December 23, 2011

Oden for Christmas/クリスマスにおでん

I'm still playing with the five new knives I got recently. This morning, I cut a block of konnyaku with my new sashimi knife. I thought, "What will I do with this konnyaku?" I decided to make oden partly because we still have several daikon left in our house and mainly because I wanted to have something light for the Christmas season. I'm still on a diet, and I don't want to gain weight in the holiday season!
最近買った新しい五本の包丁でまだ遊んでいます。今朝は、刺身包丁でこんにゃくを切りました。「このこんにゃくをどうしよう?」と思いましたが、おでんを作ることにしました。家にまだ大根が残っているし、何より、クリスマスシーズンに何か軽いものを食べたいと思ったので。まだダイエットを続けていて、休日の間に体重を増やしたくないので。
Eight eggs, 1 1/2 daikon, and 16 rectangles of konnyaku made from a single block
卵8個、大根1 1/2本、一つのこんにゃくから作った三角形16個。

While cutting the konnyaku with the sashimi knife, I accidentally cut myself!
刺身包丁でこんにゃくを切っている最中、指を切ってしまいました!
The cut is very shallow but rather long, requiring two Band-Aids.
傷はとても浅かったですが、かなり長くて、バンドエイドが2つ要りました。

Now I have four knives in the storage space under the sink:
Left to right: New sashimi knife, Shigefusa petty (paring) knife, new mioroshi-deba knife, and Shigefusa nakiri.
流しの下の収納スペースには四本の包丁を挿しました:
左から右へ: 新しい刺身包丁、重房のペティーナイフ、新しい身おろし出刃包丁、重房の菜切り。

And, today, by using two empty milk cartons, I have made a storage box for the three new knives, santoku, petty (paring) knife, and mukimono knife:
そして、今日は、牛乳パックを2つ使って、新しい包丁3本(三徳、ペティーナイフ、剥き物包丁)の収納ボックスを作りました。
Don't laugh! I'm quite satisfied with my idea (laugh).
笑わないように!自分のアイディアにかなり満足してるので(笑)。

9 comments:

  1. How ironic, I just posted about oden yesterday! I've never used eggs in oden before - I should try it. I'm very impressed by your knife collection. The milk carton is a creative temporary storage solution.

    In some kitchens I've seen magnet strips which are attached to a wall or inside a cupboard, which are specifically to hold knives. Do they sell these in Japan? It might be a good storage solution for you.

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  2. Somehow I feel very guilty, for telling you the story about blood tax, very guilty ごめんなさい。 Looking at your knife-storage system I found something which could please your craftsmanship instincts too: http://www.selbst.de/moebel-holz-artikel/holzarbeiten-moebel/kuechen-ideen/messerblock-aus-sperrholz-147153-Bild-3.html
    The german text says: use left over ply wood, wood glue and many bamboo skrewers (and nothing more)... just click from image 1 - 6.

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  3. muskratbyte: Did I say it was "temporary"? (laugh) I think I can find the "magnet strips" somewhere, but the problem with me is that I don't want to spend money for such things...

    I will search for good materials for making a knife storage box or something the next time I go to the 100-yen shop.

    Kiki: Do you think I have paid enough blood tax? (laugh)
    I wasn't used to the long blade of the sashimi knife, and obviously a sashimi knife is not suitable for cutting konnnyaku. It was totally my fault.

    Thanks for the link. As I suggested above, I will try to make a nice storage box with minimum spending and a lot of creativity!

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  4. Before we moved into a place with less storage space than before, my wife and I had a small modular wood and bamboo cutlery tray which I used to store my sashimi and nakiri knives as well as the usual European style knives and a few odd bits for food preparation. It had been a left-over piece from a kitchen gift set someone had given us, if I recall correctly.

    I'm very taken by the storage set you have under your sink, I think I need to find one of those for my kitchen!

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  5. Ruminating Roy: The "storage set" is pre-installed. Most kitchens in Japan have this type of under-the-sink knife storage space.
    (When you ever come to Japan, you will be surprised to see how small the kitchen is.)

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  6. Hiroyuki, your storage box isn't funny at all: it's extremely inventive! I will remember it (I have problems with knife storage, but for now I only have two knives I don't know how to store... if I have more I will use your trick!)
    The bad side of new knives is they always cut (at least I have this experience with every new knife). Luckily it was shallow! Your knives look as if they could cut off a finger easily!
    I cannot believe the knife storage space is in most houses! It is very intelligent!

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  7. Sissi: Necessity is the mother of invention. In Japan, houses, especially those in large cities like Tokyo, are very small, and kithens are small, too. The Japanese have invented a large number of storage solutions, some of which are really fascinating.

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  8. I’ve read about oden for many years, but I’ve never made it myself. But yesterday when I read your blog, I decided the time had come. I found fresh daikon and eggs at my normal market and made a quick trip to a small Japanese market to find both kamaboko and a Japanese fish roll with gobo inside (gobou maki?).

    Afterward, I read all your oden entries and made a delicious oden for Christmas Eve dinner. It was very simple with daikon, eggs, konnyaku, kamaboko, and gobou-maki. My broth was 12:1:1, so probably too strong for your family, but I enjoyed it.

    So, Merry Christmas from the USA, and thank you for all the things you share with us.

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  9. Arthur3030: Merry Christmas from Japan!

    Yes, gobo(u) maki ごぼう巻き.

    I'm glad that you liked your oden. I, for one, use a 12:1:1 ratio for hot udon.

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