Ryuji Remakes a Recipe from Five Years Ago with Rice Bran Oil: "Ultimate Taiwan Mazesoba"

At the start, Ryuji says that after trying out the flavor of many different oils, the clean-tasting rice bran oil suits them best. These days they use rice bran oil for almost everything, stir-fries included, and say that nearly all of their past videos were also made with it. While calling salad oil and canola oil "really, really good" too, Ryuji notes that rice bran oil is also excellent value for money.

Ryuji also explains why Taiwan mazesoba was chosen as the subject. They have covered many noodle dishes, but recently the focus has been on recreating restaurant recipes. Because Taiwan mazesoba recipes have become widespread and everyone makes it differently, they had been holding onto the idea, intending to release it someday. Remembering having written a good method before, they looked it up and found it was from five years ago, so they dug it back out.

The ingredients are Chinese noodles, egg, garlic chives, ground pork, and seasonings, with the seasoning amounts listed in the video description. Thin noodles will work, but thick noodles are preferable if possible. This point comes up again during the tasting.

Partway through, there is a moment where Ryuji is drinking while cooking. When some alcohol spills, Ryuji puts it back, saying "no food waste."

The knife is used only for the garlic and the garlic chives, and Ryuji emphasizes that the chopping is over in no time.

The guideline for garlic is about 10g per serving; since this is two servings, about three cloves, roughly 20g, are used. Taiwan mazesoba is fundamentally a garlic dish, so the amount is on the generous side. The minced garlic is divided in half: one half for stir-frying into the meat miso, and the other half kept raw as a topping. Some shops use garlic powder, but Ryuji's understanding is that most shops serve it raw.

When a staff member asks whether mixed ground beef and pork would work, Ryuji answers, "It would." Many shops make it with the mix, they say. Ryuji personally prefers pork, but if you like the aroma of beef, the mix is no problem.

The garlic chives are also used raw. Mixing them in later when eating gives the mazesoba a real punch. The amount is 25g per serving; one pack is about 100g, so two servings take half a pack. Ryuji says they like to chop them finely.

In between steps, Ryuji gives two reasons for recommending that people make Taiwan mazesoba at home.

The first is that there's no need to make a broth. The hardest part of ramen is making the soup, but mazesoba-type dishes don't require one, so in Ryuji's view it's better to make them at home. Prefacing this by saying they aren't criticizing mazesoba shops, Ryuji notes that abura soba is popular right now. Because no broth is simmered, utility costs are low, and since the price isn't much different from ramen, it's said to be a very profitable business. That, by this logic, is exactly why making it at home makes sense.

The second is that no chashu is needed. It's said that ramen can't be sold without chashu on top, but Taiwan mazesoba is eaten with ground meat, so it takes little effort. Ryuji thinks many people don't make it, but says it's surprisingly suited to home cooking and that they "really push it."

Ryuji also explains the heaviness of the oil to the staff. Because rice bran oil is used this time, the result won't be all that greasy. For a greasy style, you would use lard.

The meat miso uses 200g of ground pork (for two servings). Half of the minced garlic goes in for aroma. The pork releases its own fat, so no oil needs to be added.

About two pinches of dried red chili are added for heat. If you don't like spicy food, you can leave them out. Ryuji instructs that it be stir-fried while getting some browning, explaining that this serves almost as the sauce.

For seasoning, doubanjiang goes in at 1 teaspoon per serving, so 2 teaspoons for two servings, because Taiwan mazesoba is supposed to be a little spicy. Next come 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of sake, cooked to burn off the alcohol, and then 2/3 teaspoon of sugar added twice, stir-frying all the while. The result is a sweet-spicy, slightly hot meat miso.

Adjustments for those who don't like heat are also shown. Halving the doubanjiang and adding store-bought miso increases the richness. You can also make it with miso alone, in which case there's not much heat.

When a staff member asks how it differs from gochujang, Ryuji answers that gochujang is a sweet miso, so it makes things sweeter. If you use gochujang, you need to adjust, such as by leaving out the sugar, and that kind of adding and subtracting is important, they say. Ryuji's conclusion is that doubanjiang is the basic choice.

The sauce is made directly in the serving bowl. Per serving: 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons oyster sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon rice bran oil, plus 3 shakes of umami seasoning and 3 shakes of ground pepper.

The oyster sauce is Ajinomoto's. Ryuji laughs that J-Oil Mills is an Ajinomoto group company, so there's no need to be careful about it, and that it's practically welcomed. Ryuji also says this company doesn't say anything even when other seasonings are used, and that such clients are rare, so they're grateful.

What Ryuji explains in the most detail in this episode is the choice of oil for the sauce. Sesame oil is commonly used in sauces like this, but it has a strong aroma, so adding this much would make the whole thing taste almost entirely of sesame oil. Ryuji wants to preserve the aroma of the meat stir-fried earlier and the aroma of the garlic, and thinks sesame oil would mask them. That's why the clean-tasting rice bran oil is used here.

Ryuji also anticipates the question of whether ordinary salad oil or canola oil would do. As you'll understand if you eat it with this much added, oil has flavor. Taste salad oil and rice bran oil side by side and they're completely different; rice bran oil is clean and easy to eat, Ryuji explains.

The bowl with the sauce goes straight into the microwave. This warms the bowl while finishing the sauce at the same time, so Ryuji says that although the recipe is called "ultimate," this time it's an efficient approach. It can be heated before or after boiling the noodles; the important thing is simply to warm it. Ryuji also instructs viewers to have rice ready for the oimeshi, the rice added at the end.

Ryuji recommends thick fresh noodles. Lately Ryuji has also been using Marutai (stick ramen), and it's not impossible to make it with that. But if you want a shop-style result, Chinese noodles sold for under 100 yen a portion are better.

Against the 3-minute cooking time on the package, the noodles were pulled 30 seconds early to keep them firm. After draining, Ryuji rubs the noodles against the strainer. Asking the staff whether they know what this is for, Ryuji reveals that it roughens the surface of the noodles so the sauce clings better. Joking "because I'm a menhera," Ryuji explains it's something like scoring.

Once the noodles are in the bowl, don't mix them. Mixing makes them look bad, so Ryuji stresses: "absolutely don't mix."

On top go half of the meat miso per bowl, raw garlic chives, minced garlic (amount to taste, but Ryuji says it's tastier with it), and an egg yolk. Ryuji insists that the egg white be saved because it will be used later.

Next comes bonito powder. This is made by microwaving bonito flakes and crumbling them into a powder; about a four-finger pinch is the guideline. Ryuji names bonito powder as what defines the Taiwan mazesoba character, while also saying to use it only if you have it. Scallions aren't necessary since there are garlic chives, but adding them gives freshness. Finally, shredded nori goes on top and it's done. Rice isn't required, but Ryuji says having it makes it "500 times tastier."

To eat, break the yolk and mix everything with a top-to-bottom flip, turning up the sauce that has sunk to the bottom.

At the first bite, Ryuji laughs, "Not bad, me from five years ago," calling it a flavor typical of the old recipes. Ryuji points to how well the bonito comes through and how good the thick noodles are. The staff member also comments that there's none of the unpleasant oiliness. Ryuji compares it to lard, which would make it heavy and hard to finish.

On spiciness, both agree it's "just right," describing it as a fairly strong mild heat. The staff member praises the meat miso with its doubanjiang kick and says they'd like to eat the meat miso alone as a drinking snack. Ryuji also has the staff member try just the meat miso. Looking back on the noodles, Ryuji says making them extra firm was the right call and pulling them a little early is best, adding that without thick noodles the way the sauce clings is different. Someone also remarks that it's a wonder it hadn't been released before.

As for what makes the flavor, Ryuji points to emphasizing sweetness. A fair amount of sugar goes in, but that sweetness is exactly what Taiwan mazesoba is to them. Ryuji explains again that if you want to reduce the heat, you can use miso instead of doubanjiang and still get the right kind of result.

Finally, the oimeshi. Ideally the rice should be piping hot from the microwave; it had cooled, so it was reheated. Hot rice goes into the sauce left in the bowl, then the saved egg white is added and mixed in. Mixed with hot rice, the egg white turns half-set, and it also softens the heat. The staff member is surprised, saying they'd never have thought of it and had assumed the egg white would go into a soup or something.

According to Ryuji, it ends up like tamago kake gohan, and no shop serves it this way, because it's hard to do in a shop. The recommended amount of rice is about one light bowlful. After tasting it, the staff member says, "You could open a shop," and Ryuji praises it themselves: "This is an insane recipe." The two also agree that eating it with rice really shows how light the oil is.

In the closing sponsor segment, Ryuji introduces the fact that this rice bran oil comes in a paper container called a "Smart Pack." Its advantages are that it's easy to dispose of and doesn't take up much space. Saying that switching your everyday oil to rice bran oil raises your cooking by several levels, Ryuji encourages viewers to try it.

The video ends with an aside. Ryuji wonders aloud why only the sponsored episodes end up run like the old videos, and what it is about people saying lately that a natural style is better. When the staff member suggests, "Maybe because you relax?", Ryuji replies that they're relaxed even in sponsored videos. Ryuji then closes by explaining that, having been an office worker for more than ten years, they can't help getting serious on sponsored videos, and that's why they end up drinking.