Oden -- Warming, Nourishing Soup

Today the rain drizzles down unrelentingly in Southern California, while most of the country digs out of snow. When it's cold and gray outside, warm your bones with this nourishing soup called Oden that has plenty of protein and very little fat. The main ingredient is Japanese fish cake (kamaboko), increasingly available in the freezer section of chain grocery stores or at Asian markets. You can also special order it from Pacific Mercantile Company. The fish cake is made mostly from pollock with potato flour, ground to a paste, then formed into cakes and steamed, that have the texture of a firm dumpling. The image to the right shows some of the fish cake you may see in the freezer--the one on the left looks like a section of wood (Kibun brand Yaki Chikuwa), the one on the top right is mixed with shrimp and formed into a brown rectangle (Murutama brand Ebi-Tenpura), the bottom right is shaped into white balls (Yamasa brand Fish Cake), and the image to the left shows kamaboko on a wooden base which makes it easy to slice (clean and save the wood bases for many uses in crafts and home repair). You can also buy Oden in a package with a variety of fish cakes and a packet of instant broth. If you can obtain the ingredients, itadakimasu!

ODEN: JAPANESE SEAFOOD AND RADISH SOUP:
4 cups chicken stock
4 cups dashi broth (made from fish flakes)
3/4 cup light soy sauce, in two parts
3/4 cup mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
2 tsp. salt
4 cups assortment of fish cakes, sliced into bite sized pieces
4 cups of seafood: peeled, cleaned shrimp or bite sized pieces of fish, octopus, squid--your preference
*optional: bite sized pieces of chicken or chicken meatballs
6" of daikon: Japanese white radish, peeled and sliced into 1/4" half-moon-shaped slices (cut each round slice in half)
*optional: sliced butternut squash, rutabaga or kohlrabi
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
In a heavy pot, simmer the chicken stock, dashi, HALF the soy sauce, mirin and salt for a few minutes, then taste. Add more soy sauce to taste, but remember the flavor will concentrate as the Oden cooks, so it will become more salty. You might want to reserve some soy sauce to avoid oversalting the soup. Add the kamaboko, seafood, chicken if used, and vegetables and gently simmer on very low heat for an hour. Add the cooked eggs in the last 15 minutes just to warm them. There should be ample broth to keep all the ingredients covered. The stocks should reduce by 1/3 and be dark brown. Serve with hot Japanese rice. Makes 4 servings. Oden is even better the next day, reheated after the flavors have melded together overnight!