Regional Variations
In Nagoya, it may be called Kantō-ni (関東煮) and soy sauce is used as a dipping sauce. Miso oden is simmered in hatcho-miso broth, which tastes lightly sweet. Konjac and tofu are common ingredients.
In the Kansai area, this dish is sometimes called Kantō-daki (関東煮 or 関東炊き) and tends to be more strongly flavoured than the lighter Kantō version.
Oden in Shizuoka uses a dark coloured broth flavoured with beef stock and dark soy sauce, and all ingredients are skewered. Dried and ground fish (sardine, mackerel, or katsuobushi) and aonori powder (edible seaweed) are sprinkled on top before eating.
Udon restaurants in Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku almost always offer oden as a side dish, to be eaten with sweet miso while waiting for udon.
In Taiwan, the dish is called heilun (黑輪) in Mandarin or oolian in Taiwanese. Tianbula (甜不辣, lit. "sweet, not spicy") is a similar dish commonly sold at night markets. Besides the more traditional ingredients, the Taiwanese oolian also uses many local ingredients, such as pork meatballs and blood puddings. More recently, oden is offered in convenience stores where it is sold as guāndōngzhǔ (關東煮 from Kansai word 関東煮). In China 7-11 markets oden as "haodun" (好炖) a word play on "good pot."
In South Korea, odeng (오뎅) is a street food that's sold from small carts and is served with a spicy soup. It's very common on the streets of South Korea and there are many restaurants that have it on the menu or specialize in it.
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