Unohana & Oden

Very wintery Japanese fair this evening. Unohara is made from okara – soybean pulp – which is a byproduct of making tofu. It’s mixed with carrot, kikurage (woodear fungus), leek and the usual Japanese combination of soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. It’s hard to describe – but actually it’s really delicious. Also unusually the main oil used is sesame oil – which is probably why I like it so much. It’s served cold as a side dish. This was the first time I’d actually made it myself though. The local tofu shop which hand makes their tofu give away the okara for free – so it seems crazy to buy unohana pre-made when there’s an abundant fresh source of okara available and it doesn’t take much effort.

Oden was a variety of tofu and surimi in a chicken based broth. My favourite is the abuurage stuffed with mochi, although the ganmodoki I got from the tofu shop was really delicious. We had bought a pack this time – but next time I will go back to DIY because the packs usually include gobomaki and I’m really not fond of gobo at all. Also I usually do boiled eggs but there was no room left in our tummies for those today.