#winter dish

[jacquelinep21]

[chefcarolb]

Russian Cabbage Soup [Shchi] is humble, earthy, sweet and sour and so satisfying on a winter night.  It’s super low-cal, vegetarian, Paleo, South Beach!  Oh, my!

[dekitateyo]

Oden

[おでん]

Oden is one of the staple winter dishes of Japan. Several ingredients are cooked together in a delicious broth in order to reach the master perfection.

When the weather gets colder and the temperature starts dropping, it is time for oden. You definitely can smell the enticing aroma of the broth nearby any oden place: several food stalls starts popping around the streets and many izakaya add the dish to their menu - even convenience stores sells their own version of oden!

The recipe for oden is really simple: make dashi, season it with shoyu, mirin and salt, then add the ingredients and simmer them on low heat. When the ingredients absorb the oden flavor, enjoy!

Unless you have a lot of familiarity with Japanese home food, several ingredients served in oden are not exactly well-known. I added the Japanese names in case you want to try them yourself!

Basic Recipe

Dashi stock (katsuobushi and kombu)

Shoyu

Mirin

Salt

Ingredients of choice

Steps

Extract the dashi.

Season with shoyu, mirin and salt.

Add the ingredients and boil in medium heat.

When the ingredients are ready, turn the heat to low and let them sit for 15 to 30 minutes.

Serve the oden.

Tips

It is recommended to leave the dish resting for a while before serving it, in order to let the ingredients absorb flavor better. It is common to serve oden the day after preparing it for tastier results, but two hours should be enough if you want to make and have the dish on the same day.

Some of the common ingredients:

Daikon　大根

The staple ingredient of oden. Large, thick slices of daikon simmered until its core is full of flavor. The secret for a good daikon is to peel at least half centimeter, so only the most tender core will be cooked. Cooking it in boiling water before preparing the full oden ensures that the daikon will be perfect.

Tofu 豆腐

Large blocks of tofu cooked lightly in dashi.

Egg　湯で玉子

Hard boiled eggs, cooked until part of the flavor is infused into the oden.

Niku Dango/Tsukune 肉団子・つくね

Meatballs, made of pork meat or chicken meat. Usually served in skewers to make it easier to pick them.

Chikuwa　竹輪

A tube-shaped deep fried fish paste.

Konyaku コンニャク

A paste made of devil’s root yam and lime-water. It has a quite unique texture and flavor. Remember to boil it before cooking to remove its unpleasant odors.

Shirataki　白滝

Konyaku shaped in noodles. Absorbs more flavor than common konyaku. Usually served tied in knots.

Hanpen　 半片

A fish paste and yamaimo (Japanese mountain yam) mixture.  It has a very mild taste.

Cabbage Roll キャベツロール

Cabbage rolls filled with ground pork meat.

Chikuwabu　ちくわぶ

A tube-shaped udon, very common in Kanto region. Sometimes mistaken for chikuwa (which is a fish paste).

Abura age　油揚げ

Deep fried tofu. Absorbs tons of broth.

Ofukuro　袋

A small pouch made of an abura age with mochi inside. My personal favorite.

Kombu　昆布

Seaweed, usually tied in knots for presentation purposes.

Gobomaki　ごぼう巻き

A stick of gobo stuck in the middle of a chikuwa.

Ganmodoki　 雁擬き

Fried fritter made using leftovers of tofu, vegetables and egg whites.

Ikaten　イカ天

Long fried squid cuts.

[dekitateyo]

Tomato and Cabbage Soup

[トマトとキャベツスープ]

A sweet tomato and cabbage soup for cold days.  

This is a quite simple recipe I made using ingredients that should be easily found in any market nearby your home.

No big secret about this soup - just add everything to the pan and leave it to simmer until done... Add the cabbage when the soup is almost done to retain some texture and enjoy the dish!

I used fish sauce one of the seasoning ingredients to give that nice kick of umami that goes well with the tomatoes. Finally, I'd suggest a dollop of sour cream and grated raw garlic, it will give a nice pungency to the dish.

Recipe

1 can of tomatoes

Half onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

400ml of chicken stock

Quarter of cabbage, cut in large pieces

200g of sausages

2tbsp of sugar

Pinch of salt

2tbsp of fish sauce

2tbsp of olive oil

Sour cream

Grated garlic

Dried parsley

Steps

Using a deep pot, add the olive oil and cook the onion on high heat until translucent.

Add the garlic, the tomatoes and then mix everything.

Add the chicken stock and the sausages to the mix; cook until the sausages are done.

Season the soup with salt, sugar and fish sauce.

Before serving the dish, add the cabbage to the soup and mix in order to let it cook lightly.

Serve the soup with sour cream, grated garlic, cheese and bread.

Tips

You may add extra vegetables to the ingredient list in order to give the soup some extra body.

You can also blend all the ingredients (except the sausage) and make a cream instead of a soup: double the amount of tomatoes or add some carrots to give it more body.

The ideal seasoning should be lightly sweet with a hint of sour from the tomatoes.

This dish went really well with bread!

[lukesdane]

My favorite winter dish. Freezes wonderfully for quick dinners. Almost a barbeque type sauce that makes chicken and noodles taste great.

[lucidityzine]

Crispy, pan-fried butternut squash cakes from Chef John are a delectable side dish or appetizer.

[kahemimages]

Pureed Butternut Squash with Spaghetti Squash Strands of spaghetti squash are joined by a sweet, creamy butternut squash sauce in this yummy vegetarian main dish that's perfect for fall and winter meals.

[easternbloc1985]

Side Dish Recipe This time-saving spaghetti squash that can be microwaved with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese works well as a side dish or topped with pasta.