Oden

Oden
Type Soup
Place of origin Japan
Main ingredients Boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, fishcakes, soy-flavored dashi broth
Cookbook: Oden  Media: Oden

Oden (おでん) is a Japanese one pot winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth. Ingredients vary according to region and between each household. Karashi is often used as a condiment.

Oden was originally what is now commonly called misodengaku or simply dengaku; konnyaku or tofu was boiled and eaten with miso. Later, instead of using miso, ingredients were cooked in dashi and oden became popular.

Oden is often sold from food carts. In recent years, some started offering oden round the year. Many different kinds of oden are sold, with single-ingredient varieties as cheap as 100 yen. Izakaya serves oden as well.

Regional variations

Japan

In Nagoya, it may be called Kantō-ni (関東煮) and soy sauce is used as a dipping sauce. Miso oden is simmered in Hatchomiso broth, which tastes lightly sweet. Konjac and tofu are common ingredients.

In the Kansai area, this dish is sometimes called Kanto-daki (関東煮 / 関東炊き) and tends to be more strongly flavored than the lighter Kantō version.[1]

Oden in Shizuoka uses a dark colored broth flavored with beef stock and dark soy sauce, and all ingredients are skewered. Dried and ground fish (sardine, mackerel, or katsuobushi) and aonori powder (edible seaweed) are sprinkled on top before eating.

Udon restaurants in Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku almost always offer oden as a side dish, to be eaten with sweet miso while waiting for udon.

Other countries

China

In China, 7-11 markets oden as haodun (好炖) a word play on "good pot."

Korea

eomuk-tang or odeng-tang (Korean fish cake soup)

In South Korea, the loanword odeng (오뎅) borrowed from Japanese oden (おでん) is a synonym of eomuk (fishcakes). The boiled dish consist of fishcakes are called by the names such as odeng-tang (오뎅탕) or eomuk-jeongol (어묵전골), with the words such as tang (soup) or jeongol (hot pot) attached to the ingredient name.

The street food version that is sold from small carts and is usually served with a spicy soup. It is very common on the streets of South Korea and there are many restaurants that have it on the menu or specialize in it.

Taiwan

The dish was introduced to Taiwanese cuisine during Japanese rule and is referred to in Taiwanese Hokkien as olen (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: o͘-lián),[2] which has been further loaned into Taiwanese Mandarin as hēilún (Chinese: 黑輪). Tianbula (Chinese: 甜不辣; pinyin: tiánbùlà; literally: "sweet, not spicy")[3] is a similar dish commonly sold at night markets. Despite using the same name as the Japanese tempura, Taiwanese tempura is more a variant of oden. Besides the more traditional ingredients, the Taiwanese olen also uses many local ingredients, such as pork meatballs and blood puddings. More recently, oden is offered in convenience stores where it is sold as guāndōngzhǔ (關東煮, from Kansai kanto-daki).

A variety of oden ingredients
An oden vending machine in Akihabara, Tokyo

See also

References

  1. ↑ 関西ではなぜおでんを「関東煮」と呼ぶのか？ [Why Oden is called "Kanto-daki" in Kansai?] (in Japanese). Nikkei Inc. February 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Entry #31111 (oo33 lian51)". 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Hokkien). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011.
  3. ↑ "Entry #31159 (thian35 pu55 lah3)". 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Hokkien). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011.
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