OK, so I know Oden “should” be eaten warm as its a Winter food. But I am trying to loose weight, and I know as a food they are super low calorie. But also I am looking to meal plan.
Therefore, I am interested in the idea of boiling a bunch of packs at the same time say 3-5, then chucking them in the fridge. And my intention would be to eat them then over the next 3-5 days, but taking them out of the fridge and waiting until they are room temperature whilst I do other things, then eating them.
Now what I am not sure about is food safety in this aspect. I know it contains (processed) fish and chicken products, and usually a pre boiled egg. And it’s also always sold in those airtight plastsic packages. So in principle it sounds like it “should” be OK.
But I am not sure 100%, so just wondering if anyone may know more about this. Perhaps I wouldnt even need to heat them in the first place, and heating (as per instructions on the back), is just a recommendation based on the assumption that it is really supposed to be a winter food, designed to be enjoyed warm?
4 comments
Yes, those precooked oden packets you can consume them as they are but they taste better if you reheat them first.
For leaving foods at room temperature, it’s recommended not to leave them for too long for food safety reasons.
https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-is-the-2-Hour-Rule-with-leaving-food-out#:~:text=Bacteria%20grow%20most%20rapidly%20in,of%20refrigeration%20over%202%20hours.
I don’t know exactly which oden packs you’re eating but you probably don’t need to boil them, they’re precooked
You don’t need to meal prep the oden packs. That is way more effort than it’s worth. That’s like saying “I’m going to meal prep conbini onigiri” It’s already prepped. It’s a grab and go food. You get it already in individual portions and heat it up whenever you want.
Just buy them in bulk and keep them in the fridge while being mindful of the expiration date and heat them up whenever you want. I believe these are microwaveable right? Or just put some water in your kettle to boil for a minute or two.
You can take them out as is without pre-boiling them but honestly it’s probably better to just take a few seconds to warm it up. It’ll taste better and is probably better than it sitting around trying to get it to room temp.
… I’m not really sure the point of this. They are already cooked. I why would you heat them then cool them?