Comparing Donbei-Flavored U.F.O. and U.F.O.-Flavored Donbei, and Recreating Both at Home

According to Ryuji, the reason for buying these two products was that it made Ryuji "really annoyed." The view was that products that simply cross two of the company's own brands are made to generate buzz, and since they can be done with in-house resources, they don't even cost anything in advertising. So Ryuji assumed they wouldn't taste good and picked them up with the intent of exposing them. A staff member acknowledged that they had certainly gotten people talking.

Both products cost 240 yen. Ryuji remarked, "That's pricey," but said this video was about judging the taste, not the price. A staff member who had hurt their throat and could barely speak was also present for the recording. It was explained that their cold had cleared up and only their throat was still bad.

The first product was the "Donbei-flavored U.F.O.," which the packaging describes as "70% Donbei, 30% U.F.O." When the container is opened, it looks just like a U.F.O., with only the noodles and dashi powder inside. There is only a token amount of chopped fried tofu. The finishing powder contains bonito flake powder and shichimi pepper. According to a staff member, the selling point is that it combines the dashi character of Donbei with the sauce character of U.F.O.

At the aroma stage, Ryuji reacted, "Not bad." On tasting it, Ryuji said, "Huh, this might be good," and eventually let slip, "This is kind of annoying, actually." The impression was that it "tastes like yakisoba made with yaki udon seasoning," and Ryuji added that this kind of yakisoba really does exist. The sauce character was supposed to be 30%, but Ryuji seemed to feel the dashi was clearly stronger, and guessed that Nissin was using Donbei's powder.

The rating was A. The only drawback was that there were too few toppings, making it look sparse. Ryuji said the seasoning was very good and that it was a solid option if you want a yakisoba with plenty of dashi flavor. Ryuji also noted that Donbei has released yaki udon–style products before, and if this was an extension of those, there was no way it could taste bad.

The second product, the "U.F.O.-flavored Donbei," is 70% sauce and 30% dashi. Ryuji summed it up as Donbei's yaki udon made in the U.F.O. style. The chopped fried tofu is the same as in the first product, but this one also contains cabbage and chashu-style meat. Unlike regular Donbei, it has a drain spout, and the wait time is five minutes. As for why this one had more toppings, Ryuji wondered aloud whether it was a cost issue.

When the liquid sauce went in, Ryuji exclaimed, "That's U.F.O. That's U.F.O.'s thick sauce," and laughed, "There's no way that's 70%." The sauce coated the noodles well, and the overall flavor was rich. Ryuji's verdict: "It's way better than I expected," "I think this is fine," "It feels like it's been around for ages." Ryuji even went so far as to say, "So Nissin wasn't doing a half-hearted job after all. I actually like this more than regular U.F.O.," and also praised the texture of the udon.

This one was also rated A. Ryuji also mentioned that it contains a bit of Japanese-style dashi. Ryuji has always liked the combination of Japanese dashi and sauce, and adds mentsuyu or shiro dashi when making Maruchan yakisoba. For that reason, Ryuji acknowledged that it was smart of them to go for this combination. On the other hand, Ryuji also said it was "infuriating" that the channel keeps featuring only Nissin cup noodles, grumbling that Nissin is good at generating buzz.

Although both received the same A rating, the staff member with the sore throat named the Donbei-flavored U.F.O. as their personal favorite and asked, "Please recreate it."

While waiting for the water for the second product, Ryuji talked about how difficult review videos are. When Ryuji trashes something as "gross," the criticism is intense, so a video needs a "happy ending" or the comments get ugly. That's why, lately, the format has been to recreate a product if it's rated A or above, and to remake it into something tasty if it gets a C or the like. If the result is so sad that neither option works, Ryuji said it doesn't get made into a video.

The exception Ryuji cited was when Ryuji said HIKAKIN's "Misokin" tasted bad, which actually drew enormous praise. Ryuji's analysis is that because HIKAKIN is someone far above Ryuji, viewers liked the storyline of standing up to the powerful. However, Ryuji found SUSURU's ramen and the ramen at HIKAKIN's physical shop genuinely delicious, so Ryuji said they were delicious. Then, especially on TikTok, there are always tons of comments like "So you don't go against powerful people after all." Ryuji sometimes wonders whether it would be better to force out a "it tastes bad," but that would be a lie. Ryuji's position is that Ryuji can't lie, so Ryuji speaks honestly. With that said, Ryuji half-jokingly asked viewers to send word if there's a truly bad product put out by someone really important. The takeaway of this discussion was that, unlike cooking, reviews easily attract backlash.

In the same vein, there was a moment where Ryuji self-deprecatingly noted that a cooking researcher is making a living eating cup noodles. Ryuji said other cooking researchers protect their brands, so they can't do something this embarrassing; Ryuji can, because Ryuji doesn't protect a brand.

The first recreation was the Donbei-flavored U.F.O. that the staff member preferred. The original product has almost no toppings, but Ryuji wanted vegetables if eating it as a meal, so cabbage was added. Since fried tofu was actually included in the product, one sheet of it was used.

Here's how it's made. First, fry 150g of steamed yakisoba noodles in 1 tablespoon of oil, letting them char a little. Ryuji admitted, "Honestly, it's faster to just buy a U.F.O.," but said the benefits of this version would become clear later. Any meat will do; this time Ryuji used about 50g of ground pork that was close to its use-by date. Thinly sliced pork is also fine. Without taking out the noodles, stir-fry the ground pork, roughly chopped cabbage, and fried tofu together with them.

The seasoning is built using the product's ingredient list as a guide. Add half a teaspoon each of bonito dashi (Hondashi) and kombu dashi. If you don't have kombu dashi, just use more Hondashi. For sauce, use 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, just enough to bring out a U.F.O. feel; Ryuji says the base is strictly the dashi flavor. Garlic powder is in the ingredients, so add 8 shakes; powdered soy sauce is also listed, so add 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Also add a pinch of salt and pepper and 2 pinches of sugar. Finally, add 2 tablespoons of water and steam it so the noodles loosen up easily. Checking the aroma as Ryuji went, Ryuji added more bonito, ending up with 2/3 teaspoon of Hondashi in total. Ryuji says it tastes better with the dashi aroma this pronounced.

If you don't have yakisoba noodles, you can boil Chinese noodles, rinse them in water, and use them for yakisoba. Finish with bonito powder and shichimi pepper. If you don't have bonito powder, you can substitute bonito flakes microwaved and then crushed into powder. Ryuji said to think of this as "one evolved form" of yakisoba to add to your repertoire, and also noted that 240 yen should be enough to make one serving.

At the tasting, Ryuji praised it, saying, "The taste is really close." A staff member replied, "The flavors come together well." The staff member with the sore throat said they had put on too much shichimi and it was a bit spicy, but praised it for having plenty of toppings and being satisfying. Some said it could easily be turned into a regular recipe, or could be on the menu at an okonomiyaki restaurant. Ryuji said yakisoba isn't usually made with dashi, but yakisoba made with dashi is delicious.

A staff member said they'd like to know how to make the yaki udon version too if it was just as easy, so Ryuji went on to recreate the second product. Frozen thin udon is used for the noodles. Regular frozen udon is fine, but if you're going for Donbei, the thin kind is closer, according to Ryuji. While the udon thaws in the microwave for about 4 minutes, stir-fry the same toppings as before (cabbage, 50g of ground pork, and fried tofu) in 1 tablespoon of oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Here a staff member asked whether the udon wouldn't be fried first, as the yakisoba noodles had been. Ryuji's answer was this: frozen udon is already rehydrated, so just frying it lightly makes it yaki udon. Yakisoba noodles, on the other hand, are steamed noodles that have lost some moisture, so they won't taste good unless you sear them first. Ryuji called this "a theory only I understand." When a staff member pointed out that Ryuji was explaining the theory while cooking and was actually doing something fairly advanced, Ryuji replied that it would be easier to just cook in silence. Ryuji then offered a personal view: that's why chefs can't become cooking YouTubers—it turns into "watch and learn"—and the talent for teaching people is different from the talent for making delicious food.

For the seasoning, Ryuji broke down what makes U.F.O. taste like U.F.O. and built it back up. To 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, add 2 teaspoons of ketchup. Because it has a U.F.O.-like smell, Ryuji is sure there's ketchup in it. Then 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Donbei's aroma has a strong bonito note, so 1/3 teaspoon of Hondashi. The surprise was 1 teaspoon of honey: adding Worcestershire sauce makes it sour, so it has to be made quite sweet to taste like U.F.O. The 8 shakes of garlic powder are there because U.F.O. actually contains it, and the 1/3 teaspoon of kombu dashi because Ryuji saw kombu extract in the ingredient list. Finally, add 1 tablespoon of water to work the sauce through everything, and finish with 4 shakes of pepper.

At the tasting, the reactions were "Ridiculously good" and "Shockingly good." The thick, rich sauce of the original product was faithfully recreated, and Ryuji stressed that using thin udon was the right call—thick udon wouldn't work. Ryuji explained the reasoning: U.F.O.'s sauce is a bit like okonomiyaki sauce, and okonomiyaki sauce contains ketchup, so ketchup went in; it's also quite sweet, so honey made up for that. A staff member said the honey was the biggest surprise, and someone remarked that sauce yakisoba fans would love it.

Ryuji added that if you don't have frozen thin udon, you can boil dried udon noodles sold at convenience stores and elsewhere, rinse them once in water, and then fry them, and they'll be about the same thickness.

At the end, Ryuji reflected that, despite starting out intending to trash the products, both were delicious, so feeling sorry won out—and then, not wanting to lose, Ryuji got frustrated and ended up making a lot of food. Reviewing two products and then recreating two products took many hours and was hard work. Still, Ryuji keeps doing it because it's fun and the recipes keep piling up. The video ends with Ryuji encouraging viewers to buy and eat the products, and also to try the dishes Ryuji made out of respect for those flavors.