Message from Shawn Iguchi

< A little break from political issues for holiday >

While I tell people that they can buy Oden at convenience stores in Japan, I rarely buy Oden at convenience stores because they are not good at all.

So I will show you the best way to cook Oden this time. Oden is not a food to buy but a recipe to cook by yourself.

Those ingredients of Oden sold at convenience stores are designed to last long in the pot so that the choices of ingredients are naturally limited.

The most favorite Oden ingredient for me is Chicken drumstick.

You never can buy it from Oden sold at convenience stores or restaurants in Japan because cooked Chicken drumsticks are too soft to serve at stores.

I cook it about two hours in the pot. The cartilage parts become translucent. That’s the sign it became very soft.
(If it is crunchy yet, you have to cook it more)

When it’s done, the meat easily comes apart from bones when trying to pick it up from the pot. That much the meat becomes tender and soft. But the taste is exquisite! It melts in your mouth. You don't need to chew it. And you’ll want to eat more and more. And before you know it, you’ll become an addict!

I cook Oden only because I want to eat Chicken drumsticks. You will know what I mean if you cook it for yourself.

And you will come to realize “I see. There is no way this tender Chicken meat can be served at any restaurant or convenience store!”

I used to not like Konnyaku because it was served in a wrong way.
If you didn’t like Konnyaku tried at convenience stores, you should try my way.

See the attached pic. I cut the surface of Konnyaku crisscrossing way. Don’t cut it all the way through but just the surface. This process increases the size of area that contacts with broth, thus it absorbs more good taste from the broth.

Also by cutting the surface like that, you can easily bite it off and it can break down in your mouth easier.  This method makes Konnyaku tastier and enjoyable to eat. That’s how Konnyaku became my favorite ingredient. Without this method done, I don’t eat Konnyaku.

The Konnyaku sold at convenience stores is not good. I don’t eat them.
Cutting crisscrossing the surface is a method used by professional Sushi chef.

They do that when they serve hard ingredients such as squid and abalone. Konnyaku is as hard as abalone and squid so I applied the same method to Konnyaku. The result was amazing! You should try it!

Konnyaku used to be the last ingredient I ate but after using this method, Konnyaku became the most favorite ingredient next to Chicken drumsticks.

 

Daikon radish. The reason why Daikon is used for Oden is not only it is a good taste of Oden ingredient but also Daikon has enzyme that makes meat tender and soft.

I researched how to cook Oden on the internet and found some of them were wrong.

Whether it is delicious Oden or not is determined by the stock (soup).

Below is what are necessary to make Oden stock.

1.    Soy source

2.    Hondashi (Japanese Bonito based stock powder)

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hondashi

(Gluten & flour free)

3.    Kombu Dashi (If available) (It contains gluten)

4.    Mirin (Sweetner made from rice. I don’t use it though)

Hondashi is a name of product not ingredient. The name of ingredient is “Kastuo-bushi” which is shredded dry Bonito.

Katsuo-bushi is Japanese original ingredient that becomes a base of Japanese traditional cuisine.

There is no Katsuo-bushi in Chinese and Korean culture.

Kastuo-bushi is dried Bonito. While in the process to age, the protein in the fish turns into Amino Acid called “Inosinic Acid” that is what makes food taste good.

It’s called “Umami” in English today. Umami is Japanese language meaning “The essence of good taste”.

Without using Kastuo-bushi, Oden is no longer Oden.

So make sure to use Kastuo-bushi when you prepare Oden stock.

However, Katsuo-bushi is troublesome to use because you have to use a strainer to extract the essence. So freeze-dried powder version is popularly used in Japan.
The most popular product is “Hondashi” produced by Ajinomoto.

I add Kombu-dashi in the pot also. Konbu-dashi is essence of dried sea kelp. If it isn’t available, that is fine. You can use just Soy source and Hondashi. That’s enough.

If I were in US and Japanese ingredients such as Daikon, Konnyaku, Ganmodoki were unavailable, I still would be able to cook Oden.

I will buy Chicken drumsticks (If unavailable, buy Chicken thigh or, shredded Pork or Beef) and eggs. For veggies, I will buy radish, potato (potato is major ingredient for Oden). Cabbage goes well too. No matter which ingredient you use, Soy source and Hondashi will make it taste like genuine Oden.

You can also use seafoods such as oysters, scallops, octopus, squid, and shrimp. Octopus is a popular ingredient for Oden too.

And we eat Oden with masturd.

Have a nice holiday!

https://www.facebook.com/fromlandofrisingsun