When it gets cold, we all like to munch on comfort foods in the warmth of our cozy abodes. Many comforting foods happen to be cooked in one pot, making them easy and delicious. One simple Japanese comfort food is oden. Oden is a popular winter Japanese hot pot stew, with regional ingredients varying across the country. A hot pot is defined as a dish in which foods (veggies, meats, etc.) are boiled in a simmering broth.

Most ingredients for oden tend to be vegetable, seafood or tofu products, although anything can be used. I made this simple oden variation with ingredients I love:

Oden

• 1 daikon, peeled and cut into chunks
• 6 chikuwa, cut in halves
• 3 soft boiled eggs, peeled
• 1 block konnyaku, cut in half, then cut into 16 triangles
• 2 blocks satsuma age, cut into 8 triangles
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
• 10 squares atsuage, cut in halves
• 14 tsukune
• 2/3 cup sake
• 10 cups dashi
• 1/3 cup soy
• 1/4 cup mirin
• scant amount spicy mustard

1. In a large pot, mix sake, dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. Add all the ingredients to the broth, except the spicy mustard. Bring all to a boil then cover and simmer on low for an hour.

2. Remove from heat and spoon ingredients equally into bowls. Serve with hot mustard on the side.

Makes 8 Servings

That was easy, but the oden tasted great! Some other traditional options for a hearty oden are:

• tako
• abura age
• shirataki
• ganmodoki
• gobomaki
• hanpen
• fuku-bukuro ni
• konbumaki

This Japanese 7-11 page has some excellent photos of national and regional oden ingredients. The site language is Japanese but the pictures translate the names into a language we all know: Yummm!

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate to Difficult