Oden Tokyo-Style Winter Hot Pot Tradition

Ingredients

• For the ichiban dashi
• 20 g kombu (dried kelp), wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 30 g katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
• 1.8 litres cold water
• For the broth seasoning
• 60 ml usukuchi soy sauce (light soy), do not substitute dark soy
• 60 ml mirin
• 1 tsp fine salt, to taste
• Long-cooking ingredients (60+ minutes)
• 600 g daikon radish, peeled, cut into 4 cm rounds, bevelled at edges
• 500 ml rice-washing water (togijiru), water reserved from rinsing uncooked rice, for daikon par-boil
• Medium-cooking ingredients (30–45 minutes)
• 300 g konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly), cut into triangles, scored on one side
• 200 g ganmodoki (fried tofu patties), blanched briefly in boiling water to remove excess oil
• Short-cooking ingredients (15–20 minutes)
• 4 chikuwa (fish cake tubes), premium brand (e.g. Kibun) preferred
• 4 satsuma-age (fried fish cakes), premium brand preferred
• 4 age-dashi (fried tofu)
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
• Short-cooking ingredients (10 minutes)
• 4 mochi kinchaku (rice cake pouches), abura-age tofu skin tied with kampyo gourd ribbon
• To serve
• 30 g kara-shi (Japanese mustard), prepared from powder; served alongside

Method

1. 1
   Make the ichiban dashi. Place kombu in 1.8 litres cold water and bring slowly to just below a simmer over medium-low heat — this takes approximately 30 minutes. Remove kombu before boiling point is reached. Bring the water to a full boil, add katsuobushi, remove from heat, and steep for 3 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh cloth without pressing. The finished dashi should be a very pale gold and taste of clean, defined umami.
2. 2
   Par-boil the daikon in togijiru (rice-washing water). Place the daikon rounds in a saucepan, cover with rice-washing water, and simmer over medium heat for 20–25 minutes until translucent throughout and a skewer meets no resistance. Drain and rinse. This step removes harsh bitterness and opens the cell structure for broth absorption; it cannot be skipped.
3. 3
   Season the dashi. Combine the strained dashi with usukuchi soy, mirin, and salt in a wide, heavy pot. Taste: the broth should be clean and lightly savoury, almost pale in colour. Add the pre-cooked daikon. Bring to a very gentle simmer — the surface should barely move — and maintain this throughout all subsequent steps. This is where the dish lives or dies: a rolling boil will cloud the dashi irreparably and destroy the fish cakes' delicate texture; the pot must never boil hard from this point forward.
4. 4
   After 15 minutes of gentle simmering with the daikon, add the konnyaku and ganmodoki. Continue the gentle simmer for 30–45 minutes. The ganmodoki will swell slightly and the konnyaku will take on a faint gold from the broth.
5. 5
   Add the chikuwa, satsuma-age, age-dashi, and hard-boiled eggs. Simmer gently for a further 15–20 minutes. The fish cakes should be heated through and beginning to absorb the broth colour at their surfaces; they should yield to gentle pressure without collapsing.
6. 6
   Add the mochi kinchaku in the final 10 minutes of simmering. They are ready when the rice cake inside has softened and the pouch is taut but unbroken.
7. 7
   Remove the pot from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature uncovered, then refrigerate overnight. On day 2, reheat very gently — below a simmer — until all ingredients are warmed through. The broth will have deepened in flavour and each ingredient will be fully saturated with dashi. Serve in deep bowls with a measure of hot broth ladled over. Present kara-shi mustard alongside; apply directly to daikon and fish cakes at table.