Hello everyone! As the weather slowly starts to get cooler, what kind of foods do you usually eat to help warm yourself? Today, I would like to share with you a few of the comfort foods that Japanese people enjoy during this time of the year.
Although there are many to choose from, the most common comfort foods here in Japan are called Nabe and Oden. Now you may be wondering, “what the heck are those?”, so please allow me to introduce each dish to you.
The first dish is Nabe, which literally translates to “hot pot” in English. This dish is versatile as it can consist of pretty much whatever ingredients you desire. The most common Nabe, however, can consist of some sort of meat, a variety of vegetables (cabbage, mushrooms, green onions, carrots, etc.), simmered in a rich broth of your choosing. The typical way to enjoy Nabe is by assembling all of the ingredients in a pot and cooking it on a gas stove. This dish is then placed on a table where everyone gathers around and enjoys it together. This dish is popular not only for its taste, but also because of how incredibly cheap it is to make. Due to its popularity, grocery stores all over Japan offer “Nabe kits” to make preparing this dish even more convenient.
Our next dish is called Oden, which is a Japanese Fish Cake Stew. Just as the name suggests, this dish consists of fish cakes, which looks like tofu, but tastes like fish. The fish cake is accompanied by white radish, tofu, hard boiled eggs, and konjac, which is then simmered in rich dashi or Japanese soup stock. Just like Nabe, Oden is mostly enjoyed together with many people sitting around a table together. However, if you are wanting to enjoy it by yourself, there are also pre-made frozen kits available in grocery stores, or simply buy it at a local convenience store.
These two dishes are merely introduction to the world of fall comfort foods here in Japan. What do you think of these Japanese comfort foods? Which one would you like to try most? I suggest for you all to try these dishes at least once so you can understand just why these dishes are so popular over here! That is all I have to share for now. Thank you for reading!
Kamille Espeleta