Oden
おでん
A winter pot of daikon, eggs, kombu knots and fish cakes left to soak in a light soy dashi until they taste of it. Eaten with hot mustard, better the next day.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: おでん.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 20 min
- Rest
- 1 hr
- Total
- 2 hr 50 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- A bit special$16–28 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Oden is a pot of things left to sit in a light, soy-tinted dashi until they have soaked it up. Daikon is the centre of it: thick rounds, peeled and part-cooked first, then simmered for an hour until they are translucent and taste mostly of broth. Hard-boiled eggs turn brown at the edges, kombu knots go silky, and a mix of fish cakes swells and softens. The broth never boils; boiling makes the fish cakes puff and split and clouds the dashi. Oden is better the next day, so make it ahead. It is eaten with a dab of hot mustard and nothing else.
What you'll need
13 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Broth
- Pot
- To serve
Ingredients
Broth
Pot
- Korean radish, daikon, peeled thickly, in 3 cm rounds600 g
- Rice, raw, for parboiling the daikon15 ml
- Egg6 large
- Dashima, kombu, two 15 cm strips, for knots20 g
- Japanese fish cake, a mix: chikuwa, satsuma-age, fish balls, hanpen500 g
- Potato, waxy, peeled4 small
- Tofu, deep-fried atsuage, or firm tofu (optional)300 g
To serve
- English mustard, or Japanese karashi9.9 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Peel the daikon thickly to get under the fibrous layer, cut it into 3 cm rounds, shave off the sharp edges and score a shallow cross on one face. Simmer the rounds in water with the raw rice for 25 minutes, until a skewer goes in easily, then rinse.
30 min
Tip: The rice takes the bitter, radishy edge off. Rice-washing water does the same job.
Step 2
Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool and peel them. Soften the kombu in a little of the dashi for 10 minutes, cut each strip lengthways into four and tie each piece into a knot.
15 min
Step 3
Put the fish cakes in a colander and pour a kettle of boiling water over them to rinse off the frying oil. Cut large pieces in half.
5 min
Step 4
Combine the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and salt in a large pot and taste: it should be seasoned like a soup you would drink. Add the daikon, eggs, kombu knots and potatoes. Bring to just below a simmer and cook, lid ajar, for 45 minutes.
45 min
Watch: Do not let it boil. Small, lazy bubbles at the edge are the most it should do.
Step 5
Add the fish cakes and tofu and keep at the same gentle heat for 25 minutes more, adding any hanpen only for the last 5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and leave it at least an hour, or cool and refrigerate overnight.
30 min
Step 6
Reheat slowly to hot, then serve a few pieces of everything in each bowl with a ladle of broth and mustard on the side.
10 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 323 kcal
- Protein
- 25.6 g
- Carbs
- 30.3 g
- Fat
- 9.7 g
- Saturated fat
- 2.4 g
- Fibre
- 3.6 g
- Sugar
- 7.5 g
- Sodium
- 2366 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Fish
- Eggs
- Soy
- Wheat
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Japanese fish cakes → Korean eomuk or Chinese fish balls
Both are close relatives and easier to find in some grocers. Korean sheets can be folded onto skewers.
Tips
- The flavour goes in as the pot cools, not as it cooks. That is why the second day is better.
- Top up the broth with dashi and a splash of soy as it reduces over several days. Keep the pot in the fridge between meals and bring it back to steaming hot each time.
- Halve the eggs only at the table. Whole, they soak up colour without falling apart.
History & culture
In winter almost every convenience store in Japan has an oden tank by the till, and you pick your pieces with tongs. There are oden stalls and izakaya that serve nothing else, with pots that are topped up rather than ever emptied. At home it is a weeknight dish made in a big pot and eaten over two or three days.
Oden comes from dengaku, tofu grilled on skewers and spread with miso, eaten since at least the 14th century. In Edo, during the 1800s, cooks began simmering the ingredients in a soy broth instead, and that version spread. In Kansai it is still sometimes called kanto-daki, Kanto-style simmering.
Traditional — This is Kanto-style oden in a light soy dashi. Konnyaku triangles and skewers of beef tendon are common additions if you can find them. Shizuoka makes a dark broth with beef stock, and Nagoya serves oden in sweet miso. Korean radish is a fair stand-in for daikon: denser, a little sweeter.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Oden take?
2 hr 50 min all in — 30 min prep, 1 hr 20 min cook, 1 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 6 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Fish, Eggs, Soy, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Nut-free.
10 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
A bit special — about $16–28 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Dutch oven, Saucepan, Chef's knife, Cutting board.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
How much soy sauce?
60 ml (light soy if you have it) of Soy sauce.
How much mirin?
60 ml of Mirin.
What can I use instead?
Japanese fish cakes → Korean eomuk or Chinese fish balls. Both are close relatives and easier to find in some grocers. Korean sheets can be folded onto skewers.
What should I watch for?
Do not let it boil. Small, lazy bubbles at the edge are the most it should do.
Any tips from this recipe?
The flavour goes in as the pot cools, not as it cooks. That is why the second day is better. Top up the broth with dashi and a splash of soy as it reduces over several days. Keep the pot in the fridge between meals and bring it back to steaming hot each time. Halve the eggs only at the table. Whole, they soak up colour without falling apart.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Add the fish cakes and tofu and keep at the same gentle heat for 25 minutes more, adding any hanpen only for the last 5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and leave it at least an hour, or cool and refrigerate overnight. Reheat slowly to hot, then serve a few pieces of everything in each bowl with a ladle of broth and mustard on the side.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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