As the year enters the colder seasons of autumn and winter, combinis such as FamilyMart begin boiling up hot steaming oden to keep us warm!
Boiled in a delicious savory miso broth, oden is a Japanese delicacy consisting of steamed fish cakes, tofu, egg, and various other seafood and vegetable items.
A local favorite during the colder seasons of the year, oden is now available at select convenience stores such as FamilyMart where you can craft your own takeaway box!
Convenient, Do-It-Yourself Process!
Wherever you are in Japan, you can bet there’s a FamilyMart just around the corner.
After all, convenience is the name of the game in the land of the rising sun, so these little stores are equipped with ATMs, printers, and postal services in addition to consumable goods.
Unsurprisingly, FamilyMart has found a convenient way to make the iconic oden dish available in their outlets.
Near the counter, you will find a large pot with various sections where you can grab a tray and tongs and pick out your favorite pieces of oden for takeaway!
Neatly Packaged And Pleasantly Affordable
Each piece of oden has its own individual price which stacks up toward your total bill.
On average, each piece is around 150 yen (1 USD), making it a surprisingly affordable meal given how filling it can be.
Oden is a soupy meal by nature, but it’s amazing that you can fill up your bowl with as much soup as you please at no extra cost!
Depending on the FamilyMart you go to, you may have the option of eating in, which I highly recommend to get the full experience of fresh, hot oden.
My Personal Experience
Being the big eater that I am, I made sure to try just about everything that I could from the “oden buffet” at FamilyMart.
For less than 1,500 yen (10 USD), I picked out a fried tofu, boiled egg, konjac, octopus tentacle, various fish cakes, mochi pouch, and scallop skewer.
There wasn’t a single item I chose that I didn’t absolutely love, but in particular, the mochi pouch stood out as the outlier favorite for me.
I highly recommend anyone who has never tried oden before to have their first one at FamilyMart where you are in full control of the experience!
Of course, if you are planning to visit Japan, you’ll need a way to get around the country as efficiently and affordably as possible. Japan Rail provides an abundance of travel passes to suit your travel needs. So whether you are traveling individually or as a group, the JR Pass is every traveler’s go-to for getting around and making the most of your time in Japan!