth. You can also add a little bit of sweetened akamiso, preferably a tsubu miso with chunky bits of soybeans and seasonings (dark fermented soybean paste, sweetened with some sugar) and hot mustard paste as a dipping sauce.