"Desperation Acqua Pazza" Made with Lightly Salted Salmon and Kombu Dashi, No Knife Required

The starting point for this episode was the many requests from viewers for fish recipes. Ryuji also says they were influenced by Mori (described as someone connected to a fish shop), with whom they recently collaborated, who had said they wanted "more fish dishes on the dinner table." Ryuji explains that they want to take the lead in cooking fish themselves, but since handling whole fish from the start is a high hurdle, they wanted to begin with easy-to-find salted salmon.

Ryuji also says that their own cooking lately has been unvaried, so they wanted to eat a fish dish that was different from usual. The co-host responds that acqua pazza feels less like an everyday dish and more like something you make when serving others.

The salmon used is lightly salted (amajio) salmon. According to Ryuji, most salmon sold in supermarkets today is lightly salted, but heavily salted (ojio) salmon, whose surface is white with salt, is also available. Heavily salted salmon is like "a lump of salt"; a single piece can get you through a lot of rice, making it suited to onigiri, and few people eat it these days. Ryuji instructs viewers to be sure to use lightly salted salmon this time. Lightly salted salmon is lightly cured in salt and is often frozen or thawed; the salmon used here is from Chile and is what Ryuji always uses on the channel.

Ryuji explains that acqua pazza is an Italian dish whose name means "crazy water," and as the name suggests, it's a dish of fish cooked in water. In Italy, a whole gutted fish is often braised, but this time Ryuji uses fillets of salted salmon, which are easy to cook at home, for a no-knife "desperation" version.

The recipe in the video description calls for 2 fillets of salted salmon (240 g), 1 pack of cherry tomatoes (12), 100 g oyster mushrooms, 100 g frozen broccoli, 15 g garlic, 1½ tbsp olive oil, 200 cc water, ⅔ tsp kombu dashi, ⅓ tsp salt (plus another pinch to taste), 2 tbsp olive oil to finish, and 2 slices of 6-slice-loaf shokupan bread. Any mushrooms are fine, and oyster mushrooms were chosen this time because they can be pulled apart by hand.

Despite the no-knife premise, the garlic alone requires some prep. Ryuji shows how to crush it with something like a wine bottle, peel it, and use it as is. The amount is about 4 cloves.

Put 1½ tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the crushed garlic. As for why it isn't chopped, Ryuji explains that "the more you chop garlic, the stronger its aroma becomes," and since they don't want a strong garlic flavor this time, they sauté it crushed to transfer its aroma to the oil. Ryuji adds that since it will be simmered anyway, chopping it is fine too.

Next, the salmon is seared. Salted salmon has a surprising amount of fishy odor, so Ryuji's idea is to sear it to drive that off. It's good to stand the fillets on their skin side and sear that a little too; Ryuji explains that rendering the fat between the skin and flesh reduces the odor. But searing too long will cause sticking, so it's enough to just brown the surface.

Here Ryuji cries out, "I messed up." The nonstick coating on the frying pan was worn, making it prone to sticking, and the salmon stuck. Thanks in part to the generous amount of oil, Ryuji managed to pry it off and continue searing.

Hand-torn oyster mushrooms go around the salmon. When the co-host asks about heat level and placement, Ryuji repeatedly answers, "anything's fine." The only thing to watch is not burning it; Italian food is home cooking, so in the speaker's view it's better not to set the bar high.

Add 200 cc water and the frozen broccoli. Acqua pazza normally includes shellfish, but not this time. Ryuji also mentions that frozen clams and the like are available, so those could be used.

While saying cherry tomatoes are optional, Ryuji adds the entire pack because they improve the color and make the thumbnail look good. The co-host says they love tomatoes that have cooked down and broken apart a little, so more were added. At one point Ryuji snacks on a raw tomato and remarks that it's sweet and delicious.

Water alone lacks umami, Ryuji says. Acqua pazza is delicious because of the shellfish stock, so since no shellfish is used this time, ⅔ tsp kombu dashi is added instead. According to Ryuji, kombu dashi is the best substitute for shellfish stock, and iriko (dried sardine) dashi will do if you don't have it. When the co-host asks whether chicken bouillon won't work, Ryuji answers that chicken bouillon would make it animal-based. The idea is to supply acqua pazza–style umami with a seafood-based stock.

As the oyster mushrooms, broccoli, and tomatoes cook and break down, each releases its own umami as well.

The seasoning is about ⅓ tsp salt. Ryuji, being a drinker, adds another pinch, but viewers can adjust to taste. The speaker explains that Italian food is basically seasoned with salt, and simmering with just salt and tomatoes is enough.

No herbs are needed either, and with that it's done. The co-host is surprised—"you didn't do anything"—and says it seems like something you could make even after coming home tired. Ryuji emphasizes that by using kombu dashi you don't need clams, you can make it with just fillets and supermarket vegetables, and that although acqua pazza tends to be thought of as something you eat out, it's actually very easy. As for why it isn't simmered long, Ryuji explains that overcooking makes the salmon dry and crumbly.

Bread is the standard accompaniment; rice goes well too, but since the broth is so good, Ryuji wants viewers to dip bread in it. Toasted shokupan is served alongside.

Since acqua pazza alone is short on vegetables, Ryuji uses shungiku they bought to make an "infinite"-style salad. The shungiku stems are tough, so they're cut finely on the diagonal, and the rest is roughly chopped. The washed, wet shungiku is thoroughly patted dry. Ryuji says that this way the seasoning "clings overwhelmingly better," and agrees when the co-host confirms that, as a rule, it's better to remove moisture when dressing raw vegetables.

Put the shungiku and a can of tuna, lightly drained of oil, in a bowl, and add olive oil, black pepper, salt, and Ajinomoto. For the vinegar to finish, balsamic vinegar is used to give it a more Italian flavor. Tasting partway through, Ryuji adjusts what's missing with about 7 shakes of garlic powder, bringing the balsamic vinegar to about 1 tbsp in total. The amounts in the video description are 3 g salt, 5 shakes of Ajinomoto, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, and 7 shakes of garlic powder.

After tasting, Ryuji says they're actually more impressed by this than by the acqua pazza. Shungiku is a vegetable that's very delicious raw, so Ryuji wants people to eat it more, not just in hot pots. The co-host also comments that it's delicious with or without the tuna, and that chopping the stems finely makes it easier to eat.

The acqua pazza is briefly reheated to a boil and finished with a drizzle of somewhat good olive oil. Ryuji explains that lightly crushing the tomatoes releases more flavor into the broth.

The salmon came out tender enough to flake apart. The co-host sips the broth and is surprised, and Ryuji says, "It gets this good even without shellfish stock." The co-host praises the broccoli for soaking up the broth and says frozen is perfectly good. The two confirm that searing gave the salmon a toasty aroma and that there's no fishy odor at all.

Tearing the shokupan and dipping it in the broth, Ryuji calls it "top of the top," says it's delicious even though it's just plain shokupan, and recommends having bread ready to enjoy this broth.

When the co-host asks what to do with this broth if there's no bread, they decide to make a finishing pasta with the leftovers. First, remove the salmon bones and flake the flesh to use as a pasta topping. There are surprisingly many small bones, so removing as many as possible means you won't notice them when eating. Leaving just a little broth is enough.

The pasta is boiled in water with 1% salt. Ryuji says they use everyday pasta, and De Cecco when they want something authentic. The thickness is 1.5 mm; thinner is better, Ryuji says. The package boiling time is 6 minutes, but it's pulled at 5, finishing it a minute early and firm.

Heat the frying pan, add pasta cooking water and the pasta, add a little more olive oil, and toss so the pasta absorbs the broth. Asked whether to add salt, Ryuji answers that it's unnecessary since the stock has come out well. It's not quite a soup pasta, but it becomes a saucy pasta. Ryuji urges eating it right away before the texture changes.

The co-host reacts with "It's like a restaurant," and both say that while eating it with bread is good, it's best to treat leaving a little broth and turning it into pasta as part of the set. The co-host rates it among the very best salmon dishes. They also point out that ingredient costs are low and that with pasta it makes a filling meal.

Ryuji says that despite being this easy, it's a dish that makes people happy—"you made this for me"—when it's served, and the co-host responds that it would be welcomed at birthdays or celebrations too. Ryuji says they sometimes serve acqua pazza–type dishes when inviting people over and cooking a course meal. In the speaker's assessment, if you're putting together a course-style meal from supermarket ingredients, salted salmon is perfectly delicious, and searing removes the odor.

Ryuji also introduces Mori's shop as centered on sashimi and sushi, with an eat-in area where purchases can be eaten, and says that a way of eating like making a broth from salmon and tossing it with pasta is "totally doable."

It also came up that in this "makanai" video series, about half the time Ryuji makes new recipes without set measurements, fine-tuning as they go, which may make editing difficult, but they have almost never failed.

Toward the end, Ryuji relates having talked with Mori and Mori's father about spreading fish more widely on dinner tables. In the past, grilled and simmered fish always appeared on the table, but now, whether you look at social media or bookstores, fish books don't sell and fish content doesn't go viral. Even supermarket fish counters no longer sell whole fish the way they used to. Ryuji says this "is also the responsibility of us cooking experts." The view is that because cooking experts don't use fish, everyone else stopped cooking it too.

As for a previous cod video, Ryuji thought it wouldn't do well, and while its initial performance was poor, it eventually got quite a lot of views. The co-host says they were surprised too, and Ryuji reflects that they felt fish dishes really are worth doing. Since Ryuji's recipes now reach many people through short videos and the like, they think it's a good thing that featuring fish expands people's food options.

As for future content, Ryuji mentions that "boiled salmon," boiled rather than grilled, is trending, and talks about possibly filming a comparison of whether grilled or boiled salmon tastes better. Ryuji says that being able to eat more things increases life's pleasures and that this is why they run the channel, and closes with a faint hope that whether fish dishes catch on depends on how many people watch this video.