Easy Japanese Winter Stew

Oden is a Japanese one-pot dish (nabemono) that is warming, comforting, and slightly fishy. Japanese winter stew’s ingredients differ depending on the region and the family. 

Think of oden as the gumbo of Japan, but very different in taste, appearance, textures, and the way of preparation.

Oden is usually made with a homemade dashi broth from bonito flakes and kelp that is simmered for hours. But this recipe calls for dashi powder and oyster sauce which are more available outside of Japan. 

Why You’ll Love This Oden Recipe

Our Japanese winter stew comes together in about an hour as opposed to 2-3 hours like other recipes. This is thanks to using chicken drumsticks instead of beef tendon. You can, of course, use beef tendon, but I love chicken and a shortcut!

This winter Japanese dish is super customizable. The great thing about oden is that you can pretty much put anything you want in it. Traditionally, ingredients like the dashi broth, soy sauce, daikon, boiled eggs, konjac, tofu, and fish cakes form the base, but you can pretty much improvise. 

Oden is the best wintertime food in Japan. It’s got so many yummy ingredients, all absorbing the flavors of the savory soy sauce-based dashi broth. Japanese winter stew is full of umami and comforting textures.

Our oden recipe includes homemade tofu shrimp dumplings that are divine. They turn into melty goodness after simmering in the broth, but you can keep them crisp and serve them on the side too.

What Do I Need To Make Oden At Home?

Here are the ingredients for the oden broth: 

• 1 ½ l water
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 1 ½ Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 ½ Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. each mirin and sake
• 1 Tbsp. dashi powder

As add-ins, you’ll need: 

• 4 large eggs
• 1 large daikon radish (+ ¼ cup uncooked rice for removing bitterness from the daikon)
• 4 chicken legs (drumsticks or another meat or seafood)
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• 7 oz. konjac block 
• Fishcakes of choice (gyoza/dumplings, or boiled octopus work if you can’t find fishcakes)

For tofu shrimp dumplings:

• 12 silken tofu 
• 2 Tbsp. potato starch
• 1 lb. deveined peeled shrimp, diced into big cubes
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. salt
• Vegetable oil for frying

How To Make Japanese Winter Stew

Step 1: Prep the daikon, potatoes, and konjac

Cut the daikon into four thick rounds and peel the skin off, using a knife or peeler. Score one side with a cross, about 1 cm deep to prevent the daikon from falling apart when simmering for a long time. 

Boil the daikon in water with ¼ cup rice to remove the bitterness (for 15-25 minutes), until it’s easy to pierce. 

You can save the rice to eat as porridge later. It’ll detoxify your body.

Cut the potatoes in quarters and let them soak in cold water. 

Soak the konjac in water to remove any bad odor, then cut it into triangles.

Step 2: Heat and Drain the Silken Tofu

Heat the silken tofu in the microwave for 3 minutes, then drain the excess water.

Step 3: Whisk tofu to a creamy consistency

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the tofu until creamy.

Step 4: Incorporate shrimp and other ingredients to the tofu mixture

Add chopped shrimp, 2 tablespoons of potato starch, 1 tsp salt, and 1 egg. Mix to combine.

Step 5: Deep fry the dumpling batter to golden brown

Heat cooking oil in a heavy bottom pot up to 360°F-375°F and deep fry big tablespoons of the dumpling batter for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. 

Remove from the pot and place on a wire rack to drain excess oil.

Reserve half of the dumplings for the stew, and store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer until ready to eat. Reheat in the oven at 360°F for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through.

Step 6: Prepare the oden broth and bring to a boil

Pour 1 ½ liter of water into a large pot and bring it to a boil. Add the oden broth seasonings: soy sauce, mirin, sugar, oyster sauce, dashi powder, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Bring it to a boil.

Step 7: Simmer key ingredients in the broth for enhanced flavor

Lower the heat to medium-low and add the chicken legs, followed by the potatoes, daikon, konjac pieces, and half of the shrimp dumplings to make the broth tasty. These ingredients should simmer for longer to absorb the flavors of the broth and also give the broth more flavor.

Step 8: Incorporate fishcakes and soft ingredients to finish

Add fishcakes, mochi kinchaku, and other soft ingredients toward the end, if using.

When the meat has cooked through, the soup is done. It takes about 20-25 min.

Step 8: Enjoy your Easy Japanese Winter Stew!

Serve and enjoy with Japanese mustard Karashi. 

Notes & Variations

• Allow leftovers to cool and store them in the refrigerator. Warm up on low heat on the stove (about 20 minutes), and consume within 2 days.
• You can use beef or pork tendon instead of chicken, or even oxtail. To keep your oden pescatarian, use octopus or even fried fish cakes like the shrimp dumplings we’re making to season the broth. You can pretty much add anything you want.
• I haven’t added any mochi kinchaku, but you can make some with fried tofu strips (aburaage) filled with mochi (savory glutinous rice cake) or another filling of your choice. 
• To make mochi kinchaku, create little pouches with fried tofu, fill them with mochi, pinch them at the top, and close them with a noodle or a toothpick. Add them when the oden is almost finished, otherwise, the mochi kinchaku will melt and the broth will become cloudy. 
• Other ingredients that you can add to oden are firm tofu, carrots, yams, tsukune (Japanese chicken meatballs on skewers), stuffed cabbage (add at the end), boiled octopus, hot dog sausages, tsumire (Japanese fish balls), or any meat of preference.
• The key to an impeccable oden is balancing the ingredients well, getting the timing right, and simmering on low to medium-low heat. The wider the variety of ingredients, the better. 
• Make sure you have some meat, some vegetables, some fish, and some mochi-like textures for the full oden experience. 

Popular Oden Ingredients In Japan

Daikon is a type of radish that is fundamental to oden. It’s typically cut into big slices and pre-boiled to soften them before adding them to the stew.

Konnyaku is made from konjac potatoes and has a hard jelly texture. When boiled, it absorbs all the flavors of the broth and becomes softer. Make sure to rinse before adding to the stock to remove the particular odor.

Boiled eggs are crucial to making traditional oden. You don’t have to use chicken eggs, this Japanese stew can have quail eggs as well.

Shirataki – white translucent noodles made from konnyaku are another typical ingredient. They’re usually tied in a knot for easier consumption. Don’t forget to rinse them before as well.

Astuage tofu is cut into thick slices and deep-fried. It’s a good idea to remove excess oil by pre-boiling the tofu before adding it to the broth.

Kinchaku is a small traditional Japanese drawstring bag made of cloth, but it’s also the name of a cute food in this shape. Kinchaku is made by putting ingredients like mochi inside fried tofu “pouches” and binding it with edible dried gourd shavings called “kampyo”.

Ganmodoki is a fried tofu patty made with crumbled tofu, yams, eggs, and seasonings. This treat should also be boiled for 2-3 minutes before adding it to the oden broth.

Chikuwa is considered the original kamaboko (Japanese cured surimi) made by wrapping white fish paste around bamboo or iron rods and baking it to get its unique shape and color.

Hanpen is a type of fishcake made from Alaskan pollock surimi paste, kombu dashi, and grated yam. It’s white and is usually cut into triangles to be eaten in oden and other soups. Hanpen is soft and spongy which makes it perfect for absorbing lots of delicious broth.

Gyusuji is any meat with sinews, but it often refers to beef tendon slow-cooked on skewers. Gyusuji is the most time-consuming ingredient, but it gives the oden broth an incomparable flavor. Pre-boil it to remove excess fat before adding it to the broth.

How Do You Eat Oden?

Dab some Karashi (Japanese mustard) or miso on the daikon, fish cakes, and boiled eggs that have been simmering in the dashi broth for a long time. 

Oden is often eaten with chopsticks and a spoon to be able to pick out the ingredients individually and slurp up the broth after.

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