TRG Info and Advice

Peeled and thickly sliced pieces of this big white Japanese radish are simmered in the broth. As they soak up a lot of liquid, these are the most popular oden ingredient, both at home and in restaurants.

Makimono also have a lot of variations: gobomaki (gobo burdock root wrapped in fish cakes), ikamaki (shredded squid wrapped in fish cakes), winnamaki (a wiener sausage wrapped in fish cake), to name a few.

Chikuwa (literally: bamboo ring) is a food made by kneading ground fish meat with starch. It is molded around a bamboo or metal stick, then grilled or steamed. The grilled one is called yaki-chikuwa (grilled chikuwa), and the steamed one is called shiro-chikuwa (white chikuwa). It used to be called “kamaboko,” but as the cross-section looks like sliced bamboo, it began to be called chikuwa. For oden, yaki-chikuwa is recommended.

Atsuage is a thick slice of tofu, deep-fried until the surface turns pale gold. The shape is usually rectangular like tofu, but sometimes triangular, too. The inside remains just as tofu, so it is also called nama-age (literally: deep-fried raw).

Peeled potatoes are added to oden, whole or in bite-size pieces.

Chikuwabu is a food made by kneading flour with water and salt. It is then molded around a stick and cooked. It looks like chikuwa. 90% of the chikuwabu consumed in the Kanto District is eaten in Tokyo. Chikuwabu is mainly used for oden. It features a chewy texture.

Roru kyabetsu is a few cabbage leaves rolled around a filling. It is not clear when roru kyabetsu, with its origin in western cuisine, appeared as an oden ingredient, but it is always popular at oden restaurants.

Fukuro is a pouch of fried tofu with fillings inside. It is also called kinchaku (drawstring purse). Fillings are usually mochi rice cake, vegetables and minced meat, but there are also unusual fillings, such as cheese.

Tsubugai is an oden ingredient unique to Hokkaido and Tohoku. Tsubugai is a popular name for a cold-water whelk, or gastropod, of the buccinidae family. It is also called ezo-sazae or tama-sazae in Hokkaido.

Konnyaku is a traditional, Japanese, jelly-like food. It is made from the root of an Araceae plant. When the root powder is mixed with an alkali solution, such as limewater, and heated, it becomes coagulated and turns into a translucent jelly with a springy texture. This is konnyaku, and it consists mostly of water. When it is in its raw form, its color is dark grey and this version is popular in Kansai. When it is prepared from ground and refined powder, without impure substances such as skins, the color is white. Konnyaku was introduced to Japan as a food from China around the 8^th Century, and is thought to have become a common food item after the 12^th Century.

Hard-boiled chicken or quail eggs are also a popular oden ingredient.

Satsuma-age, one of the essential ingredients of oden, first appeared in the Edo Period. A cookbook published in 1795, in Osaka, describes a deep-fried tempura of ground fish meat, and introduces satsuma-age with thinly shaved gobo burdock root, kikurage mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and others. Before that, just hanpen made from shark meat and sweet potatoes were used in oden in Edo. Satsuma-age has a wide variety of sub-ingredients and shapes; vegetables such as burdock root and carrots are often included, and ball-shaped ones contain squid and shrimp.

Kombu plays an important supporting role for oden, giving it great flavor. It is popular among people who are watching their weight.

Shirataki is made from konnyaku powder. Konnyaku powder is mixed with water, then forced through fine holes to shape it like noodles. For oden, ones that look like bound string are often used.

Hanpen is a mixture of pureed white fish meat and grated yam. The mixture is whipped until it turns into a foam and then mixed with egg whites. After that, it is placed in boiling water and boiled until firm. It features a fluffy, marshmallow-like texture and a snow-white color. A 16th-century book containing the word “hanpen” describes it as being made from ground fish meat with yam, indicating that the hanpen of that time was similar to the hanpen of today. Kuro hanpen, made mainly with ground sardines and mackerel, is often added to oden in Shizuoka. There is a similar food item called shinjo. It, too, is made of ground fish meat mixed with grated yam and egg whites. The mixture is then seasoned and boiled, or steamed.

Ganmodoki is another tofu product, made by mashing tofu, draining the excess water, and then mixing it with yam, shiitake mushrooms, gobo burdock root, carrots, kombu seaweed, and other items. It is made into a ball-shape and deep-fried. Usually abbreviated to ganmo, it is often called hirousu in Kansai. It was originally made as a meat substitute for shojin ryori (the vegan cuisine served in Buddhist temples), and one theory claims that it began to be called ganmodoki since it tastes like goose (gan for goose, and modoki: to look like).

Tofu is made by grinding water-soaked soybeans and coagulating strained milk. Firm tofu such as yaki-dofu (grilled tofu) or momen tofu are most commonly used for oden, and grilled tofu on a skewer is considered oden’s ancestor.

Tsumire is ground fish such as sardines or hokke mackerel, which is then shaped into balls and boiled. The ground fish is picked up (tsumamu, in Japanese) and put (ireru, in Japanese) in boiling water, and so, it was named tsumire. It has a full, fishy flavor.

Gyu suji is made up of tough and sinewy cuts of beef such as neck, skirt, shank and tendon. When slow-simmered, it has a jelly-like, rubbery, melt-in-your-mouth texture. It is full of flavor and adds rich taste to oden.

Suji is made, mainly, from shark cartilage. Ground meat of white fish is added, and the mixture is then molded in a stick shape and steamed or boiled. Slices of the stick-shaped suji are added to oden. It features the crunchy texture of cartilage and is rich in collagen.

This is a traditional Japanese vegetable, which has been cooked since ancient times. In Kyoto, some restaurants use ebi-imo, a Kyoto variety of sato-imo.

Shinodamaki is a roll which wraps meat, vegetables, tofu and kamaboko (firm fish cake) in fried tofu. A legend in Osaka tells that a fox in the Forest of Shinoda, in Osaka, turned into a beautiful woman. In Japan, it is believed that foxes like fried tofu, so dishes made with fried tofu are sometimes called Shinoda.

Common octopus is usually used for oden. Also popular is small iidako octopus, which is eaten whole.

Chicken with bones, legs, and chicken balls are common. Chicken adds a profound flavor to oden.

Sausages are essential oden ingredients in Okinawa. After convenience stores began selling them, they have become common, nationwide.

Gyozamaki is a gyoza dumpling wrapped in fish cake and deep-fried. It is commonly consumed in the northern Kyushu District.

Kamaboko is made by kneading pureed fish meat with salt and other seasonings. It is then shaped, usually on a wooden board, and steamed, grilled, or deep-fried. Kamaboko has a unique rubbery texture. It is used as an oden ingredient mainly in the Chugoku District.

Whale meat for oden includes koro, deep-fried blubber, and saezuri, whale tongue, etc. Whale meat is an oden ingredient unique to the Kansai District, and is getting difficult to obtain nowadays.