Oden

Oden is a Japanese one-pot dish of assorted ingredients simmered for a long time in a seasoned dashi broth. It is widely sold as a winter food from convenience store counters and street stalls.

What it really is

Oden is built on a dashi broth flavoured with soy sauce and mirin, into which a set of ingredients is simmered until they have taken on the flavour of the broth. The core items are fish cakes (kamaboko, chikuwa and satsuma-age), chunks of daikon radish, konjac cakes, boiled eggs, tofu pouches and konbu kelp. Ingredients are added and removed as they cook, and the broth is kept at a low simmer rather than a hard boil.

The dish has a long regional history, and the Kanto and Kansai styles differ. Kanto oden uses a darker, stronger soy broth, while Kansai oden is paler and lighter. Oden is related to nabe hot pots but is not cooked at the table; it is made in a large pot and ladled out. Unlike the pot-based dishes that are finished with raw ingredients, oden is a slow-cooked stew.

How it's served

• Served hot in a small bowl with a little broth, with a few pieces of the simmered ingredients selected by the guest.
• Eaten with karashi (Japanese mustard) on the side, applied to fish cakes or eggs.
• Sold at convenience store counters and street stalls in cold months, often in a paper cup or on a skewer.
• Usually eaten as a snack or light meal with rice or beer, not as a formal course.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the key items on the menu, for example: oden with daikon, konjac, fish cake, egg and tofu pouch in dashi broth.
• Flag allergens: fish cakes contain FISH and often EGGS; the dashi contains FISH; the soy sauce contains SOY and WHEAT; the eggs contain EGGS.
• State the broth style where it matters: Kanto (dark soy) or Kansai (light, pale broth).
• List karashi mustard as an accompaniment, since it is part of the classic service.