Oden (Japanese Simmered Hot Pot with Daikon and Fish Cakes)

Method

1. 1Wipe the kombu with a dry cloth but do not rinse off the white mineral bloom, it carries flavor. Submerge it in the water and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes so it starts releasing its glutamate before you add heat. Bring the pot slowly to just below a simmer, about 5 to 6 minutes on medium, then lift the kombu out the moment small bubbles start forming around the edges, since boiling it turns the broth slimy and bitter. Add the katsuobushi, take the pot off the heat entirely, and let the flakes steep for 3 to 4 minutes until they sink, then strain the dashi through a fine sieve without pressing on the solids, which would cloud it.
2. 2Peel the daikon thickly, since the skin and the fibrous layer just under it stay tough no matter how long you cook them, and cut it into four 3 cm rounds. Bevel the top edge of each round with a knife so the corners don't crumble in the broth, and score a shallow cross into one cut face so the seasoning reaches the center faster. Put the rounds in a separate pot with the uncooked rice and enough fresh water to cover; the starch pulls out daikon's natural bitterness. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until a skewer slides in with almost no resistance, then drain and rinse off the rice starch; skipping this pre-boil is the single biggest reason home oden tastes sharp and unfinished.
3. 3Score the konnyaku block in a shallow crosshatch on both sides, which lets the broth penetrate a dense ingredient that would otherwise stay bland, then cut it into 4 triangles. Rub the pieces with a pinch of salt for a minute to help draw out their raw, faintly alkaline smell, then drop them into boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes and drain in a colander without rinsing again; rinsing would wash away the salt and dilute the broth later. If you have extra kombu beyond what the dashi needs, soften a strip in warm water and tie it loosely into 4 knots.
4. 4Pour boiling water over the chikuwa, satsuma-age and ganmodoki, or drop them into boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds; this washes off the surface oil the fried ones were cooked in and keeps the broth from turning greasy. Lower the eggs into simmering water and cook for 10 to 11 minutes for a fully set yolk that won't crumble during hours of gentle cooking, then transfer straight to iced water. Crack the shells lightly and peel under cold running water so the whites come away clean.
5. 5Return the strained dashi to the pot and add the light soy sauce, mirin, sake and salt. Bring it to a bare simmer over medium-low heat and taste it; it should read as gently salty with a clean mirin sweetness underneath, not sweet on its own. The daikon and eggs will pull a good amount of that salt out of the broth as they cook for the next hour, so it is fine, even necessary, to season it a little stronger than a soup you would drink on its own.
6. 6Add the daikon, konnyaku, kombu knots and peeled eggs to the seasoned broth. Bring it back to a bare simmer, then drop the heat right down until the surface just trembles without breaking into bubbles, 80 to 90°C is the target, since a rolling boil toughens the eggs and breaks the daikon apart. Cover loosely and hold at that temperature for 40 minutes; this is where the daikon turns from raw white to translucent amber and the eggs start to color at the edges.
7. 7Slide in the chikuwa, satsuma-age and ganmodoki and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. They are already cooked through, so this step is only about warming them and letting the surface soak up broth; any longer and the more delicate ones start breaking apart in the pot.
8. 8Turn off the heat and let the whole pot cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it for at least a few hours or overnight if you have the time. As it cools, every ingredient pulls broth into itself the way a cooling piece of meat draws in a marinade, and reheating it gently the next day tastes noticeably deeper than serving it fresh. Warm it back up over low heat until steaming, ladle into bowls with a little broth, and serve with a dab of karashi mustard on the side, not stirred in, so each person controls the heat.