Taiwanese oden

What it is

Taiwanese oden (黑輪 or 關東煮) is a pot of fish cakes, tofu, daikon and other pieces kept simmering in a light broth and sold by the piece. Most of the cakes are fish paste, shaped into long sticks or flat rounds. Alongside the Japanese basics, Taiwan adds local items such as pork balls (貢丸), pig's blood rice cake (米血糕) and stuffed bitter melon.

Where it came from

Oden is a Japanese one-pot dish of boiled eggs, daikon, konjac and fish cakes in a light, soy-seasoned dashi, usually eaten in winter. It reached Taiwan during Japanese rule (1895 to 1945). Taiwanese Hokkien speakers called it o-lián, properly written 烏輪, and the sound was later spelled in Mandarin as 黑輪 (hēilún, literally 'black wheel'), the name still used at stalls.

The fried fish cake called tianbula (甜不辣, 'sweet, not spicy') is Japanese satsuma-age. The name is said to have come with people from Kyushu, where satsuma-age is known as tempura. In everyday speech 黑輪 and 甜不辣 often mean the same thing. Convenience stores sell the dish as guandongzhu (關東煮), the Mandarin reading of the Japanese Kantō-ni. Most Taiwanese oden has since settled into local styles with its own mix of ingredients.

How it is made

The pieces sit in a large pot of clear broth so they take on its flavour. Fish paste for the cakes may blend several species: Liao Family Oden (廖家黑輪) in Kaohsiung mixes three, including milkfish and marlin. At Pao Ko Oden (保哥黑輪) in Tainan the broth tastes mainly of sweet radish. Some stalls also grill fish cake over charcoal and brush it with a sweet-savoury sauce.

How to eat it

At stalls you choose your own pieces, by taking a bowl or ticking an order slip, and a bowl of broth often comes free. At some you ladle your own broth and add spring onion. Convenience-store oden comes with a sachet of sauce, and instant noodles or udon can go into the broth to make a meal.