Edible Chrysanthemums Scattered on the Floor: Why Ryuji Made Three Chrysanthemum Recipes

According to Ryuji, this is not the first run-in with WAGYU MAFIA. On an earlier visit to the restaurant, Ryuji gave a review to the effect that the cooking was careless relative to the quality of the ingredients, and that the best thing there was the shiitake mushrooms. Word of this reached Horie via YouTube, and Horie reportedly replied, "Our clientele is different," meaning the restaurant is aimed at people who come for entertainment. When Ryuji asked, "Maybe it was just different that one time, so let me come again," the request was initially accepted, but in the end permission to film was refused.

The current incident came after that. In the video that spread on X, a group of people reach into a sushi tub together and scatter large quantities of edible chrysanthemum petals, many of which ended up on the floor. On seeing it, Ryuji posted something to the effect of "What a waste" and "That's tasteless," and the post spread widely. As background, Ryuji points out a habit of regularly speaking out about food waste and publishing recipes that use things like vegetable peels, and notes that farmers also joined in, creating a general sentiment of "You shouldn't treat food carelessly."

After that, Horie reportedly responded. Ryuji had once commented on Cookpad, and at that time Horie had said something to the effect of, "Ryuji calls my restaurant bad, yet opposes the way Cookpad does things. What a small fry." Partly because of that, Ryuji says it was surprising that Horie would bother engaging with a "small fry" like this. As for where the video originated, in a chat with the other people on the show, Ryuji relays secondhand that "apparently someone from Reiwa no Tora uploaded it."

Ryuji's point is that this is not opposition to using chrysanthemums in itself. Edible chrysanthemums are a delicious ingredient with a slight bitterness, and Ryuji reasons that anything that fell on the floor, where people walk in their shoes, would surely all be thrown away, and that whatever fell on the table probably wouldn't be eaten either. So the basic position is, "You just have to do it without spilling." Ryuji has also heard that there are farmers who grow chrysanthemums wanting to produce delicious ones, and suggests that even if you scatter them, some consideration is needed.

In response, some have argued, "Then beer showers and champagne sprays should be wrong too." Ryuji counters that there is a difference: champagne producers and beer companies accept that practice. The same goes for bean-throwing at Setsubun, where bean producers grow beans on the assumption they will be used for it. On the other hand, Ryuji doubts that people growing edible chrysanthemums think they are "growing them to be scattered." Ryuji acknowledges, however, that this is speculation, and calls on any chrysanthemum farmers among the viewers to share their views.

In the chat toward the end of the video, this line is elaborated on a bit further. Ryuji thinks rice showers at weddings aren't really great either, but in most cases rice set aside for that purpose is used, such as off-grade rice that can't be sold or old rice. Ryuji says this comes from having worked in the wedding business. The view is that if that kind of consideration is taken, it can be tolerated to some degree.

Ryuji also stresses that it is different when chefs who handle ingredients do this. Baseball players are not people who handle ingredients. Ryuji personally isn't fond of beer showers either and thinks champagne sprays are pointless, but doesn't comment on them since they are accepted by society. The chrysanthemum incident, however, is a different matter. Sprinkling them over chirashi sushi and eating them is not wrong at all. So Ryuji's conclusion is that it would have been settled if the restaurant had simply said, "We'll make sure not to drop them on the floor from now on."

What particularly bothered Ryuji this time was an argument to the effect that, by saying "That way of using chrysanthemums is wrong," Ryuji might cause chrysanthemums to stop being used, which would cut into demand and hurt producers. Ryuji admits that if someone says, "You don't grow chrysanthemums yourself," that's true. With that in mind, Ryuji explains the decision to support chrysanthemum consumption in Ryuji's own way by filming a recipe video.

Ryuji notes that edible chrysanthemums have long been eaten as food in places like Niigata and Yamagata, but in Tokyo you'd probably only see them at high-end restaurants. The ones bought this time were about 400 yen per pack, grown in Okinawa, with a best-before period of two to three days marked on them. Since they are flowers, they don't keep long, and some were already starting to spoil by the time of filming. Some people think of the small chrysanthemums served alongside sashimi and say, "Nobody eats those," but Ryuji says those are a separate, small variety. The ones used at WAGYU MAFIA were edible chrysanthemums with large petals, and even one pack makes for quite a lot.

While cooking, Ryuji asks the others on set whether there would be a huge backlash if Ryuji piled these chrysanthemums on a plate and flung them everywhere. Ryuji adds that Japan is a place where even fooling around by dropping ice on the floor gets you flamed.

The first dish is ohitashi. Ryuji explains that chrysanthemum flowers alone are delicious, but if there aren't many, the dish turns out thin, so it is common and easy to combine them with leafy greens like spinach or komatsuna.

The spinach is washed without cutting off the root ends. The root ends are tasty and take longer to cook, so they go into salted boiling water first, with the leaves submerged afterward. After boiling, the spinach is chilled well in water and squeezed firmly. If it isn't squeezed, the ohitashi becomes watery. Ryuji also mentions that boiling removes oxalic acid, and that consuming too much oxalic acid can cause kidney stones.

The chrysanthemum petals are separated and boiled in the same water with 1 tablespoon of vinegar added. Adding vinegar helps keep the vivid yellow color. Boiling time is kept to a few dozen seconds, because overcooking ruins the texture. In an exchange with the others on set, they confirm that boiling also softens the bitterness, so there is a real reason to do it. The petals are briefly rinsed in water, squeezed, and tossed with the spinach.

For seasoning, granulated kombu dashi is dissolved in a small amount of water and mixed with a little soy sauce, and this dashi soy sauce is simply poured over. Granulated dashi stays gritty unless dissolved in water, so it is dissolved first. The yellow of the chrysanthemums is a color also used in things like appetizers in Japanese cuisine, and it looks beautiful.

The others who tasted it reacted with "Delicious" and "I didn't know it could taste this good." Ryuji explains that the chrysanthemums create a texture spinach alone can't provide, and that with enough of them, chrysanthemums are delicious even on their own. "If they didn't taste good, no one would make them. They're made because they taste good," Ryuji says, adding that this is what people should know.

The second dish is mixed rice. Even for mixed rice, Ryuji says it's better to parboil the chrysanthemums, since some bitterness remains. Ryuji also mentions that it's apparently common to soak boiled chrysanthemums in vinegar and eat them pickled. As with the ohitashi, they are briefly boiled in water with salt and 1 tablespoon of vinegar, then chilled and squeezed, yielding about 30 g.

The rice is 400 g of reheated frozen rice (2 servings; freshly cooked rice is fine). To this, plenty of washed and squeezed shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) is added. Shungiku is delicious raw, so it is used without boiling. Ryuji admits that, honestly, the dish would work with shungiku alone, but says the chrysanthemum flowers make it look more festive. Ryuji calls it a "recipe for a special day," suited to celebrations.

Umami and saltiness come from 35 g of shirasu; if you don't have shirasu, okaka or bonito flakes work too. About 1.5 teaspoons of granulated kombu dashi is mixed in, toasted sesame seeds are added for aroma, and the flavor is adjusted with about two pinches of salt. It can be served as is in a rice bowl, but Ryuji recommends making onigiri, and finishes by shaping them.

Ryuji mentions several times that this is a type of dish Ryuji would rarely make normally, and says that having a theme leads to making dishes different from the usual. Ryuji goes on: "In a way, maybe I should be grateful this whole thing happened. It's broadened my cooking repertoire." Ryuji says it's a dish you can enjoy making with kids, and one Ryuji would like to eat on a picnic. At the tasting, the others reacted to the refreshing combination of the shungiku's crispness and slight bitterness with the texture of the chrysanthemum.

While preparing the pasta, one of the others asked, "Wouldn't they use this kind of thing for staff meals?" Ryuji replied that it's better to do that than to waste it. Ryuji then speaks about the current state of restaurants, saying that, in Ryuji's experience, many restaurants throw away things that could still be used. Ryuji's view is that this is probably because reusing them takes time, and staff would rather spend that time on other prep. On the other hand, many restaurants also try to use leftover ingredients as much as possible, and Ryuji thinks that attitude is a good one to have. With chrysanthemums, you could use them for staff meals just by catching them, so if they still want to drop them on the floor, Ryuji says, there's not much you can do about that.

For the finale, Ryuji declared it would be pasta, Ryuji's specialty. Ryuji says this is probably the dish that makes the most of chrysanthemum flowers. Since some of the chrysanthemums are used raw this time, they are given a light rinse.

The plan was to make peperoncino, but chili peppers have a strong aroma that seemed likely to clash with the chrysanthemums, so they were left out. Since peperoncino means chili pepper, Ryuji corrects it to aglio e olio. Garlic has a strong aroma too, but Ryuji prefers to include it because it removes harshness. 20 g of garlic is minced and sautéed with 80 g of leftover thick-cut bacon and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Ryuji says that as a culinary researcher, you can imagine whether something will taste good, so even when improvising almost entirely, it doesn't fail.

The remaining shungiku and half of the chrysanthemums are added. The chrysanthemums at this stage are meant to infuse the sauce with their aroma and bitterness. They cook through quickly. Tasting it, Ryuji praised how well the chrysanthemums' slight bitterness goes with the garlic. Granulated kombu dashi was added for umami, though Ryuji says chicken stock would also be delicious. In the end, all of the shungiku (about 50 g) went in too, because its harshness disappears once cooked.

The pasta, 1.7 mm, is boiled for about 7 minutes, aiming for al dente. Partway through, Ryuji realized the salt hadn't been added to the water and hurriedly put it in. The slightly firm pasta and some of the cooking water are combined with the sauce, and the reserved raw chrysanthemums are added "without spilling any." It's finished with a slightly Japanese touch from 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, and lastly drizzled with olive oil to taste.

After tasting it, Ryuji called it "a masterpiece." The explanation is that because the chrysanthemum and shungiku are used without boiling, their slight bitterness stays in the cooking liquid, the pasta absorbs it, and the result is "a pasta where you can feel nature." The others commented that adding chili would make it too strong and cause a clash, and one pointed out that the bitterness is close to that of Italian chicory. Ryuji says it's a grown-up flavor that kids might find bitter. The idea is that the mixed rice is easier for kids to eat, while for adults, this pasta that makes the most of the bitterness is the way to go. Ryuji adds that if you can make it at home, you're an advanced cook.

In closing, Ryuji said that chrysanthemums probably aren't recognized as food by most people, and that one hope is for people to eat them because they're delicious. Ryuji believes that anyone who cooks should have respect for ingredients, and says that won't change going forward. At the same time, Ryuji acknowledges possibly handling ingredients carelessly in some of the videos too, and says this is something to keep firmly in mind while cooking. Ryuji sums up that the video was made to show that even an overlooked ingredient can be this festive, delicious, and fun when used in cooking.

As for how chrysanthemum farmers themselves feel about scattering them, Ryuji's view remains at the level of speculation. The call to hear from producers is left in the video as a question still without an answer.