Eating Marutai's "Yatai Ramen Tonkotsu Flavor" Plain, Then Turning It into a Tanmen-Style Bowl

According to Ryuji, this product is still on sale, but not a single person around them knew about it. The staff member guessed it might be a Kyushu-only product, and Ryuji also said that "apparently people from Kyushu know it." Opening the five-pack, they found straight-style noodles, powdered soup, and "seasoned chili oil."

Explaining why they didn't arrange it right away, Ryuji said, "You can't arrange it if you don't know the taste." With no prior information, they would first make it normally to check. Ryuji also said that if it tasted bad, the video would be shelved. The reason: something that isn't delicious won't become delicious through arrangement. Because there are so many kinds of packaged ramen and they are hard to categorize, Ryuji decided to test it on its own rather than in a format like a packaged ramen championship.

Ryuji, who likes things on the stronger side, makes it with 450 cc of water as usual. Marutai is strongly associated with its stick ramen, but this one turned out to have fried noodles. Ryuji was surprised by this and remarked that the noodles were almost the same as Sapporo Ichiban's. They boiled the noodles on the firm side to match the staff member's preference, then added the powdered soup and seasoned chili oil. The staff member said they could smell the fried noodles even before the soup went in, and commented that the soup looked creamy and rich. Ryuji said they had always pictured yatai ramen as soy sauce–based.

When tasted, it was rated highly. Ryuji said it was "super good," saying it was delicious enough to rival Umakacchan. The staff member found it an orthodox flavor. Whereas Umakacchan has a pretty strong pork aroma, this one has almost no porky smell and is a super-clear soup, they said. At this point, Ryuji assessed, "This is probably a ramen where arrangements will really shine."

When they tried adding garlic powder, both reacted with "it goes super well." Ryuji speculated that because the original aroma is mellow, the garlic aroma pairs nicely with it. If you don't have garlic powder, grated garlic is fine too, they said.

The staff member asked for an arrangement that would suit the well-salted, clear tonkotsu and also provide some nutrition. In response, Ryuji said that packaged ramen is actually made with arrangement in mind. Packaged ramen makers, starting with Sapporo Ichiban, design their products assuming people will arrange them, and their official websites even post arrangement recipes, Ryuji said.

Stir-fried cabbage and garlic chives came up as vegetable candidates. Mushrooms were rejected as a poor match because everything ends up tasting of mushroom. To explain why, Ryuji cited chicken mizutaki as an example. Because mizutaki is built around a clear, animal-based broth, only cabbage goes with it, Ryuji said. The other day, when they tried putting napa cabbage into mizutaki, it turned into "napa cabbage hot pot." Napa cabbage brings out a hot-pot feel and gets in the way. So if you add vegetables, it should be cabbage or garlic chives, ideally with a punch of garlic—that is Ryuji's view.

If ease is the priority, Ryuji says that just stir-frying cabbage, pork, and garlic chives with lard and garlic powder and putting it on the noodles is already incredibly delicious. A Taiwan-style idea of topping it with ground meat for visual appeal also came up. Even so, in the end, Ryuji said they preferred going in a direction that brought out tanmen character, since the noodles were already tanmen-like, and settled on a cabbage-centered tanmen style.

Saying about 80 g of cabbage per serving is the tastiest amount, Ryuji cuts it into somewhat small rough chunks. Thinly cut scraps of pork are fine, but if you're stir-frying, thinly sliced pork belly is all the better, they said. Too much isn't tasty either, so they kept it to 60 g and cut it into roughly three pieces. That's basically all, and garlic chives or green onion can be added to taste, Ryuji said.

Ryuji showed some hesitation over whether to add garlic and wood ear mushrooms. It's a given that adding them makes it delicious, but the more elaborate you get with instant ramen, the more haters pop up, Ryuji said. The staff member agreed that there are people who say "that's not how you're supposed to eat it." Even so, Ryuji said they wanted to show what they themselves consider an incredibly delicious recipe, and decided to use the wood ear mushrooms they had at home. Wood ear doesn't affect the flavor much, so it can be left out. But it improves the texture and adds a sense of luxury, Ryuji said.

The staff member suggested adding roasted garlic. Ryuji took this as "you're borrowing from Kumamoto ramen, right?" The staff member also brought up ramen with charred green onion, and the two checked with each other whether that was Kagoshima. Ryuji recalled that their own arrangement made previously at Marutai's factory had also used roasted garlic. They said it made them realize how much more delicious roasting makes it. This time they decided to go as far as they could and use fresh garlic, charred. They added that if you don't have it at home, garlic powder is fine.

For the frying fat, they used lard rendered when making kakuni (braised pork belly) the other day. It's colored from the Maillard reaction, but ordinary lard is fine, Ryuji said. About this level of elaborateness, Ryuji said, "This is like Kenta Shokudo." Kenta Shokudo goes so elaborate as to spend half a day, making dishes with instant ramen starting from deboning chicken. Ryuji called that something they admire, while saying that their own recipes are made at home, so they prioritize ease of preparation.

The recording took place the day after a Marutai championship event. The staff member said they couldn't forget the spicy noodles they ate there. Mentioning that the package had eggs and garlic chives pictured on it, they asked how Ryuji would arrange that one. Ryuji's answer was that simply stir-frying garlic chives, eggs, and garlic and putting them on top would be enough, with no particular seasoning needed.

First, roast minced garlic in the lard. If you char it until it's black, it stops tasting good, so stop when it takes on color. Without removing it, add the pork belly and stir-fry. Since water gets added later, it's fine if the pork is still red. Stir-fry the rehydrated, finely cut wood ear along with it, then stir-fry the cabbage. Cabbage tastes better when it absorbs oil, so Ryuji stressed that the stir-frying step is very important.

What Ryuji added here as a "trick" was 1/3 teaspoon of Hondashi. The staff member said they had thought chicken bouillon would go in. Ryuji's explanation was this: the ramen's flavor gets diluted by however much you add in ingredients, so reinforcing the flavor is always necessary. Most people would likely go for chicken bouillon or Chinese stock, but pairing seafood with pork makes it taste more like ramen. Ryuji called this the "double soup theory." Most ramen is a combination of seafood and an animal base like tonkotsu, so adding something different gives more depth than layering pork on pork. Ryuji also said this was the result of many years of researching instant ramen and ramen. However, since the original tonkotsu soup is delicious, you mustn't add too much. The amount is strictly just a touch, and a light seasoning of salt and pepper goes in here. Ryuji confirmed that the dashi flavor came through a little but didn't interfere with the tonkotsu.

Then pour 450 cc of water directly in and cook the noodles in the same frying pan. There's no need for the extra step of removing the ingredients and putting them on top later. The noodles cook in about three minutes, and the cabbage simmers until soft and becomes delicious, Ryuji said. Ryuji drew the line there, saying that putting in any more effort would lose what's good about instant ramen, so "this is the limit."

While waiting for it to simmer, Ryuji talked about their own attitude. How delicious you can make a subject like instant ramen is a challenge, and Ryuji loves challenges. If you stop thinking, you can't create anything new. There may come a time when they age and decline as a culinary researcher, but even so they want to keep taking on challenges and keep studying, Ryuji said.

Ryuji framed properly eating the flavors that companies put out as part of their training, and explained that this is why they do review videos. Because you get to know flavors you didn't know, eating is a great learning experience. Preserving flavors is important too, but if new flavors aren't created, nothing new is born. Ryuji considers themselves "the creating type," and said they would leave it to those who protect tradition to protect it, while they themselves would keep searching for new dishes.

Ryuji further argued that making an already-delicious packaged ramen tastier through arrangement is harder than ordinary cooking. If you don't surpass the original instant ramen's flavor, people will say "the plain version is better." So people who say "it's just an instant ramen arrangement" are shallow—that is Ryuji's contention.

Once the noodles loosen, turn off the heat after about two minutes to suit the staff member, who likes them firm. Dissolve the included powdered soup and add all of the seasoned chili oil as well. Ryuji says this soup goes very well with the tanmen-style seasoning. Put the noodles in the bowl first and place the vegetables on top to create contrast, and it looks more like a proper dish, Ryuji said. Here Ryuji said, "It's just instant ramen—and yet, it's instant ramen," and went on to say they couldn't be friends with people who look down on it. Finally, doubanjiang is added on the side and it's complete.

First, they had the staff member eat it without mixing in the doubanjiang. The staff member said the aroma was completely different from before and rated it "about three times" as delicious. Ryuji said it was "five times tastier than I imagined." The two agreed that adding the charred garlic to the soup was the right call, that the cabbage went well too, and that it's better to include all the ingredients. The staff member said they usually don't like pork belly, but the pork belly in this ramen was delicious. Ryuji laughed that this was probably why the staff member had shown no reaction when they decided to use pork belly.

The spicy version with doubanjiang dissolved in was also rated by both as "both are good." Adding it later lets you use it to change up the flavor, they said. Of the soup, Ryuji said, "Isn't it as deep as a restaurant's?" and the staff member was impressed, saying, "It's amazing that one extra step makes it like this." As they kept eating, their assessment of the wood ear mushrooms—which had been described as irrelevant to the flavor—changed to it being better to include them, since they add texture. The sweetness of the cabbage also contributes to the overall balance, they said.

According to Ryuji, what creates the depth is the 1/3 teaspoon of Hondashi. Adding just a little brings it closer to a complex, restaurant-like flavor. Ryuji added that Hondashi or bonito dashi is probably in every household.

Ryuji says instant ramen is made leaving "room" so it can be arranged. Yatai Ramen has that room. On the other hand, the example Ryuji gave of one without room was "Misokin." Because Misokin only allows predetermined arrangements, it's delicious but a bit boring for a culinary researcher, Ryuji said. The staff member responded that in a sense, that's impressive. Ryuji has about 100 instant ramen arrangement recipes. Of this arrangement, they rated it as top-level even among those.

The conversation also touched on the Chicken Ramen zosui (rice porridge) arrangement. According to Ryuji, that video got far more views than HIKAKIN's video. From that, Ryuji said they felt that everyone wants to learn about cooking, and went on to say that cooking videos getting views makes them happiest of all. Some people say instant ramen arrangements aren't cooking, that they're cutting corners. Even so, Ryuji believes that if you go this far, it properly counts as cooking. Instant ramen should be viewed as an ingredient in its own right, and cooking is more fun when understood in a broad sense, Ryuji said.

Ryuji also offered a view on the comparison with Umakacchan. Umakacchan can also be made delicious through arrangement. However, because Umakacchan's pork flavor is quite strong, Yatai Ramen is probably better suited to this particular arrangement, Ryuji said. The reason given was that this arrangement is based on Gifu tanmen, so a super-clear soup makes it tastier.

The two finished everything, including the soup. Ryuji said at the end that instant ramen is a proper meal they've eaten since childhood. Just as Sapporo Ichiban has official arrangement recipes, arrangement is something the makers want too, and it also makes it easier to get nutrition. So Ryuji's position is that they don't agree with the opinion that "arranging it defeats the purpose." On that basis, Ryuji said it's better for everyone to push each other and come up with all sorts of arrangements. The video closed with a call for viewers to share in the comments the packaged ramen they found most delicious and their arrangement of it—even if it's just a way of eating Sapporo Ichiban.