Oden (Japanese fish cake stew)

Ingredients

• •8 inches daikon radish, peeled and sliced into round pieces 1 inch thick
• •9 oz konnyaku/konjac (preferably noodle form)
• •27 oz oden set
• •4 pieces aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)
• •4 pieces kirimochi
• •4 hard-boiled eggs, cooled and peeled
• •4.6 oz hanpen (fish cake; only if oden set didn't come with it)
• •4 pieces dried knotted kombu
• •6 cup dashi
• •2 Tbsp soy sauce
• •1 Tbsp sake
• •2 Tbsp mirin
• •1/2 tsp kosher salt
• •Hot mustard, for serving

Steps

1. 1Start the dashi and seasonings in the slow cooker at Low. If prepping from dried, soak the dashi bags for two hours (or follow package directions), then remove. Hardboil the eggs.
2. 2Blanch the oden and aburaage in boiling water for 15-30 seconds to remove excess oil from the surface, then drain. Halve/quarter fish cakes as needed to be handleable with chopsticks. Prep mochi pouches, kombu, and daikon as specified below. Add everything but konjac (including the eggs) to broth and cook for 5-6 hours on Low. Gently stir occasionally.
3. 3Add the konjac (thinly slicing beforehand, if not using noodles) to the broth and turn up to High for 30min.
4. 4Serve with mustard in a tasting bowl on the side.
5. 5**Kombu**
6. 6**Daikon Radish**
7. 7With the knife, remove the sharp edges of the daikon slices to smooth them out (this prevents it from breaking as it expands). Next, score a cross on one flat side of the daikon slices, about ¼ inch deep, so they will absorb more flavors.
8. 8**Mochi Kinchaku**
9. 9Blanche and drain the aburaage. Cut the aburaage in half crosswise to make two square pockets. Cut the kirimochi (rice cakes) in half or small enough to fit into the tofu pocket. Open one aburaage pocket and put a piece of kirimochi inside. Use a toothpick to close the aburaage pouch so the mochi doesn't fall out during cooking. Repeat to make the remaining pouches.