Ryuji's Garlic Camembert Mille-Feuille Hot Pot: Why He Chose a Dashi Blend Instead of Consommé

At the start, Ryuji points out that the channel has few hot pot recipes. Hot pots with Camembert in the center have been popular for years, but Ryuji says they haven't seen a Camembert hot pot loaded with garlic. That is the aim this time. The ingredients are napa cabbage, pork belly, garlic, and Camembert cheese.

According to Ryuji, garlic and Camembert go well together. This time three cloves are used. When Ebisu asks, "If I like it, can I add more?", Ryuji says that's fine. However, Ryuji adds that since Camembert also goes in, adding too much might make it a bit off. This hot pot also incorporates elements of Ryuji's signature dish, the "waterless oil hot pot."

The first step is to sauté sliced garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Since cheese goes in later, you don't need much oil. This is also the first step in the waterless oil hot pot, and Ryuji explains that browning the garlic until fragrant makes the whole hot pot taste better. Once it becomes aromatic, the garlic is removed and later returned as chips for the finish. Ryuji also says that, for certain reasons, they won't be making it waterless this time.

Later, while scattering the chips over the hot pot, Ryuji says that "the source of the waterless oil hot pot's deliciousness isn't the lack of water, it's the garlic." This is why the garlic chip step is given such importance.

While the garlic is sautéing, prepare the napa cabbage. Remove the core, and rinse lightly since dirt tends to collect at the base. Next, stack 2–3 leaves of cabbage, place pork belly on top, and keep layering more cabbage. The amount of pork belly is about 350g; Ryuji uses a little extra, figuring people will probably eat a lot of meat.

When Ebisu asks whether thinly sliced pork offcuts would work, Ryuji's answer was, "You can use them, but they won't be as tender." Stacks fall over if piled too high, so you can make them in separate stacks. Once layered, cut them at even intervals and pack them into a frying pan with the cut side facing up so the layers are visible. If possible, it's best to gather the thicker parts toward the center.

As for the benefit of making it mille-feuille style, Ryuji mentions that it's fun to look at. Ebisu responded that being able to pick up the meat and cabbage together is also a big advantage. Only the cutting is a hassle; after that you just wait. When Ebisu says, "I thought it would be more of a hassle," Ryuji replies that it actually isn't that much trouble.

During some small talk in the meantime, Ebisu mentioned having recently started posting daily and making things other than ramen. Ryuji says, "Ramen alone is weak." Nobody eats ramen every day, and ramen lovers watch ramen videos and then go eat at the shops, Ryuji explains.

The Camembert doesn't go in from the start. If you add it early, it turns mushy. It goes in partway through so it melts. Score the cheese beforehand. A simmering time of about 15 minutes for the pork belly is a good guideline, Ryuji says.

The water is 250cc and the sake is 50cc. Ryuji stresses that because the pork belly releases a lot of liquid, it's important to start with less water. The total comes to about 300cc, and you can add more later if needed. On the other hand, too much water is not good, Ryuji says. When it was actually simmered, quite a lot of liquid came out. Ryuji reflected that this may have been because the mille-feuille was cut into wide pieces.

The key to this hot pot is the dashi. Many people make Camembert hot pot with consommé, but Ryuji says Japanese-style dashi goes "insanely well" with it and recommends making it with Japanese-style dashi. This time the blend is 1 teaspoon of kombu dashi and 1 teaspoon of Hondashi. Kombu dashi alone or Hondashi alone is plenty delicious, but combining them makes it even better, Ryuji says. Ryuji used to also use bonito flakes, but since the cheese is the star this time, two kinds of granulated dashi were used. Mixing Hondashi with chicken bouillon is apparently also delicious. Ryuji says they've recently been hooked on mixing two kinds of dashi to create a flavor different from store-bought products.

After finishing the meal, it also came up that Ryuji had originally planned to use consommé. Thinking consommé with cheese was overused and cliché, Ryuji deliberately tried a dashi blend instead, and it was a perfect match. Ebisu agreed, saying it feels like the dashi actually brings out the Camembert.

It's best to use a lid if possible. Bring to a boil over high heat, and once it's bubbling, lower to medium. After simmering for about 5 minutes after boiling, place the scored Camembert and the garlic chips on top and simmer another 4–5 minutes until the cheese softens. By Ryuji's estimate, it takes about 15–20 minutes in total.

Ebisu tasted it partway through simmering. Even at this point, Ebisu felt the dashi blend was delicious.

The recipe serves 2–3 people. Assuming each person eats a little over 100g of meat, it makes about 3 servings. For one person, half the amount is best, and you can use a smaller frying pan or a smaller clay pot.

Ryuji says a frying pan is better suited to sautéing the garlic. You can sauté in oil in a clay pot too, but it will crack over high heat. On low heat it's fine, according to Ryuji.

If you want to add ingredients, mushrooms go well. Since it's a cheese hot pot, you could add oyster mushrooms or king oyster mushrooms. However, Ryuji says that lately, simpler recipes get more views. Many people look at the ingredient list and won't make a recipe if there are too many ingredients. Not everyone loves cooking, in Ryuji's view.

Ebisu asked what Ryuji pays attention to when developing hot pot recipes. Ryuji's answer was "keeping it simple," and Ryuji says they rarely make difficult hot pots.

Ryuji also sells a store-bought hot pot soup base and says it's delicious. But that soup base makes generous use of ingredients not often used at home, such as beef stock and the aroma of sansho pepper. It was turned into a product precisely because it's a flavor that can't be reproduced at home, Ryuji says. Recipes for home cooking must be simple in both ingredients and seasonings. Otherwise they'll never beat store-bought hot pot soup bases, Ryuji declares. Few people yet find it fun to decide the flavor of a hot pot themselves, which is why the market for hot pot soup bases is large, Ryuji says.

This mille-feuille hot pot has relatively little liquid. Ryuji explains that it isn't a hot pot you eat along with the soup. It's basically a hot pot for eating the ingredients, and the soup just needs to remain for the finishing dish.

It's eaten with salt. Ryuji thinks many people eat this hot pot with ponzu, but says it tastes better without ponzu this time. You could squeeze lemon over it, but basically salt is enough. That's because you eat it with the Camembert coating the ingredients. To finish, coarsely ground black pepper was added.

Upon eating, Ebisu first praised the aroma. The Camembert becomes a sauce, and the garlic flavor is the best, Ebisu says. Ebisu also remarked that turning the garlic into chips and removing them once kept the aroma alive. The amount of liquid was just right too, and it seemed like it would hold up all the way to the finishing dish.

Ebisu says it's also important that it's Camembert rather than shredded pizza cheese. With pizza cheese, it would all melt out at once, and Ebisu feels there would be no contrast. Ryuji says the simple dashi blend really comes through, and because the soup is delicious, everything tastes good.

To change up the flavor, they added "Majisco," the Tabasco-style hot sauce Ryuji sells. According to Ryuji, as you eat, you start wanting a chili element. Regular Tabasco is fine too. Ebisu commented that it goes well with the cheese.

Ryuji says this alone is plenty, even without side dishes. Ryuji started to say this was what their diet used to be like, then corrected themselves, saying it's actually luxurious. It goes well with alcohol, but depending on how salty you make it, it's a gentle flavor, so it also goes well with rice, Ryuji says.

For the finish, leave a little of the soup with the cheese melted into it and make cheese rice porridge (zosui). Packaged microwavable rice is used without heating. You just pour water over it, loosen it, and add it; Ryuji says it's so easy that they keep it stocked for zosui.

Ebisu suggested adding pizza cheese, since Camembert is expensive. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and grind black pepper. Then, at Ebisu's suggestion, they cracked in an egg, deliberately left it unstirred so it would be soft-cooked, and ate it while breaking it up.

After eating, Ebisu said, "It's like carbonara," and Ryuji replied, "This is basically carbonara." Ryuji recommends going this far this winter.

Ebisu remarked that this is a hot pot for everyone to serve themselves from and share the joy. You could eat it alone, but Ebisu thinks it's a hot pot for eating together in a lively group and agreeing that it's "delicious." Ryuji responded that with side dishes, about three servings might be just right. In reality, though, the two of them finished it all, including the finishing dish.

Ryuji says this flavor is something unique to home cooking that you can't eat at a restaurant. Reflecting on the decision to use a dashi blend instead of consommé, Ryuji remarked that, thinking about it this way, cooking is infinite.

Finally, it came up that Ebisu also has a hot pot recipe. Hot pot is so versatile that you can express your own personality with it, Ebisu says. The video ended with talk that, if there's an opportunity, Ebisu will show it in the next "Ebisu Makanai," and that Ryuji will likely be the one operating the camera then.