As the weather gets cooler for the rest of the world, Winter has passed in the topsy turvy world of Australia. One of our favourite comfort food for cold weather is hot pot, sometimes known as steamboat. There are several variations depending on country, region and cuisine but I love them all! We were having so many hot pots during the past Winter; I overstocked too much assorted hot pot ingredients in the freezer. Until I clear the stash, I won't have space to store my sambal, ice cream, or anything really. Perhaps we can do one last hot pot before the weather really gets unbearably hot. And for that, I'll go with one of my favourite -- Oden.
Strictly speaking, Oden shouldn't be called a hot pot, it is more of a "soupy", "stewy" dish. Traditionalists might shake their heads in disapproval because in Japan, Oden is served as a completed, cooked dish. Not a hot pot. The real Japanese hot pot is call nabemono which includes the popular Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu (both my favs too!). But I like Oden and I like the idea of sitting around a steaming pot of soup in the cold weather and cooking even more food as we eat, so I'm happy to make this mistake deliberately. =)
Oden (serves 2-4) (recipes and instructions from ochikeron and cookingwithdog)
DashiStock 2 liters Water 15cm Kombu 50g Katsuobushi Seasoning (to taste): 30g Light soy sauce 30g Mirin 1 tsp Salt 1. Soak Kombu in water for 1-2 hours. Bring to a simmer and add katsuobushi then cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes. 2. Remove dashi ingredients and strain the stock with a paper towel. Season to taste.
Daikon (White Radish) 1. Peeled and cut into approx. 2cm rounds. Do a mentori by planing off the edges, it will prevent the daikon from crumbling. 2. Make light cross incision on both sides. 3. Bring Kome no Togijiru (leftover water from washing rice) to a simmer, and parboil the daikon rounds for 15 minutes. It will help in keeping the daikon's colour and remove some bitterness. 4. Drain and wash them with warm water. Pat dry with paper towels and reserve.
Carrot 1. Peel and cut into approx. 1cm rounds. Optional: use a cookie cutter to get flower shape. 2. Parboil, drain and reserve.
Assorted Surimi products (if fried) 1. Pour boiled water over the fried surimi products to remove surface oil. Drain and reserve.
Konnyaku aka Konjac 1. You may either cut the Konnyaku into:
Triangles - make light cross incisions on both sides of the konjac and cut them into triangles
Braids - cut into 5cm pieces starting from the shorter side of the Konnyaku. Lay each piece flat and make 1" cut in the center, leaving at least 1cm at the top and bottom uncut. Slide one of the ends through the 1" opening to form a braid like pattern
2. Parboil, drain and reserve.
Mollet Egg 2 Eggs, room temperature 1. Add some vinegar into a pot of water and bring to a boil. 2. Gently lowered the eggs and cook for 6mins. 3. Shock the eggs in ice cold water.
4. Peel and cut lengthwise.
Takara Fukuro (Treasure Bag) 2 Aburaage 60g Pork mince 4 Tofu, 2" pieces or Mochi if available 20g Cabbage, chopped Optional: Chives or spring onion, blanched 1. Pour boiled water over aburaage to remove surface oil. Pat dry with paper towels and cut into halves.
2. Open up the aburaage and fill with minced pork, tofu and cabbage.
3. Tie the opening with a piece of chive/spring onion, or alternatively, secure with a toothpick. Reserve.
Cabbage Roll Skewers 2-4 pieces of Cabbage leaves bamboo skewers
1. Cook cabbage leaves in boiling water. Drain and remove the harder stem portion of the leaves. 2. Stack the leaves and roll into a log.
3. Stick the bamboo skewers into the cabbage log, leaving approx. 1.5" space between each and cut in between the skewers. Optional 4. You may stick assorted fish balls/cakes on top of the cabbage roll.
Thoughts: At first glance, the preparation work for the ingredients seemed too troublesome but as I got to doing, it's actually not as bad as I thought. Although if I'm after a lazy man's dinner/hot pot, I'll find this too much effort to prep for. On the good side, when there's leftover, I'll served it as the 1 pot dish it was meant to be, for the next day's dinner. Lazy indeed. Haha!
Like hot pot, you can choose from a variety of ingredients for this dish. However, many consider daikon, konnyaku and eggs essential for oden. Assorted surimi products, fried or otherwise are staples too. Frequently used ones includes hanpen and chikuwa but again there's no rules saying which is a must.
I'd understand if some of the ingredients like konnyaku, mochi, hanpen and chikuwa can't be easily accessed, because I couldn't find mochi in the several Asian shops I went to. Hence, my takara fukuro has tofu instead of mochi within. Not the most authentic, but since I'm no Japanese; I'm happy with the rest that I managed to find. So if you just want to enjoy a Japanese-style hot pot or 1 pot dinner, and not serving any Japanese guests, just use any ingredients you like! As long as you're happy with the food, no Oden police will come after us!
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