I am not trying to treat my readers as uninformed about Japan or the foods many foreigners savour when visiting Japan. As a veteran and still learning daily, I find Japanese cuisine intriguing and when I watched a short clip on Anthony Bourdain, he said after all his years of travel if he asked all the greatest chefs he met they would all say Japan is the culinary universe, and I agree.
It’s impossible for any cook, any chef, to visit Japan, be exposed to the positively fetishistic appreciation of ingredients, the perfectionist approach to technique, the mind boggling sheer volume of variety of good stuff to eat without being changed forever.Anthony Bourdain
My early image of Oden, a food I always thought of as ordinary, and in many ways it still is, but never underestimate its importance in Japanese culture. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you are born, because Oden captures the true essence of Japanese mentality, and much more than lets say the popular food sushi. Oden has a history thats far more important than sushi which was more or less invented in Edo in the past 100+ years.
Take a basic cooking concept of a simmering hot broth simmering to maintain foods for up to several days and adding to the broth as you cook. This is sustainable and very little is wasted if anything at all, as the continuous cooking prevails and is enjoyed by all.
The casualness of Oden, the carts with customers passing by savouring the steaming aromas, or restaurants and the revival of Oden should be seen in the future. Its these very foods that can never be costly and when it comes to variety and umami, you cant beat it.
Imagine the combination of taking different cooking techniques; braising, browning, poaching, steaming, simmering and enhancing flavours through the infusion-interaction between the liquids and raw materials. Each raw material used has its own timing, some have the ability to stay for much longer without absorbing the same flavours for example a radish or a potato when compared with a fishcake.
Unfortunately, Japanese convenience stores figured out that Oden can and will remain in a broth for extended periods. It is hardly appetizing for anyone who has tried artisanal oden, but it demonstrates how Oden has played an important functional role in Japanese lifestyle and in fast food: https://gurunavi.com/en/japanfoodie/2016/12/oden-japanese-hot-pot.html?__ngt__=TT15dc41b1c005ac1e4aed53KKEylU1eJoSFAMjLl5SWbp
Oden has many styles and in the south of Japan the broth is black, and has been adapted to local habits: https://www.japanlivingguide.com/dailylife/food/japanese-oden-rich-history-and-regional-variations/ Named Shizuoka oden uses a dark-colored broth flavored with beef stock and dark soy sauce, and ingredients are skewered. Dried and ground fish (sardine, mackerel, or katsuobushi) and aonori powder are sprinkled on top before eating.
Thats why it represents an important development in our everyday way of life, and its popularity has changed the way we eat in the winter. The original version of oden is said to have been created in the Edo period between 1603–1867 and is based on dengaku-dofu, a popular dish in the Muromachi period three hundred years ago.
It became a part of food culture during the time of Japan’s economic prosperity, adding rich flavours such as miso, and simmering grilling and fanning foods over charcoal. When you think of it, it makes a lot of sense given the way the people lived in cooked in Japan hundreds of years ago.
And you might really noticed that a lot of the hospitality not only serving, but cooking was done by female chefs. Now imagine the potential and the variety of vegetables and other raw materials used and other by-products such as potato’s by-product namely konnyaku coined the devils tongue.
This food is a particularly interesting, and specifically eaten in Asia, and particularly in Japan. It’s obvious through curiosity, they experimented with vegetable roots to see what was possible through extraction. The re-mixture was used and was a delicacy in Japan evolving and maintaining its importance in Japanese cuisine and is gluten free.
In the 18th century, casual eateries in Edo called nameshi-ya started serving rice mixed with chopped greens and a side of miso dengaku made with tofu or konnyaku, a jelly type chewy food.
The same ingredients were later served simmered together in a broth, said to be the forerunner of oden as we know it today: and the history of Oden is interpreted through the traveling of a food, or foods from the south to the north: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/01/20/food/japans-traditional-winter-fast-food/
Dengaku at that time was a ‘fast food’ served in food stalls and in local teahouses, and evolved from being grilled to stewed as restaurants prioritized efficiency. Eventually, stewed dengaku came to be called oden, and dengaku remains a separate item served in Oden, and also served in some Yakitori shops sans the miso, and with some neggi, etc.
Oden is not just a dish for the Japanese; it’s a tradition, a socio-cultural phenomenon that brings people together and fosters a sense of unity and companionship
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Oden, a nikomi (stewed) dengaku gained popularity and since has evolved to another level, with many varying degrees of quality, and style. There is no doubt certain Oden experiences you cannot enjoy without drinking your ass off, and it makes sense keeping yourself puckered up given there are many local and typical ingredients are used for oden.
No doubt, there, long history of people gathering, and drinking and eating the joys of Japan, which are a part of the formality and informality the juxtaposition of the two. There is a certain regular foods which are exclusive to this type of cooking including Chikuwabu, a tube-shaped cake of flour paste which is made from wheat flour. The taste of chikuwabu is similar to udon but it’s more firm and chewy.
Hanpen is a surimi product, a false crab look-a-like is surimi, a fish paste with a soft, mild taste. It is believed to have been invented during the Edo period by chef Hanpei and this dish is named after him.
And the likes of Kinchaku, a traditional Japanese pouch made of cloth that is opened and closed using a drawstring. It’s still often used for wrapping bento boxes, or a kimono or yukata, this is a popular tofu pouch served in Oden.
Usually Oden’s focus is on some root vegetables, boiled eggs, konyaku and many kinds of processed fish cakes. When I think of this cuisine, I think about authentic Japanese street food, and the idea of Edo, when many foods were served, and also eaten on the street something quite unfamiliar to the general public in Japan nowadays.
The idea of oden is popularized in 7/11 (which is now under consideration to be purchased by a Canadian Couche Tard) where you walk into their shops and it reeks from the brewing of a chemical induced dashi for many Japanese seeking something hearty. This is a dip into a fast food nightmare: https://thejapans.org/2014/12/05/oden-wholesome-winter-food/ but there are worse things to eat. It kind of makes sense given Oden was served for the working class, and anyone looking for a hot snack can savour the texture and salty after taste.
Somehow while this isn’t my idea of Oden at all, it is true Oden we find is too often ordinary and unworthy of of its past. But Oden captivates us, and is fascinating not only because its delicious but because of the depth of character you find when it is hand crafted. Think of all Japanese foods and Oden has so much of Japan’s history all wrapped into one savoury broth. It is true we’ve been spoiled by the best Oden, the time and effort and delicate umami flavours developed in the stew, similar to a how a curry is made and the multitude of layers.
Perhaps I forgot to tell you more about Oden experience and what to expect, but many of the images above speak for themselves. You’ll see ingredients some which you may be familiar with, such as an egg, simmered and darkened, and English mustard, a spicy mustard which you don’t find very often in any Japanese cuisine. The influences of foreign countries, and the adaptation of certain ingredients hasn’t negatively effected how we enjoy Oden. The flavours of ginger, and spice in ‘shogoten’ pictured below, it is awesome and my favorite.
The opposite is true, and in Oito in Kyoto, they offer shumai, a chinese pork dumpling, and it is superb!
And in the same time seasonal treasures such as ginko nuts, from the Ginko tree, and one mustn’t forget Oden is about simmering, infusing flavours, textures, and a wide variety of ideas. The cabbage stuffed with meat cannot be a Japanese image, and must have been more influenced by the Portuguese explorers who stayed and were permitted in Japan during the 250 years.
The Portuguese were only definitively banned in 1638 after the Shimabara Rebellion, on the grounds that they smuggled priests into Japan aboard their vessels. For those who haven’t watched Silence it is indicative of what happened to those who believed more in religion than culture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence_(2016_film)
But who cares when you the pièce de résistance Oito’s gyu with daikon, shi-chi-mi and topped with fresh onion and english mustard on the side – even vegetarians enjoy it! Gyusuji means beef tendons, nikomi stewed beef tendons are prepared by simmering in shoyu, mirin, etc., and is the chef;s secret kept closely guarded.
Before you finish this article, it is key to understand the majority of Oden served in and around Japan is less than mediocre but after all its fascinating. That has to do with various factors including popularity and price, and it isn’t fashionable or is it. No, it is, and it isn’t and customers are divided between a savoury soup, a miso soup, seen as healthy and a bowl of rice, seen as fattening by many Japanese.
Oden is a working class food, and it imitates home cooked tradition, the idea of the profound taste of dashi, the essence of Japanese cooking. Many would argue the Oden we find sold around Japan is too salty and I agree, so try it and discover the essence of Japan’s tradition.
Top 10 favorite ingredients and their popularity:
- Boiled egg: 28.3%
- Radish daikon : 27.2%
- Beef tendon gyusuji: 8.4%
- Mochi purse Kinchaku: 5.9%
- Hanpen: 5.5%
- Atsuage: 4.6%
- Chikuwabu: 4.2%
- Konjac Konnyaku 3.6%
- Ganmodoki: 3.4%
- Others: 3.2%
Alternative ingredients: