Ryuji Remakes Tachibana-Style Tonjiru, Simmered Until the New Onions Melt, with Garlic and Ajinomoto

According to Ryuji, Tachibana's tonjiru is simple, with just onions, tofu and pork. HIKAKIN called it a "thin tonjiru," but he made it with quite a lot of dashi, and the result looked delicious: the onions were silky, the pork had a nice texture, and the tofu gave it substance. Curious, Ryuji tried making it himself, and it turned out so well that he decided to share it.

His method, however, differs from both HIKAKIN's and the restaurant's. Ryuji explains that even though the restaurant has published its recipe, there are differences in areas such as the dashi, and that he has made his own "most delicious arrangement." Jokingly admitting that he is following in HIKAKIN's footsteps, he opens by declaring that he will make "a tonjiru that's probably better than HIKAKIN's."

He uses 280g of pork belly. Ryuji says the amount is on the generous side because he loves meat, and he recommends belly because its fat melts into the soup and makes it delicious. For new onions, he uses three, about 600–700g. A good rule of thumb, he says, is two to three times the weight of the pork.

Ryuji stresses repeatedly that regular onions work perfectly well too. In fact, Tachibana makes its soup with the regular onions found in supermarkets year-round, so that is the original version. He uses new onions simply because they are delicious at this time of year. On the difference between the two, he explains that the onions we usually use have been stored for a while after harvest, losing moisture so they keep longer.

He uses firm (momen) tofu to keep some texture. When a staff member checks, "Because firm tofu holds together better?", Ryuji replies that silken tofu falls apart while simmering, so firm is the safer choice.

The first change is garlic. Ryuji also puts garlic in his own "Supreme Tonjiru," and he says he made this one once with the standard recipe first and found that adding garlic made it "overwhelmingly" better. For the miso, he uses white miso from Nagano.

The second change is Ajinomoto. The original uses kombu for the dashi, but Ryuji felt that if he was adding garlic, the umami of Ajinomoto would definitely taste better, so he went with Ajinomoto instead of kombu. For those who don't want to use Ajinomoto, he says simply simmering a generous amount of kombu, about 5g, along with everything else will still make it plenty delicious, but since kombu is expensive, he recommends Ajinomoto.

The cooking is just a matter of putting all the ingredients in a pot and simmering. The new onions only need to be peeled and halved; they can stay in big pieces. Since they simmer until they melt, Ryuji explains, there's no need to bother chopping them finely. The pork also goes straight into the pot. Ryuji says several times that compared with his labor-intensive "Supreme Tonjiru," this one is extremely easy.

For the stock, he adds 400–500ml of water, going with 500ml this time. When a staff member asks, "Isn't it supposed to be waterless?", he responds that HIKAKIN did say waterless, but dashi is ultimately water anyway.

Next goes in bonito powder. If you don't have bonito powder, he suggests microwaving bonito flakes and crumbling them finely as a substitute. One small packet is about 1g, so adding around 5g makes it delicious. Ryuji says he thinks many people see "dashi" in a recipe and don't know what kind to use or how to make it, so he built this recipe around combining water, bonito flakes and umami seasoning to create something like dashi without having to make dashi.

He adds about half a teaspoon of Ajinomoto, to be adjusted later. This stands in for kombu dashi, and he finds it easier to use because it doesn't taste as kombu-heavy as kombu does and doesn't add kombu's slimy thickness. It's also cheap. Ryuji shares his view that anyone can easily make something delicious with expensive ingredients, but how cheaply you can make something with what you have on hand is also an important cooking skill, and good cooks can make delicious food without spending much.

The recipe calls for 70g of miso, and he adds the full 70g at this stage. In this method, the miso goes in from the start and simmers with everything else. Ryuji himself laughs that "this doesn't look like how you make tonjiru," and jokes that since he's taken the liberty of adding Ajinomoto and garlic, the people at Tachibana would be angry if they saw it.

When a staff member asks, "You don't need to sauté anything?", Ryuji answers that you would for regular tonjiru, but this recipe skips that step. The onions aren't chopped finely either. He explains that just simmering for about 30 minutes makes the meat come apart and the onions grow softer and softer until they fall apart, and that alone makes a fine tonjiru.

As for why he uses white miso, he states plainly that it has to be white miso. Regarding the Niigata tonjiru restaurant's use of white miso, Ryuji speculates that Niigata is probably a white miso region. He adds that he has taken a liking to white miso lately and often cooks with it.

He leaves the scum in, following his own principle that scum is umami too. When a staff member brings up appliances like the Hotcook, Ryuji points out that they'd be a good match: with hands-off cooking, ingredients usually end up falling apart, but this dish tastes better when they do.

Once it comes to a boil, he turns the heat to low, covers it, and simmers for 25–30 minutes. Ryuji expects new onions to soften relatively quickly.

When he lifts the lid after 30 minutes of simmering, the new onions are so soft they fall apart at a touch. Since they can be cut with chopsticks, there's no need to cut them at the start. Regular onions get about as soft, but in that case he recommends simmering for around 35 minutes.

At this point, he adds grated garlic and the tofu. The soup is delicious enough without garlic, so you can leave it out if you want to avoid it, for example when cooking for children. Ryuji, though, prefers it with a garlic punch. He says adding garlic instantly deepens the richness.

Because the tofu breaks apart when stirred, he sinks it into the thick, silky part of the soup. If the pieces seem too big, you can break them up with chopsticks. He simmers it for about 10 more minutes so the tofu absorbs the flavor.

Tasting it after 10 minutes, Ryuji finds the sweetness of the new onions coming through strongly, so he adds about 10g more miso, for a total of 80g. He uses this amount because he likes strong flavors, but adds that some people will find 70g enough, so they should adjust to taste. Ryuji thinks the result is thicker than when made with regular onions.

The moment they take a bite, a staff member exclaims, "It gets this good?" Ryuji explains that the sweetness comes from the onions alone, with no sugar or mirin added. There's also a comment that new onions may make it just slightly sweeter than regular onions. The onions have melted into the soup and become one with it, and the staff praise it, saying, "You could eat rice with just these onions" and "I want Matsuya to serve this."

For a change of flavor, they try sansho pepper and shichimi, and Ryuji says sansho really does go well with miso. At one point they pour it over rice and eat it nekomanma-style.

Ryuji recalls that he once made it with kombu, but the kombu was overpowered by the impact of the onions and pork. That is the rationale behind this version: adding Ajinomoto in that amount works best. A staff member also remarks that it's like a miso-flavored potage.

Ryuji positions this tonjiru as more of a meal than a soup. Since you just simmer it, leave it, and add the tofu and grated garlic later, he says it's practical and easy enough to make every day.

Finally, Ryuji thanks Tachibana in Niigata for publishing the recipe and HIKAKIN for featuring it. He wraps up by saying that it's of course delicious with regular onions, but new onions bring out more sweetness and richness, and urges viewers to make it during new onion season.