Oden and Udon

Oden
Serves 4

4 cups water
2 teaspoons dashi powder
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cooking sake

2 pieces atsu-age, cut in half
4 boiled eggs (peeled)
4 pieces chikuwa, cut in half
1/4 pack grey konnyaku, sliced thinly
2 in. daikon, peeled and cut in 1/2 in. rounds
Whatever else you would like to add, such as other varieties of Satsuma age, peeled mountain potatoes, tofu, mochi, etc.

1. Put in a wide, deep pan: water, dashi, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sake. Mix.
2. Heat the liquid. Blanch the konnyaku by putting it in a small pot of water and bringing to a boil. Drain.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot and cook for an hour or so. You can turn it off when the daikon is soft and just leave it in the pot to absorb the flavor of the sauce.
4. Serve with karashi.



Udon
Serves 2

You will need:

1 piece of abura-age, cut in half
utsukuchi soy sauce
mirin
dashi powder
sugar
2 bundles of udon noodles
2 green onions - chopped into small pieces
kamaboko fish cake, 4 thin slices (optional)

Ingredients for abura-age flavoring:
1 tbsp utsukuchi soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp dashi powder

Place ingredients in a small pan and mix. Add the abura-age slices, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low heat until the flavoring is well absorbed and the liquid has boiled down.

Ingredients for soup:
3 cups water
3/4 tsp dashi powder
2 tbsp utsukuchi soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp mirin

Place all ingredients in a sauce-pan and bring to a boil.

Cook the noodles in plenty of water until just soft, according to the directions on the package.
Rinse noodles and place in deep bowls.
Add kamaboko slices, abura-age, green onions, and then pour on the soup.
Serve.