Hiroyuki Miyasako Makes Kansai-Style Tenshindon: A Dish Born from Discomfort with Sweet-and-Sour Sauce

Before this episode, Miyasako had served Ryuji spaghetti Napolitan on Miyasako's own channel, "Miyasako Desu!" At the start, Ryuji eats that Napolitan again after it has gone cold and praises it as "delicious even when cold" and "really rich."

According to Miyasako, the Napolitan is intentionally made to taste good even when cold. When Miyasako serves food to their wife, she often ends up eating later than planned because she is doing things like putting away the laundry. Miyasako wants her to enjoy the food even so, and builds the flavor on the assumption that it will be eaten cold.

Ryuji asked, "I want to feature your cooking on my channel too," and this time Miyasako agreed to make tenshindon. Ryuji laughed that since Miyasako made Napolitan on Miyasako's channel and is now making tenshindon on Ryuji's channel, Ryuji isn't doing anything at all and is "just riding along the whole time."

Miyasako chose tenshindon because they love it. However, as someone from Kansai, Miyasako says they "couldn't accept" the sweet-and-sour-sauce tenshindon common in the Kanto region. Miyasako made the remark while acknowledging that some people in Kanto prefer the sweet-and-sour version.

About 30 years ago, Miyasako ate tenshindon in Tokyo and was surprised by the taste of the sweet-and-sour sauce. Every restaurant served it that way, which came as a shock, and Miyasako passionately argued on a radio show that "the Kansai style is definitely better."

Later, when Miyasako's children were still small, Miyasako went to a nearby Gyoza no Ohsho and found "Kansai style" on the menu. On ordering it, a genuine Kansai-style tenshindon came out. According to Miyasako, Ohsho store managers can decide their own recipes. When Miyasako looked at the manager, the manager glanced back with a gesture like a signal. Miyasako later learned that the manager was a devoted listener of Miyasako's radio show and had created the Kansai style because Miyasako came in often. Miyasako added that every store now has a Kansai style.

The cooking begins with the sauce. Miyasako adds sake, soy sauce and mirin to water, explaining that the ratio is "all 1 to 1." Ryuji notices that the mirin is hon-mirin. Miyasako also adds a few "tap, tap" shakes of Ajinomoto.

For oyster sauce, Miyasako uses Lee Kum Kee. Miyasako loves the umami of oyster sauce; Lee Kum Kee has a distinct umami but is expensive. This time is a "splurge," and Miyasako normally uses a cheaper large-volume product. Ryuji responded, "That's pretty homey."

Next, Miyasako swirls in just a little vinegar. According to Miyasako, even a tiny amount adds flavor. Miyasako then adds chicken bouillon powder and consommé. The reason for the consommé is that Miyasako also wants the umami of vegetables. Ryuji was surprised, saying, "I've never seen consommé used."

Miyasako cooks routinely in daily life. Sometimes Miyasako cooks to suit their own tastes, and sometimes for their wife. Miyasako also cooks when alone, such as when their wife has gone back to her parents' home. When Miyasako makes extra sauce and has leftovers, Miyasako sometimes thins it out and pours it over frozen udon. Hearing this, Ryuji described Miyasako as someone who "properly lives a normal life."

Miyasako makes fine adjustments while tasting. Miyasako says that because everything is measured by eye, it never comes out right on the first try, but Ryuji replied, "Isn't it already perfect?" Ryuji also said that the fact that Miyasako has such a kitchen at home shows they are someone who loves cooking.

On thickening, Miyasako says it's scary because if you don't get it right in one go, "it'll get lumpy." Once it gets lumpy, you have to stir desperately to fix it. Miyasako dissolved potato starch in water and soy sauce. Ryuji said this method isn't often seen. According to Miyasako, a starch-and-water slurry dilutes the sauce by the amount of water it adds, so the aim is to make up for that with soy sauce.

At this point Miyasako also added sweet soy sauce. It was a seasoning Ryuji didn't know. This sweet soy sauce was sent by "Monmon-chan," a fan who supports Miyasako. This fan watches Miyasako's cooking videos, even pausing them, and sends things they think are "missing." Pasta from Monmon-chan had also appeared in the Napolitan video.

Thickening the sauce while stirring, Miyasako got it right on the first try. Miyasako explained that Kansai tenshindon is basically soy sauce–based, though salt-based versions also exist. The main restaurant in Kyoto (which one was not specified) was also soy sauce–based, Miyasako said.

Miyasako aims for the flavor of a Chinese restaurant in Kyoto famous for its tenshindon. That restaurant not only pours on plenty of sauce, but also has beaten egg inside the sauce, making it "double egg." Miyasako loves that and stirred egg into the sauce as well. Adding too much egg makes it set, so Miyasako stirs gently. Ryuji said, "I've never seen this method at all."

Miyasako used 3 eggs for the topping, with imitation crab and green onions as the fillings. Miyasako says adding imitation crab makes a big difference in flavor, and Ryuji agreed: "Tenshindon means imitation crab."

For frying, Miyasako uses sesame oil topped up with regular vegetable oil, in a generous amount. Miyasako believes "more oil is better."

During the cooking, Miyasako drank and talked alone the whole time. Ryuji said it was the same as Ryuji's own style, and the two laughed that they both talk while cooking even when no one is around. Ryuji pointed out another similarity: when Miyasako gets drunk, Miyasako says "Mind if I make something?" and serves food to the people around. At one point, Umaibo that Miyasako's manager had bought as snacks came out, and Miyasako laughed, "That guy's to blame."

Prefacing it with "I can say this now," Miyasako revealed that they drank constantly in their early days after debuting. Miyasako was so nervous that they drank "100%" of the time when performing their material. Miyasako couldn't perform properly sober and felt bad for their comedy partner. Ryuji responded, "Same as me."

According to Ryuji, Miyasako hadn't made eye contact even once since the previous shoot. Miyasako said people might have the image of someone who has been on TV for decades, but in everyday life Miyasako feels much the same way Ryuji does. Ryuji told Miyasako that their love of cooking comes through very clearly, and Miyasako was delighted: "I'm really happy to be praised for that." The two laughed that their lack of eye contact was "like a first date," and agreed that "even without eye contact, we can connect through cooking."

When Miyasako heats the generous amount of oil and pours in the egg mixture, it puffs up all at once. Miyasako says they like the "fluffy style," with only the surface cooked.

Next, Miyasako added the rice to the egg. Putting it on all at once would break the egg, so the trick is to spread it out a little at a time. Finally, Miyasako shapes the whole thing into a round. Ryuji was surprised, saying, "I don't know this method," and Miyasako replied that this is how they make it at home too.

The dish was finished by pouring plenty of sauce over the egg and rice on the plate. Miyasako loves the sauce and says the look was also modeled on the famous Kyoto restaurant.

As soon as Ryuji tasted it, Ryuji praised the aroma and called it "insanely good." Ryuji was surprised that so much sauce was okay, and Miyasako replied that at the Kyoto restaurant they pour on a huge amount. Ryuji took the sauce's lack of sweetness as the taste of Kansai. Ryuji also said they had expected the seasoning to be strong since Miyasako was drunk, but it was just right.

Miyasako says they once investigated where the sauce switches to sweet-and-sour. Restaurants serving sweet-and-sour sauce start appearing a little past Nagoya, and along the way there are areas where both kinds coexist. Past Nagoya, it became sweet-and-sour. However, Miyasako added that this was back then, and that now even chain restaurants serve Kansai-style or salt-based sauce.

The conversation also turned to the amount of sauce. Ryuji says they wouldn't use this much sauce. Miyasako said that with too little sauce, the balance falls apart at the end and you're left with only plain rice. Ryuji, for their part, often says that sauce gets watery and "runny" once saliva mixes in. The two agreed that it's tricky because sauce thickened with potato starch loosens due to components in saliva.

They also discussed the fluffy texture of the egg. Noting that some restaurants serve tenshindon with firmer egg, Ryuji praised this egg as fluffy. Miyasako said that when they watched a video of Osaka Ohsho's fluffy egg, it used more oil than they had expected. From that, Miyasako concluded it's a process of coating the egg in oil. Ryuji agreed that oil is important and once again said, "The balance is perfect."

Ryuji asked Miyasako, "Would you be my friend?" and the two laughed about being "fellow introverts." Ryuji said that only at the very end of shooting two videos did they finally make eye contact.

Ryuji also shared an honest impression. Since Miyasako had been at the top and had been fairly harsh in their comebacks to junior comedians, Ryuji had assumed Miyasako would be a tough person. Meeting in person, Ryuji found Miyasako to be, in a good way, a very ordinary person. Ryuji said they are a bit uncomfortable around "people who act cocky," naming Hikaru as an example. Ryuji also said the fact that Miyasako didn't make eye contact made a good impression.

Ryuji also revealed having met Miyasako's son before. The son works as a comedian, and they met at an event in a park in Shinjuku. When Ryuji asked to be connected with the son's father because Ryuji wanted to go to Gyukyujo, the son said, "Leave it to me," but no contact followed. Miyasako was surprised: "I haven't heard a thing."

The conversation moved to Sanma Akashiya. Miyasako says that, unlike almost all comedians, Sanma stays at peak energy all the time. Miyasako jokingly called it "a brain condition," adding that Sanma had said so many times too. Ryuji agreed, saying you can tell if you watch a taping of one of Sanma's shows.

Miyasako told a story about sitting next to Sanma on the shinkansen. Back then, Miyasako had said something that sounded clever during an ogiri segment on a show and got a big laugh, so people came to think Miyasako was good at ogiri. In reality, Miyasako says, they are bad at ogiri. On the shinkansen, for roughly 3 hours until Tokyo, Sanma kept pointing at things in front of them and saying, "Give me a line about this." Miyasako recalls it as "hell." At the time Miyasako couldn't refuse and kept going while being told "Impressive," but eventually couldn't take it anymore and secretly asked the manager to change seats.

Ryuji appears on shows not as a comedian but in the "cultural figure" category. Even so, Sanma is the only person Ryuji has gone to greet in the dressing room. Sanma said, "Looking forward to today," and Ryuji felt glad to have gone. But during the actual taping, Ryuji laughed, Sanma hit them with a "laser beam" of a setup: "You've really brought something like that today, haven't you?"

Miyasako also once dodged a setup from Sanma. In their early days after debuting, while still doing a regular show in Osaka, Miyasako was invited onto one of Sanma's shows. The plan was for Miyasako to pick up on an anecdote the previous guest was supposed to tell and follow it with their own story. But the previous guest was an airhead and told a completely different story. With nothing left to connect to, the moment Sanma said, "You're up next," Miyasako looked away. Even with nothing to work with, Sanma would have picked up the conversation and made it fun. Miyasako only learned that later, and says it remains a trauma to this day as the only moment they turned down a setup from Sanma.

Finally, Miyasako shared one more anecdote about Sanma. Once, just after getting off the shinkansen, Sanma was kicked by a stranger. Where most people would say, "What are you doing?", Sanma turned around and said, "Nice kick." Miyasako was impressed by the strength of character it takes to say that. The other person laughed too, and everything ended peacefully.

To wrap up the shoot, Miyasako announced they would be going to Gyukyujo next and teased that a special guest had been arranged. Ryuji hadn't been told who was coming and braced themselves, saying, "That's scary." The episode ends with the announcement that the visit will be released later on Ryuji's Buzz Recipe channel.