Oden is a snack originating from the Kanto region of Japan. Before college, I had only seen it in novels and TV. When I was in college, I saw oden for the first time at a food stall while shopping with my roommate.

Various ingredients are strung together with bamboo skewers and placed in an iron pot with many small grids. The hot water was tumbling, and the alluring fragrance and heat were blowing in the cold wind. My roommate and I bought a few skewers and they tasted very average. We were both very disappointed. It turns out that Oden is just Malatang with a very light taste. We summed it up this way. I lost interest in oden because of a bad experience the first time I tried it. Later, I tried it several times one after another, but I still felt that the taste was not good.

Until the year before last, a 711 supermarket opened near the community. 711 is common in Beijing, but rare in Nanjing. I was very interested in learning about new things, so I went to 711 in the evening after get off work. Except that the variety of products was more complete and the prices were more expensive, it didn't look much different from ordinary supermarkets. I just saw a pretty big oden pot near the cashier. Ingredients are cooking steaming hot inside. Many people are crowded there picking food. I also squeezed in. There are more types of food, but it still looks ordinary. I stood in line and carefully watched what the people in front of me clicked and wrote. It seems that there are more radish, lucky bags, fish cakes, and kelp. So when it came to me, I ordered these ingredients without hesitation.

The waiter put the ingredients in a plastic bowl and poured some soup on it. It seems that love is relatively light. I sat down in the window seat at the back and carefully tasted the food in front of me that I didn't expect much. Let’s eat radish first. I don’t usually like radish, so I think it’s a bit strange that so many people order radish. After taking a bite, I realized how deeply biased I was against radishes. The radish is cooked soft and light, but it has the unique sweetness of radish. Taking a bite is almost comparable to the taste of braised pork. It just doesn't have the sweetness of braised pork. It can be said to be refreshing and delicious. Next came the fish cakes, kelp and lucky bags. After tasting them one by one, I found that these foods all tasted good, and some were even amazing.

After eating a few strings of ingredients, I picked up the bowl and took another sip of soup, only to realize that the secret of why this oden is so delicious is in the soup. The soup looks brown, but not dark in color. It looks clear and bright, but the taste is excellent. It's completely different from the spicy soup base I loved before, but it's still appetizing.

I couldn't help but drink all the soup. I wiped my mouth and looked at the iron Oden pot next to the cashier. It was still crowded with people. This is an amazing and unforgettable experience.

Since then, I finally lost my prejudice against food like Oden. I also curiously searched the Internet for the recipe of Oden and the secret of the soup base, and I learned about the magical seasoning "Miso". I have tried making the miso version of Oden several times at home, and it tastes pretty good. Had a great time eating.

But for snacks like oden, you still have to stand on the street or sit in front of a glass window with people coming and going to enjoy it. Later, I took several friends to the 7-Eleven convenience store. Everyone agreed that the oden tasted amazing, and the business of that convenience store was getting better and better. Sometimes when I eat it after get off work, the oden is gone.

It is true that "good things are not afraid of deep alleys". Foodies have a keener sense of smell than anyone else, and they are more willing to share the joy of delicious food.