Vegan Oden (Japanese Winter Stew)

Oden is a Japanese winter stew and it is one of my very favorite dishes in winter. The flavor of the simple broth penetrates all the veggies and tofu and it’s one of the most satisfying and savory dishes. In Japan this is very common and is even served in convenience stores in wintertime. This dish is not typically vegan but very easy to convert, I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know what you think!

Here, it’s still very much winter, we usually get a bit of snow in March, so I still have about a month until it really feels like Spring around here and I can start thinking about my garden. 

In the meantime, this steaming stew is filling and helps melt away the winter blues. I’ve included how to make vegan dashi from scratch which can be used in a myriad of other Japanese dishes! Dashi is the soup stock which is the base for most Japanese soups and simmered dishes, such as in miso soup. Feel free to come back to the vegan dashi portion of this recipe and use it whenever you need to veganize a Japanese dish.

vegan shiitake kombu dashi (soup stock)

Some of the ingredients in this version are specialty items that I can only find at this time of year in the Japanese grocery, but don’t worry if you can’t find those specific items. The best part of this dish is really the simmered daikon radish, potato, and carrot! Just add a little fresh tofu and this dish is healthier for it anyway. Oil is not recommended on a plant-based diet, however, I think a little occasionally in a special dish is okay for me. Do whatever is best for you!

Ideas for Items you can put in Oden:

• Root Vegetables such as potato, carrot, daikon radish, parsnips, or turnips
• Tofu fresh or fried, here I’ve used ganmodoki which are potato tofu fritters
• Konnyaku balls made from yam starch, it’s a traditional ingredient but an acquired taste, skip if you cannot find them
• Leeks & Scallions are great for simmering or you could use scallions or garlic chives as a topping
• Mochi or rice cakes are super yummy in this dish, here I’ve used kinchaku or little fried tofu pouches that have a piece of mochi inside tied with a simmered string of gourd

Anything in season will work in this easy stew. If you try this recipe please let me know what your favorite items to add to vegan oden are in the comments below!