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1
Prepare the daikon. Peel and cut into rounds of approximately 4 cm. Score a shallow cross-hatch pattern (kakushi-bōchō) into both flat faces of each round. Blanch in the water reserved from washing rice until just tender at the edge, then drain. The daikon should have lost its raw opacity at the surface but remain firm at the centre.
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2
Hard-boil the eggs, cool completely, and peel. Place them in the cold kombu dashi along with the daikon and konnyaku. Bring the pot to the lowest possible simmer — the surface should barely tremble, never boil. This is where the dish lives or dies: an aggressive boil will shatter the fish cakes and prevent the slow broth absorption that is the entire purpose of oden.
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3
Season the broth with light soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Stir once to combine. The broth should be pale and clear — restrained seasoning allows the ingredients to speak rather than the broth to assert itself.
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4
Simmer the long-cook items — daikon, egg, konnyaku — gently for a minimum of one hour. The daikon is ready when a skewer passes through the centre without resistance and the flesh has taken on a translucent, broth-stained colour throughout.
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5
Add the ganmodoki and chikuwa in the final 30 minutes of cooking. Add the hanpen in the final 15 minutes only. Fish cakes should be swollen and lightly glossed with broth; hanpen should be pillowy and heated through but intact.
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6
For best results, remove from heat and allow the pot to cool completely, then refrigerate overnight. Reheat the following day over the lowest flame. The broth will have fully penetrated the daikon and egg; the smell should be deeply savoury but still clean and dashi-forward.
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7
Serve directly from the pot in deep bowls with a measure of broth. Place karashi on the side; it is not mixed into the pot but applied by each diner to individual pieces. The daikon is the authoritative test of the dish: it should be fully yielding, broth-saturated to the core, and carry the full character of the dashi within it.