Comparing 12 Daisho Hot Pot Soups: Ryuji and the "No-Pandering Woman" Hot Pot Championship 2026

Joining him is a female guest who calls Ryuji "Anchan," appearing as the "No-Pandering Woman." The guest loves hot pot bases, always picks up the new releases every year, and uses "you can't go wrong with Daisho" as her deciding criterion. While Ryuji had yet to try many of the products, the guest reacted to the display at headquarters with "they have that one, and this one too." Alcohol was also provided during filming, and the two started drinking while joking that it might change their judgment. Ratings use S as the baseline, with pluses or "SS" added.

First up was the Hakata Mizutaki Soup, regarded as the origin of Daisho's hot pot soups. Ryuji began by speaking favorably of Daisho's simple packaging, which gives the impression of "competing on flavor alone." The product's selling point is its cloudy white chicken broth.

Both were surprised by how clean it tasted compared with how it looked. They had expected something heavier, but it went down smoothly. Noting that he has his own mizutaki recipe, Ryuji explained that with this little chicken, a home cook wouldn't get enough broth and would need to add chicken stock at some point. In his view, getting this much umami from this amount of chicken is impossible without a hot pot soup. The guest pointed out that it doesn't overpower the ingredients, tastes like properly made chicken broth, and isn't artificial, calling it upscale.

Yuzu kosho was offered to change up the flavor, and the two said this raised their ratings. The guest said that although it was mizutaki, she sensed something a little like samgyetang, a mild, medicinal-herb quality, and as a samgyetang lover she was hooked. Asked "Would you buy it again?", she answered "Definitely." Homemade chicken meatballs were also added, and the extra broth they contributed was praised as well.

The second was a tonjiru (pork miso soup) hot pot soup supervised by Tachibana, a tonjiru specialty restaurant in Niigata. Ryuji remembered it as a place that uses lots of onions, and said he had even tried imitating its tonjiru. According to the employee, while onions would normally go into heated soup, the key point—at the owner's insistence—is adding them while the soup is still cold. The restaurant's tonjiru is known for its richness, but turning it straight into a hot pot would make it too heavy, so they went through many meetings with the owner to keep its elements while adapting it to a hot pot.

The seasoning was bold, and both felt it was "tonjiru as a hot pot." The guest took it as the "side dish to eat with rice" type and said she wanted to add butter to the finishing zosui. The package suggests tonjiru ramen as the finisher, and the two agreed that making it miso-ramen style would be good.

Here their ratings split. The guest kept it positioned as a hot pot for eating with rice, but it struck a strong chord with Ryuji, who said "it tastes like the miso ramen I make," and gave it S+. He said he had rarely encountered a hot pot soup this good. Joking that it made him want to recreate it himself, so it "would become a rival," he explained that making this flavor at home would require gathering several kinds of miso and stock, so achieving it with a single pouch is great.

The third was a yakitori hot pot soup with a black broth, which the employee introduced as "super novel" and developed by a young employee. It is an original product that turns the image of yakitori into a hot pot, and the chicken and green onions are grilled first before use. If you don't want to fuss, you can grill them in a frying pan and then add the soup, or grill them all in one pot. The two had never seen a dish with yakitori soaking in broth and said they couldn't imagine the taste.

On tasting it, they found it clean when they had expected it to be sweeter, and both raved about it. Ryuji described it as Japanese-style and close to soba dipping sauce. Surprised that it tasted like charcoal-grilled yakitori even though everything was just cooked in a frying pan, they asked the employee, who said a charcoal aroma had been added and even the charred quality was recreated.

Oyakodon was suggested as the finisher. Ryuji was surprised, saying he had never heard of oyakodon as a hot pot finisher, and on eating it, said it was like "oyakodon from a specialty shop." The guest said she would "buy it again and again," rating it SS, higher than Ryuji. The product had only just debuted, and its sales were still to come.

Ryuji said that since it is a flavor found nowhere else and can't be made at home, "it's nothing but worth buying," noting it works both with drinks and as a finisher. He also suggested soba could be added as a finisher. He further said that the step of grilling first takes time and might make the product harder to sell, yet they insist on flavor and ask customers to take that extra effort, which he saw as a sign of confidence. The two agreed that people should not skip this grilling step.

The fourth was a curry hot pot soup supervised by CoCo Ichibanya, with cabbage and spinach—a popular CoCo Ichi topping—as ingredients. Ryuji said he always adds spinach at CoCo Ichi too. According to the employee, it has been 16 years since launch, with four renewals. Together with the cheese curry hot pot lined up behind it, it was introduced as good for large groups.

Ryuji pointed out that he had thought CoCo Ichi's curry was a thin, spicy type, but the hot pot soup was thickened. The guest said that with hot pot bases, adding strongly flavored ingredients can change the whole soup's flavor, but this one didn't change much, so everyone could add their favorite ingredients, and she would like to buy about three pouches and make a big pot. They also tried microwaved potatoes.

Both gave the same rating. The guest stressed that it tastes good but said it isn't the "drinker's soup" she looks for, and as for whether she could keep eating it without getting bored, she would want to change up the flavor in various ways partway through. Ryuji said it was thicker than he expected and leaned more toward curry than hot pot, so it could be a bit more hot pot–like. With hot pot, you want to leisurely eat leafy vegetables, but this soup actually suits potatoes, carrots and onions. Hence the conclusion: "It's a bit weak for a hot pot championship."

The fifth was a hot pot with shrimp, and neither could tell what it was. It turned out to be the Korean dish nakkopsae. Ryuji was surprised that Daisho would release a dish that "hasn't really caught on that much," and said he sensed confidence in having the two of them eat it. The guest loves seafood.

Ryuji felt it was more like Thai food than Korean. It wasn't that spicy and had sweetness, a sweet-and-spicy flavor. Putting it bluntly, Ryuji said it was too daring and probably won't sell, but the flavor was really good, and it would strike a chord with people who like Vietnamese or Thai food. The guest also said it was the first time she had eaten a hot pot base with such a distinctive flavor.

The hurdle Ryuji pointed to was the ingredients. It uses beef offal, shrimp and octopus, but people don't usually buy seafood for a hot pot, so he suspected many would pass on it the moment they saw it. Even so, both said, "Please don't discontinue it even if it doesn't sell—we'll buy it," and Ryuji said not pandering to the masses is what he likes about Daisho. Since the shrimp aroma suited it so well, they also suggested that people who don't want to buy shrimp could add dried shrimp.

They also talked about how happy it makes them to find a product at the supermarket that strongly resonates with them even if it won't appeal to everyone, and that it's the type that would be a hit at Kaldi. The rating was S or above. The price of the ingredients is a high hurdle, but it was so good that it didn't matter. Ryuji's conclusion was that you can't make this flavor at home, and just gathering the seasonings would cost more than this, so you should buy it as if going on a trip abroad.

The sixth was a back-fat soy sauce (seabura shoyu) hot pot soup with a strong garlic smell, and the package said "extra garlic oil." It uses relatively few ingredients, centered on cabbage, and was introduced as cheap to make.

On tasting it, however, it wasn't as strong as its aroma, just an ordinary hot pot soup you could keep eating. They also poured the soup over the finisher, but were told it was designed to be simmered, so they agreed it should have been cooked a bit longer. Both felt it was a much lighter soy sauce hot pot than viewers would imagine, and had the impression that after being so daring up to that point, this was where Daisho pulled back.

Its rating was the harshest of the episode. The guest said people drawn to its ramen-shop-style packaging want a more over-the-top flavor, that she had expected something that would make her want to say "Are the people who made this crazy?", and described it as having "chickened out." Ryuji also pointed out that it doesn't taste the way the package suggests—it's just an ordinary soy sauce hot pot with some garlic and oil—so it leaves you let down. He added that families don't eat back-fat hot pot together, so it should be a product only the people who want it gather to eat, and even said, "I absolutely won't accept this" and "I'd even like to overhaul it myself." On the other hand, he added that it's good for people who want a garlicky soy sauce hot pot, and said it was good that a product like this came up since they had been doing nothing but praising things.

The seventh was a mala tang–style soup for vegetable shabu-shabu. It makes generous use of spices and is designed so you can enjoy the aroma from the moment it starts simmering; even though it's for shabu-shabu, no dipping sauce is needed, and you eat it with the soup.

Both rated it as tasty. Ryuji showed understanding of why it is labeled for shabu-shabu rather than as a mala tang hot pot: the flavor is bold enough that just swishing the meat through gives it the soup's taste. As an arrangement, a tom yum–style dipping sauce using tomato, lemon and cilantro was suggested, and both said it was like tom yum goong. They also mentioned that some mala tang shops let you choose a tomato soup. Cilantro went very well, and they called it a must-have topping.

When the guest said adding soy milk sounded good, the employee explained that it's a concentrated type, so you can dilute it with soy milk or similar instead of water to enjoy plenty of soup. Both gave the same rating, and the guest valued that you don't add soy milk from the start but can arrange it according to your mood. Glass noodles, chicken, pork, beef and more also suit it, and the guest said she wanted to add lamb. Ryuji acknowledged it has ample reason to exist, but said it falls behind others in overall score for flavor and ease of use. He then suggested it might be better marketed not just for shabu-shabu but as "mala tang soup, which also works as a hot pot and for shabu-shabu."

Since several spicy dishes had come in a row, Häagen-Dazs was served at this point as a palate cleanser. The two ate it while saying Häagen-Dazs isn't a palate cleanser but a reward for working hard.

The eighth was the Shiromaru Motoaji supervised by Hakata Ippudo. According to the employee, the Akamaru Shinaji was released first about five years ago, and they used the techniques developed there to create a Shiromaru with a tonkotsu flavor. Ryuji began eating skeptically, saying "part of me doesn't believe it at all."

On tasting it, it did have a tonkotsu quality and was creamy. Ryuji described it as "pork soy milk," and said that if you think of it that way, it's tasty as a hot pot. Thin noodles were prepared as a finisher, and he said he liked it more than the ramen-style hot pots he had eaten before, and that once it reduced during the finisher it would reach a richness more to his taste.

In rating it, the guest said "as a hot pot soup, its flavor deserves higher," but pointed out it isn't Ippudo. Ryuji, a big Ippudo fan, likewise said people should eat it not as Ippudo's flavor but as an Ippudo-like hot pot. Ryuji personally said he would prefer it leaning a bit more toward ramen. The guest said she wanted to compensate by grilling and adding something, like with the yakitori hot pot, and that Daisho could definitely do it. The conclusion was that it's "a yes" if you want a creamy tonkotsu-soup hot pot.

The ninth was the Kyoto chicken paitan flavor supervised by Tenkaippin, and both were surprised at how faithfully the aroma was recreated. Ryuji guessed it was made with pork and chicken. Being a hot pot base, it was naturally thin, but the way it lingered in the mouth was very Tenkaippin.

Here the employee introduced the separately sold "Tenkaippin-Supervised Kotteri no Moto" (kotteri booster). It was made in response to requests for something richer. Ryuji guessed that the pouch format couldn't achieve the kotteri style, so they realized it with a separate packet, and the employee confirmed this. It thickens with a bit of heating. When it was added, both exclaimed, "It's Tenichi!", and Ryuji said "this is overwhelmingly better." Even so, he said it wasn't so heavy that it no longer worked as a hot pot, and that for the finisher it's best to add boiled noodles and simmer them gently.

They rated it including the kotteri booster. The guest said, as a matter of taste, it would be hard to keep eating it the whole time, but it's good enough that she'd want a bite even if she couldn't finish it, so she'd like people who love rich flavors to add it from the start. Ryuji rated its flavor and fidelity highly, but questioned how many supermarkets stock it and asked whether it could be sold as a set. When he asked the price, it was 120 yen, and he said that at that price people should try it once.

The tenth was the Hakata motsunabe (offal hot pot) soup in soy sauce flavor, which the guest called her "top pick." The guest is a regular who eats it every winter; according to the employee, it is apparently the No. 1 seller in Japan among Daisho's hot pots, and it has been 35 years since launch. The guest spoke passionately about it even before eating. Motsunabe bases come in miso and soy sauce, and she is in the soy sauce camp; of all the soy sauce motsunabe she has eaten, this one is the closest to salt and isn't sweet. Ryuji had never tried it, and the guest told him "you've missed out on half your life." The employee explained that besides offal, it goes well with just pork and suits any ingredient.

On tasting it, Ryuji was surprised by its simplicity and admitted, "This is good." The guest said she thinks of motsunabe as a hot pot for eating cabbage, and that it's designed to go with the sweetness of cabbage and the fat of the offal. They also said it has no artificial sweetness and is like carefully made broth. Ryuji described the soy sauce as not assertive, tasting like light soy sauce with a strong broth. Champon noodles simmered in the soup were served as the finisher, and someone remarked that it was like soupless dandan noodles. The guest said she usually makes zosui with just egg. Both said thin noodles would likely suit it too, and that it was "better than a mediocre motsunabe restaurant."

In rating it, the guest gave it "SS+," a rank that doesn't officially exist, saying it surpassed the yakitori hot pot. Their description was that it's so straightforward it could serve as the baseline, a punch you can see coming but still get hit by. Ryuji also gave it S+, saying he was made to realize that the reason Daisho hot pots are always in supermarkets is "because they taste good, so they sell." The guest said that if Daisho's motsunabe base didn't exist, she would stop making motsunabe altogether, and asked them never to discontinue it.

Last were the chicken sansho and kimchi hot pot soups supervised by Ryuji. Ryuji jokingly introduced them as "hot pot soups born from my power harassment," and the guest shot back, "Learn a way that gets the same result without power harassment." They were compared anew with palates sharpened by eating so many hot pots.

The kimchi hot pot is inspired by Korea and features a strong beef broth. The guest prefaced that kimchi hot pot bases are sweet, making them nearly her least favorite type of hot pot base, but said this one is her favorite. She said she doesn't flatter and would rather not praise her big bro if she could help it, but this one is truly delicious. The reason is that it tastes like "grandma's house," the same as the jjigae soup her grandmother used to make. Ryuji also said that to him, a jjigae-like flavor is definitely this, and it might be the taste of his family home—something he hadn't realized himself. Some people apparently feel it's different from what they imagine kimchi hot pot to be, but those it hooks get really hooked.

The employee reported that it had surpassed 200,000 by September. It is currently No. 2 among kimchi hot pot bases, and the chicken sansho is No. 1 in the chicken hot pot category, selling more than any previous Daisho chicken hot pot, including the mizutaki. The guest said it was impressive that it could win this much with an edgy name that doesn't tell you whose hot pot it is.

Eating the chicken sansho hot pot, the guest sensed something in common with the yakitori hot pot. It isn't very sweet and has a strong sansho kick—a hot pot leaning toward an indulgence, like eating bar snacks—yet it sells. The guest speculated that hot pot bases are often eaten not just with family but at drinking gatherings among adults, and said it's important to strike a chord with a particular group. Ryuji agreed that when something resonates with a niche, there are lots of repeat buyers, and said it's also important for something like the nakkopsae to keep circulating in a small community. The employee said they would release it again this year, and the two joked that they wanted to butt into the meeting planning the next product.

Asked which they preferred, the guest chose the kimchi. For about one bowl's worth, she likes the chicken sansho flavor, but for reheating and leisurely eating as a hot pot, it's the kimchi. Her reason was that although the chicken sansho is surprisingly light, the sansho aroma is authentic and lingers in the mouth, so she might get tired of it partway through.

Including the finishers, they ate 12 varieties that day. Both named the yakitori hot pot as the most memorable. For the guest, the motsunabe soup is a safe, steady presence like "a boyfriend of over ten years," to which Ryuji replied, "more like you're married." They also said the tonjiru hot pot and the opening mizutaki were good. As for the motsunabe, they reflected that it made them realize this is the king of motsunabe in flavor, and that it had real presence.

In the end, the two settled on the motsunabe and the yakitori hot pot as their picks. Acknowledging that there were many other tasty ones, including the kimchi, and some that were a bit disappointing, they concluded that making and eating this many hot pots in one day wouldn't be possible without a lot of help, and it was a luxurious experience. Ryuji encouraged people buying hot pot soups as the weather gets colder to use this comparison as a reference to discover new flavors.