Oden Stew

Ingredients (serves 4): 800g (1.8 lb) of your favorite fish paste cakes: Fish-cake made of fish paste and yam (hampen) Fish meatball (tsukune) Deep-fried fish paste cake (satsuma-age) Burdock roll (gobo-maki) 4 pieces boiled octopus, whelk, and beef gyu-suji (gristle) 1 package deep-fried tofu (atsu-age) or deep-fried tofu pouch (abura-age) 1 package tubular roll of steamed wheat-flour dough (chikuwabu) 1 package devil's tongue jelly (konnyaku) or shirataki knots (musubi-shirataki) 1 daikon radish 4 potatoes 4 eggs 10 cups (68 fl oz/2 liters) Japanese soup stock (dashi) 10 cups (68 fl oz/2 liters) water 2 pieces 5cm (2 in) x 20cm (8 inch) kelp (konbu) 6 cups dried bonito (kezuribushi, or katsuobushi) 1/2 cup (3.4 fl oz/100ml) soy sauce 1/2 cup (3.4 fl oz/100ml) sake Salt to taste Japanese mustard as needed
Cooking directions: 1. Make Japanese soup stock. Make a cut in the kelp then place in a pot; soak the kelp in 10 cups (68 fl oz/2 liters) of water for a little over 1 hour. Place the pot over heat and cook without bringing to the boil. Remove the kelp and set aside. Add the dried bonito to the pot and remove from heat, letting it cool naturally. Strain and retain the leftover liquid. Cut the kelp into 2 cm (1 in) x 10 cm (4 in) pieces and tie the pieces into knots.
2. Peel the daikon radish, cut into 2cm (1 inch) thick pieces and make cut on the reverse side. Peel the potatoes then boil the eggs and peel them.
3. Cut the chikuwabu into 1cm (3/8 of an inch) pieces and cut the deep-fried tofu (atsu-age) into 4 pieces. Slice the devil's tongue jelly (konnyaku) into half thick pieces.
4. Soak all ingredients except for vegetables in hot water.
5. In a pan, place the daikon raddish, potatoes and tubular roll of steamed wheat-flour dough (chikuwabu). Add Japanese soup stock and sake and cook over medium heat. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the ingredients turn transparent. Add other ingredients except for the fish-cake made of fish paste and yam (hampen), octopus, and whelk, and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
6. Considering that simmering makes soup saltier and the flavor richer, add soy sauce to taste. Lightly seasoning is recommended because ingredients will turn more salty after it was cooled. Add salt to adjust the seasoning to taste. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
7. Just before serving, add octopus, whelk and the fish-cake made of fish paste and yam (hampen) then warm up. If you have several hours before serving, repeat the boiling and cooling process several times. This will enrich the flavor to the ingredients.
Tips: *Many Japanese people favor well-simmered daikon which is fully soaked in soup. *Enjoy o-den in your favorite style such as serving on a tabletop stove!
Japanese Liquid Measures: 1 cup = 200ml = 6.76 fl oz 1 tablespoon = 15ml = 0.5 fl oz 1 teaspoon = 5ml = 0.16 fl oz