Ichiza Arakaruto -- Oden no Uta（おでんの唄）

 

The past couple of days outside have made our freezer seem like a tropical paradise but by tomorrow, things should be at a more reasonable and seasonable temperature. Still, in a typically wintry Japan, folks will crave something suitably rich, savory and hot. My personal first choice will always go to ramen (especially tonkotsu), but I've also been partial to the dish known as oden.

from Facebook

I've seen old-style stalls in Tokyo serving up this traditional stew with various ingredients as you can see above, but even the modern convenience stores sell the stuff next to the cash registers. Mind you, I've never bought the 7-11 variety but I have been to a few of those stalls with friends. For the record, I love boiled eggs and chikuwa...with the popular condiment of hot mustard.

Commenter Brian Mitchell admitted to me a few weeks ago that he enjoyed his fair share of food-based kayo so hopefully he'll come across this one soon enough. I think it was through an NHK show that I discovered "Oden no Uta" (The Oden Song) by Ichiza Akaruto（荒軽人一座）with the last name being a pun on the term "a la carte". In fact, the entire name can be translated into "an a la carte dinner", and that's what oden is all about: selecting and eating the dish, ingredient by ingredient, while having a good time with friends over beer. 

It is a country-folk tune that was first featured on the children's song show on the national network "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）back in 1974. Written, composed and sung by Akaruto, whose real name is Toshihiro Takahashi（高橋利宏）, it's an amiable tune about one of those ingredients, chikuwa (a type of fish cake), falling in love with the triangular solidified hanpen (solid triangular fish paste). 

I posit that there is no atmosphere of camaraderie than the one at an oden stall. Not sure if the dish has ever made it big on this side of the Pacific but hopefully, there's a chance that it will gain its share of fans here in the years to come.