ReviewNew Hong Kong restaurant review: Kyoto-Oden Masa – Japanese cold-weather food at its best, with a broth to die for
- Winter makes us think of warming food, and Japanese oden – simmered dishes with a distinctive broth – are a perfect match
- Favourites at Kyoto-Oden Masa were cabbage rolls, the eggplant starter and stuffed tofu pouch with mochi
In Japan, oden is cold-weather food. I’ve eaten it in an oden-only establishment in Osaka that’s been around for more than 175 years, and in 7-Elevens throughout Japan, all in weather so cold you can see your breath.
In Hong Kong, we settled for 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) when we visited the Kyoto-Oden Masa. This new restaurant is already creating a buzz among lovers of Japanese food in search of something different from all the sushi-yas that have been opening.
There are only five seats at the counter, plus three tables that seat four each. My party of three were the only non-Japanese speakers.
We ordered a few small dishes before starting on the oden. Shirako (cod milt, HK$98) came in a clear ponzu sauce, and was firmer and less creamy than we’ve tasted before, but very refreshing. House-made assorted fishcakes (four types for HK$158) had distinctive flavours that included corn and red pickled ginger, although next time we’ll try the fish cakes as oden. Our favourite starter was the grilled eggplant (HK$58) which was cool and light.
The broth is the most important part of oden, because that’s what all the ingredients are simmered in. Here, it was superb – clear and delicate, but it was distinctive enough that we could taste it in the ingredients.