Turning Supermarket Meat into Yakiniku-Restaurant Flavor: Morita's Seasoned Salt, Marinade, Ponzu, and Cut-by-Cut Grilling Methods

The sponsorship apparently came about because Morita had used Hi-Me when making peperoncino and meat sauce in an earlier sponsored video for J-Oil Mills. It drew attention that someone besides Ryuji uses Hi-Me, and that led to this project in which Morita teaches how to use it.

According to Morita, there was an atmosphere among chefs that made it hard to openly admit to using Hi-Me. The idea that the value of cooking lies in the very process of drawing umami out of ingredients is deeply rooted, so using it could be seen as "taking shortcuts." In reality, though, Morita says many restaurants use it to save effort. Morita joked that even at yakiniku restaurants, the surface of the meat is sometimes already in a delicious state before it is grilled. Morita also stated that umami seasonings, Hi-Me in particular, are what established yakiniku culture in Japan, but immediately added, "I can't say that definitively" and "a lot of people put in a lot of effort."

Three things are made on this day: a sauce, for which Hi-Me is said to be essential to create a complex deliciousness; a seasoned salt for pre-seasoning; and a ponzu for when you want to eat something light. Ryuji recalled having eaten meat with ponzu at Rikkakai before and finding it very delicious. Morita laughed that the restaurant's ponzu doesn't contain Hi-Me, so guests are welcome to bring some along and add it when they visit.

The first thing Morita emphasized was when to salt. If you salt during or after grilling, the meat and the salt are perceived separately in the mouth, and the umami of the meat and the minerals of the salt end up apart. Because it doesn't become a complex flavor as a dish, Morita asks that you always salt at least 5 minutes before grilling. The timing varies with thickness and cut; for wide pieces about 1 cm thick, like steak, 15 minutes or more ahead is preferable.

When Ryuji asked whether leaving it too long would make it salty, Morita answered as follows. Leaving it for over an hour tends to draw out moisture and make it ham-like, but that applies to quite thin meat. With ordinary home meat, it won't turn into ham unless left for over 24 hours, so there's no need to worry. The guideline is at least 5 minutes, and ideally grill and eat it within 30 minutes.

On this day Morita used a carefully made salt that an acquaintance produces in Katsuura, but said an ordinary salt such as "Seto no Honjio" is fine at home. The ratio of salt to Hi-Me is 4 to 1, which surprised even Ryuji: "That's quite a lot." Half a teaspoon of garlic powder is added to this. You can customize it with spices such as cumin, herbs, or black pepper, but too much makes it taste like barbecue. This time only the basic version is shown.

The secret ingredient is sugar, in a tiny amount: just under 1/4 teaspoon. As Morita explains, at this stage the ingredients are all separate, and they dissolve in the meat's moisture and become one. When grilled, the sugar coats the volatile aromas, and that is what makes the difference.

The amount to sprinkle is about 1% of the meat's weight. It's best to spread the meat out before sprinkling. Professionals often sprinkle once, then stack the meat and serve it flipped over, but that is the method for when you don't want salt showing on the surface. When Ryuji said they had always wondered whether it was okay to sprinkle it while still in the package, Morita replied that even if you want to take it easy at home, they'd like you to put in a little effort on points like this. Morita also said, with the caveat that it was just a personal impression, that salt with Hi-Me seems to blend in with the meat's moisture faster than salt alone.

The criterion Morita gave for choosing meat is that no meat juices have pooled at the bottom of the package. Supermarkets sell tongue by slicing a whole tongue, so three types appear: red parts, white parts, and parts with the tongue root attached. If possible, choose the juicy part with the tongue root. The price differs by only about 100 yen, but Morita's assessment is that the flavor is about three times different.

On this day, assuming that supermarkets won't always have yakiniku meat, some unusual meats were also prepared. One is a block of round (momo) intended for roast beef. When you want yakiniku but making roast beef is a hassle, you can simply cut the block 1 cm thick. Round has a reputation for being tough, but Morita promised, "I'll make it surprisingly tender." Domestic round is expensive and hard to obtain, so imported is fine for home use, and Morita said it's actually better.

The other is a package combining kiriotoshi (trimmings) and komagire (scraps), which Morita says is seen at various supermarkets lately; it cost 1,000 yen. Since it contains multiple cuts, it alone can make a home yakiniku. Morita said probably few people have ever made yakiniku with it, and that it would be interesting if it turned out tender. Morita wants to share the "magic" of making delicious yakiniku with this kind of meat even when there's no yakiniku meat.

The sauce is a soy-sauce-based Kanto style. According to Morita, yakiniku sauces in Kansai often use dashi and fruit. This time, with Kanto style as the base, fruit is also added as a Kansai-style element.

The proportions are 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of mirin. No sake is added; sweetness and flavor come from the mirin. Sugar is 1 tablespoon, or half a tablespoon if using honey. Sweetness is said to be quite important. Miso is 1/2 tablespoon. Morita explained that miso contains glutamic acid, so it pairs well with Hi-Me, and the idea is to add little by little what Hi-Me lacks. Ryuji responded that the ingredient lists of commercial yakiniku sauces often include miso. However, too much brings the miso flavor to the fore. Next, 1 teaspoon of tianmianjiang (sweet bean sauce) is added.

This is heated over low heat, without letting it boil too hard. This is to cook off the alcohol in the mirin, so that people such as those who are pregnant can use it. It's good once it starts bubbling gently; heating it for long makes the aromas evaporate, so turn off the heat early. To this, add 4 tablespoons of apple that Ryuji grated, letting the residual heat cook it.

Morita stressed that Hi-Me still does not go in at this stage. Some people say to add it first and let it cook and blend in, but adding it afterward definitely gives more punch and tastes better.

When Ryuji said they used to make sauce with pear, Morita replied, "That's absolutely right." Morita explained that Korean bulgogi uses pear, making use of the pear's enzymes to make lean Korean hanwoo beef tender and delicious.

Next, add 5 g of ginger and 10 g of garlic (about 1 clove). Ginger works very strongly, so only a tiny amount is needed. There is a reason for adding ginger at this stage. According to Morita, ginger contains an enzyme called zingibain, which acts on the meat's sinews and softens them. It works on meats like kiriotoshi and skirt (harami), and its action is gentle, which is good. The ginger and garlic are not heated, just mixed in.

To finish, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Since beef fat will be added later, just enough for aroma is fine. Finally, sprinkle in about half a teaspoon of Hi-Me. Morita explained that Hi-Me is often described as "one shake," but it's fine to add about 1.2 g. Ryuji was surprised: "You really make it pronounced," and Morita replied, "It needs about this much."

Morita summed up that what you need is soy sauce, mirin, sugar, miso, grated apple, and Hi-Me, mostly seasonings you already have at home.

Take 4 tablespoons of the finished sauce and add 1 tablespoon of grated kiwi to make a marinade (momidare). Morita says frequent use of kiwi and maitake is a specialty. Morita personally likes kiwi and added a bit more, but said 1 tablespoon is fine for viewers.

In this marinade, half each of the 1 cm-thick round, the skirt, and the tougher-looking meat from the 1,000-yen assortment are marinated. The other half is grilled with salt only, for a taste comparison. People rarely eat thick round at home yakiniku, but Morita explained that you can have, at home, the experience of being served a luxurious single-piece grill at a yakiniku restaurant and cutting it with tongs and scissors. The amount of sauce is plenty for a family of four, and the preparation up to this point takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Ryuji asked whether adding kiwi before the sauce has fully cooled would kill the enzymes. Morita's answer was this: actinidin, found in kiwi, is the second strongest of the enzymes obtainable in nature, and it stops working at 75°C. On the other hand, it is highly active at around 50°C, when slightly warm. So adding it to warm sauce gives just the right temperature for it to act on the meat. However, with chicken, bacteria multiply easily in this temperature range, so this should be done with beef.

When the salted meat was checked during marinating, the salt on the surface had almost disappeared. A little remained on the fatty kalbi, but on the other cuts that release moisture it had vanished completely.

The hot plate demonstration began with tongue. Morita's instruction is to grill it "1 to 9." Get it hot enough that surface moisture evaporates with a crackling sound, and grill the salted side first for about 5 seconds. Flip it and grill the other side for about 45 seconds. If it curls, press it down. Once done, fold it in a peak and eat.

Morita explained that when tongue is grilled at home it often shrinks to about half, but with this method there's almost no shrinkage. Upon eating it, Ryuji was surprised, saying "This isn't home cooking," and also said the Hi-Me was really coming through. According to Morita, tongue is among the mildest-flavored of all cuts. That's why many yakiniku restaurants slice it thin and have it eaten for its seasoning, like potato chips. To truly taste its umami, it needs to be about as thick as your little finger. The tongue this time was American, but the two rated it as quality that could be served as premium tongue (jo-tan).

Next was loin, with almost no fat and decidedly tough-looking. The key here is to flip it many times at high heat. Morita's view is that cooking it slowly at low heat makes the juices run out and all the umami flows away. Flip every 10 seconds per side, grilling for about 40 seconds in total. It's cooked through but finished close to rare.

Almost no juices came out of the grilled loin. Eating it with the sauce, Ryuji said that despite thinking it was a tough meat, it was surprisingly tender, and that if this loin came out at a yakiniku restaurant, they would definitely order more.

According to Morita, kalbi looks tender but is actually a tough cut. So use a cheap fork, such as one from a 100-yen shop. Cheap forks are made thin to keep material costs down, so they can substitute for a jaccard (meat tenderizer). Lightly pierce the meat, then grill it four times for 10 seconds each, the same as the loin.

Kalbi is often served with sauce, but with sauce the hot plate can burn. Morita explained that this time, with only the seasoned salt, it doesn't scorch and grills as if frying in its own fat. Ryuji confessed that they usually don't buy meat this fatty because it seems like it would cause heartburn. Even so, after tasting it, Ryuji said they never expected to find meat with this much fat delicious.

When Ryuji tasted the sauce and said, "You could sell this," Morita replied that because the enzymes are alive it can't be packaged; it's a flavor you can only make at home.

From here, Morita showed the effect of marinating as a "pro technique." First, the salt-only skirt was grilled, and Ryuji rated the salted version as plenty delicious and tender too. Next, upon eating the skirt marinated in the momidare, Ryuji was surprised at how overwhelmingly tender it was. Skirt is naturally tender but you can feel the sinew, and in the marinated version that was gone.

Saying the difference is even easier to see with steak, the marinated round was also grilled. It was visibly tender even before grilling, and Morita described this round, for lack of a better way to put it, as having become roughly the class of rib loin or sirloin. For grilling 1 cm thickness, the same formula as in the steak video Morita appeared in previously works. Eating the round grilled rare, Ryuji said it was very juicy and that the umami of the beef came through more easily than the fat.

Last is the special ponzu. As Morita explains, ponzu is basically made of three things — soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar — so adding Hi-Me makes it "transform." Add 1 teaspoon of honey to 2 tablespoons of ponzu. Morita originally recommended honey ponzu; just adding Hi-Me is fine, but a little honey makes it richer. Hi-Me is kept to a very small amount, 1 to 2 shakes, and dissolved in.

This is used with the 1,000-yen kiriotoshi assortment. It's a mix of fatty pieces and steak-like portions, and according to Morita these are not cuts originally meant for yakiniku. Sliced thin after marinating in the momidare, this meat also makes a delicious gyudon.

Eating it with ponzu, Ryuji found that the fattier the meat, the more refreshing and well-matched it was. Even the lean meat Ryuji had thought would be the toughest had become tender. Morita explained this was the effect of both the enzyme marinade and the Hi-Me in the ponzu.

Morita also stressed that this can only be done with Hi-Me. Salt alone won't work, nor will umami-rich salt; this was the result of trying various amounts. Where ponzu alone is a little lacking, umami fills in and creates a synergistic effect. Some chefs recommend pairing fatty meat with vinegar, but the result differs considerably depending on whether it's rice vinegar or Western vinegar. In that case it's quicker to just buy ponzu from the start and add Hi-Me, and Morita stated that for home cooking this is the "formula" and the right answer.

As Morita sums it up, if you want to keep things easy, the seasoned salt and ponzu alone are more than enough. The momidare shows its true value when tenderizing cheap, lean meat or steak blocks. Using them according to the cut is what matters. If the sauce feels heavy, wrapping the meat in sangchu lettuce softens the flavor.

Ryuji joked that they "still aren't convinced" a hot plate can make things this delicious. That said, Ryuji reflected that, surprisingly, the unmarinated kalbi, loin, and tongue were amazing, and praised as excellent home cooking the fact that even just the Hi-Me seasoned salt or lemon is very tasty. Ryuji wrapped up with, "This is going to change home yakiniku."

It was also mentioned that about an hour after the previous J-Oil Mills sponsored video was released, an acquaintance got in touch saying, "Aren't Morita's sponsored videos way too delicious?" Finally, the two noted that all the meat this time was bought at a supermarket, and urged viewers to give it a try, since supermarket meat can reach yakiniku-restaurant level.