# Himeji oden ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Himeji oden

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Himeji City and its vicinity

## Main Ingredients Used
Radish, a kelp knot, chikuwa (a tube-shaped fish cake paste), konjac, konjac noodle, boiled egg, tempura burdock, hiraten, etc.

## History, Origin, and Related Events
Oden is generally served with mustard, but “Himeji Oden” is served with or without ginger soy sauce. This is the characteristic of Himeji oden, a local dish of Himeji.In Himeji, there are two types of oden: one with a thick, sweet flavor called Kanto nimono, and the other with a lighter flavor, but both are called “Himeji oden” when ginger soy sauce is used. Ginger soy sauce is made by adding grated ginger to soy sauce, and Himeji was originally a producer of ginger and soy sauce. The area around Himeji is also a major producer of soy sauce, which may have contributed to the custom of using ginger soy sauce in oden. The name “Himeji Oden” was coined in 2006 by a group of volunteers involved in the “Himeji Food for Town Revitalization” campaign, who named the dish “Himeji Oden”. It is now widely known as a local delicacy, and many tourists visit Himeji for its oden.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
Oden is usually prepared and eaten at home, but it is also eaten on festive occasions such as autumn festivals and framework-raising ceremonies. There is also a unique way of eating oden at home, where the leftover oden ingredients are chopped up and added to okonomiyaki.

## How to Eat
In addition to the beef tendon, each household prepares its own oden ingredients, such as radish, egg, konjac, and chikuwa. The beef tendon is boiled and rinsed, and the radish and konjac are also boiled, then simmered in oden broth, a combination of soup stock, soy sauce, and mirin, for about one hour. When ready, pour ginger soy sauce over the beef or mix ginger soy sauce with oden soup stock and eat while dipping.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
After being named Himeji Oden in 2006 as part of the “Himeji Food for Town Revitalization” activity, the “Himeji Oden Promotion Committee” was established to promote Himeji Oden and its activities. Currently, more than 100 restaurants in the city offer Himeji Oden (as of 2021), and it also appears in school lunches. In 2019, Himeji Food Expo (hosted by Himeji Food Culture Association) was held, and “Himeji Oden” was also featured at a stall.

## Ingredients
- [Oden] Radish: 400g
- [Oden] Potatoes: 200g
- [Oden] Boiled eggs: 4
- [Oden] Tempura burdock: 4
- [Oden] Pieces of chikuwa: 2
- [Oden] Hiraten: 4
- [Oden] Thick deep-fried tofu: 4
- [Oden] Konjac: 1／2 slice
- [Oden] Other oden ingredients of your choice (beef tendon, fried fish balls, etc.) as you like: 
- [Oden] Oden soup stock: 800-1000ml
- [Oden] Soy sauce: 60ml
- [Oden] Mirin: 30 ml
- [Oden] Sake: 15ml
- [Ginger Soy Sauce] Grated ginger: To taste
- [Ginger Soy Sauce] Soy sauce: To taste

## Recipe
1. 1. Preparation of Oden SeedsCut radish into 3cm-thick slices and boil in rice water.Cut konjac into triangular pieces and boil them.Peel potatoes and soak them in water.Pour boiling water over tempura burdock, hiraten, and deep-fried tofu.Cut chikuwa in half diagonally.Make boiled egg and peel.
2. 2. Add soy sauce, mirin, and sake to dashi broth and cook radish, konjac, and potatoes. When the potatoes are moderately cooked, add the burdock root tempura, hiraten, deep-fried tofu, chikuwa, and boiled egg and bring to a simmer.
3. 3. Serve the oden in a bowl and garnish with soy sauce and grated ginger in a small dish.

## Provider Information
provider : Recipe provided by: Hyogo Home Cooking Research Group (Makiko Katayose, Kaoru Sakamoto, Harumi Sakuta, Noriko Tanaka, Shinobu Tominaga, Kozue Nakatani, Tomoko Hara, Sawako Honda)

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