"Yaki Ramen" Without Tonkotsu Broth: Recreating the Taste of Fukuoka's Yatai Stalls with Chuka Aji

Ryuji starts by explaining how it differs from "Marudori Gara Soup," which it is often compared with. Marudori Gara Soup is an extract of pure chicken umami. Chuka Aji, on the other hand, is based on "shantan," a Chinese-style stock, and also contains pork umami. It has oyster sauce added as well, so this one product alone gives you a Chinese flavor, he says.

According to Ryuji, there are hardly any seasonings that can deliver pork umami, and Chuka Aji is the only "pork seasoning" he knows of. In its ingredient list, pork extract comes second only to salt, so to him it is "pork flavor," he says. That is why he often uses Chuka Aji when making ramen. Because of the name "Chuka Aji" (literally "Chinese flavor"), people tend to assume it can only be used for Chinese dishes, but Ryuji's view is that using it as a pork seasoning opens up many more uses.

In conversation during filming, Ryuji notes that some people may not know yaki ramen, and explains it. Yaki ramen is a dish of grilled tonkotsu ramen commonly sold at Fukuoka's yatai stalls, and it is different from yakisoba. You rarely see it at restaurants in Tokyo, and Ryuji says he finds it strange that people don't eat it when it's this delicious. He has eaten it many times at Fukuoka's stalls, and he also says he likes yaki ramen better than tonkotsu ramen because you can drink with it.

At the stalls in Fukuoka, it is made with tonkotsu broth. But tonkotsu broth is hard to find in stores, and you can't really use the soup packet from tonkotsu ramen either. So he decided to make up for the tonkotsu element with Chuka Aji, which contains pork extract.

For the noodles, he uses Marutai stick ramen, without the included soup. What Ryuji recommends is the commercial-size Marutai ramen he also featured in last year's "Best Buy." It is sold at places like Gyomu Super and costs only a few dozen yen per serving, much cheaper than the regular product. Ryuji says he always keeps it on hand. If you can't find it, you can use supermarket stick ramen without the soup, and any similar thin noodle will do.

This time he makes two servings. The ingredients are pork belly, cabbage, garlic, and dried wood ear mushrooms. Thinly sliced pork offcuts are fine too, but pork belly has more fat and tastes better. If you use offcuts, cutting them a little finer makes them tender and easier to eat, he says. Dried wood ear mushrooms are pricey if you buy small bags at the supermarket, but the large bags at Gyomu Super keep for a long time since they're dried. The ones used this time had been bought about a year earlier.

However, when these wood ears were rehydrated, they were oddly shaped and swollen, and they smelled off. Ryuji warns that you should not use any that have a sour or musty smell.

Wood ear mushrooms rehydrate quickly in hot water, he says. The amount of cabbage is up to you; Ryuji uses 80 g per serving, but says eyeballing it is fine. Since it will be stir-fried, it's best to cut it finely. Around this point, Ryuji says he has recently felt that "the sloppier I cook, the better the videos do." He says it's better to make what you want to make than dishes you cook out of necessity. He chose yaki ramen for this sponsored video "because it's insanely good," and stressed that he only makes things that are truly delicious for sponsored content.

He cuts the pork belly with kitchen scissors right on top of the package, without using a cutting board. That's because a cutting board with meat on it has to be washed thoroughly, which is a hassle. The rehydrated wood ears are cut into thin strips rather than left whole. Since the noodles are thin, cutting the ingredients finely helps them blend with the noodles and tastes better, he says. Ryuji also says that yaki ramen isn't yaki ramen without wood ear mushrooms. Adding them gives it that yatai feel, he says.

Stir-fry the ingredients while the water comes to a boil. The method is similar to pasta, where you cook the ingredients first. Put 2 tablespoons of lard in a frying pan. If you don't have lard, vegetable oil or rice bran oil is fine. Season the pork belly with salt and pepper, stir-fry it, and get some browning on it.

Next, add the cabbage. With regular ramen, you don't add many vegetables because it starts to feel like a different dish, but with yaki ramen you can add as many vegetables as you like, which is good nutritionally too, Ryuji says. Thin strips of carrot also work well, he says. As for bean sprouts, he mentions that some people dislike them in yakisoba because they release water. Ryuji adds plenty of wood ear mushrooms because he likes them, but other mushrooms are fine too. That said, Ryuji personally thinks cabbage and wood ear is the best combination.

At this point, turn off the heat once and season. This makes it easier to add the seasonings, and since the noodles get boiled from here, it also makes the timing easier to manage. The amounts for two servings are as follows.

• Chuka Aji: 2⅔ teaspoons
• Worcestershire sauce: 1 tablespoon
• Soy sauce: 1 teaspoon
• Grated garlic

Ryuji says yaki ramen isn't good unless it has a pork flavor. Chicken stock would make it reasonably tasty, but he wants you to coat the ingredients thoroughly with Chuka Aji. Worcestershire sauce is also used at the stalls and adds a slight sweetness and spicy aroma. Soy sauce goes in because a little soy flavor is good. The garlic is there for punch; you can leave it out if you don't like it, but adding it gets you closer to the yatai taste, he says.

The noodles are 70 g per serving, and a small single-serving bag of Marutai is also 70 g. Twisting them a little as you put them in keeps their shape neat. The package says 3 minutes, but when using them like yakisoba, 2 minutes is enough. If you like them barikata (extra firm), it's a minute and a half, he says. That said, Ryuji jokes that "only ramen lovers like barikata, and there aren't that many ramen lovers." While the noodles boil, put the seasoned ingredients back on the heat and cook off the acidity before adding the noodles. Having two burners is handy, he says.

For the boiled noodles, he says emphatically that "water" is the key point. He insists you must do it, and that if you don't, they'll be powdery and inedible. The subtitles make it hard to tell the exact steps, but this was the point he stressed most about handling the noodles.

Once the noodles are in the frying pan, add 2 tablespoons of (unsweetened) soy milk. The reason is that it brings out the mellowness of tonkotsu. Then add about 4 teaspoons of water. Ryuji explains that at the stalls they add tonkotsu broth and finish by reducing that liquid. This time, the pork stock is already there thanks to the Chuka Aji, so the only thing missing is liquid, he says. Finally, add about 8 shakes of pepper. For the heat, go a little on the high side, since the stalls use high heat.

The finished noodles are coated with something a bit like tonkotsu broth. When plating, he piles on plenty of red pickled ginger, saying "definitely this much," and sprinkles sesame seeds on top. Ryuji says it tastes exactly like what moved him at the yatai stalls in Fukuoka, and that it works both as lunch and as a drinking snack.

Staff members who love ramen joined the tasting. Those who tried it said things like "Is it really this good?" and "It has that tonkotsu feel." The idea also came up that regular ramen is a finisher at the end of a night out, whereas yaki ramen is a drinking snack. Comments included that the texture of the wood ears really stands out and gives it a hearty feel, that making it feels similar to making yakisoba, that it seems like any vegetable would work, and that the Marutai noodles are a great match. One person also said it reminded them of the taste of the stalls. As for the noodles, one opinion was that ramen lovers would want them firmer, at a minute and a half. Ryuji responded, however, that for people not used to firm noodles, this time's cooking time is probably fine.

He also talks about adjustments for those concerned about salt. You can leave out the soy sauce, and you can skip the salt and pepper too, was Ryuji's judgment while tasting. He says it's better to add plenty of red pickled ginger.

During the tasting, Ryuji lists the following factors to explain why it tastes like tonkotsu broth even though none was added: the mellowness of the soy milk, the Chuka Aji, the fat of the pork itself, and the wheat starch that thickens things as it comes off the noodles. Thinning this with water gives it a texture as if tonkotsu broth had been added and reduced a little, he says. He also says this is a recipe he developed after actually eating and researching it in Fukuoka.

Ryuji says that if you want to make this taste at home, Chuka Aji is the only option. Otherwise you'd have to buy something like a tonkotsu soup base, and in that case it's better to keep the more versatile Chuka Aji on hand—that is Ryuji's conclusion. He calls on viewers, saying he thinks Chuka Aji is mostly used for stir-fried vegetables and Chinese soups, but he wants them to see it differently from now on. With Chuka Aji, you can recreate the tonkotsu flavor pretty well, and the only thing missing is the mellowness of tonkotsu, he says. That's what the soy milk makes up for. If you don't have soy milk, regular milk is fine, and adding a little of something milky rounds out the flavor, he says.

Finally, Ryuji says that making dishes like this—which, being carbs, can serve as a meal and also as a snack with drinks—makes every day more fun. He wraps up by asking viewers to buy Chuka Aji and make yaki ramen.