Here's a one-pot winter warmer from Japan...oden. While oden might not be so well known outside of Japan, it is very popular with the Japanese - so much so that there is even a canned version - "oden-can" which is meant to be stored away as earthquake emergency food! Most people associate oden with winter although it is sold all year round - in my childhood, you would find an oden stall outside just about railway station - ideal for grabbing a quick meal on the way home from work at night. Nowadays, people who want to buy readymade oden, will mostly head for a convenience store, many of which have oden simmering away over the months of winter. But oden is really quite easy to make and there's no right or wrong ingredient - the ingredients I've used in my recipe are typical ones but there's nothing to stop you experimenting! Some of the ingredients, such as chikuwa, look a little unusual but you can buy them at Japanese and Chinese food stores. The longer you cook oden, the more the flavours from the broth are absorbed into the food - so if you have time, you can keep your oden on the hob from an extra hour at a low heat and it'll get even better! When you've made your oden, simply ladle some into a bowl, squeeze out some "karashi" (Japanese mustard) into the bowl and enjoy with an accompanying bowl of steamed rice. If you fancy trying this recipe at home, you can find the written recipe by clicking Oden and/or the Youtube tutorial Oden.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
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