Waterless Chicken Breast Curry with No Oil and No Water: Ryuji on How to Make "Diet Food You Can Keep Making"

The episode opens with talk about weight. A-ko says they have gained 7 kg since joining the company. It might be more than that, and lately stepping on the scale has been scary. Ryuji also admits to eating nonstop during business trips and not being able to step on the scale for a while after getting back. Ryuji then repeated that, in the end, the only option is to weigh yourself every day.

There was also some small talk, including a story about an acquaintance telling A-ko they had "put on a little weight" and how that acquaintance is someone who comments frankly on people's appearance, but it isn't relevant to the main topic.

The ingredients are one chicken breast, tomatoes, an onion, eggplants, garlic, and ginger, which Ryuji calls a "vegetable curry." According to the recipe in the video description, the quantities are 350 g of chicken breast, 3 tomatoes (380 g), 1 onion (250 g), 2 eggplants, and 20 g each of garlic and ginger. The seasonings are 7 g of salt, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons of tomato ketchup, and 2 tablespoons of curry powder, making 3 to 4 servings.

While cooking, Ryuji restated a philosophy often shared on the channel. Diet food has to be 100% easy, and there's no need to make elaborate diet dishes. The reason is that you won't keep it up. Meals for losing weight are an everyday thing, so making complicated dishes every day is impossible.

The choice of ingredients follows the same thinking. Neither eggplants nor tomatoes are in season in winter. Still, they are on store shelves regardless of the season. Since you want to lose weight all year round, you should use only ingredients available all year round, Ryuji explained.

The onion, eggplants, and tomatoes are all cut into rough, irregular chunks and simply put into the pot. Hearing "rough chunks," A-ko asked whether it would be a chunky curry. Ryuji's answer was "not particularly chunky": as it simmers for a long time, the vegetables lose their shape and take the place of a roux. The tomatoes can be cut any old way too, since they'll cook down and lose their shape anyway. The stems, however, should be removed because they get stuck in your teeth. For the eggplants, Ryuji said cutting right next to the stem avoids wasting the edible part.

The chicken breast goes into the pot whole, without cutting. The idea is that it will become tender as it simmers. Incidentally, the meat had a 20%-off sticker on it. Ryuji had apparently asked staff not to buy discounted items before, since they have short use-by dates and there's no telling when they'll be used, and gave a slight wry smile.

Since it's curry, Ryuji says it's better to have garlic and ginger. Here the two are chopped differently. Ginger is fibrous and tends to keep its shape, so it's minced finely. Adding a generous amount makes the curry spicier, Ryuji said. Garlic, on the other hand, falls apart when simmered, so a coarse chop is enough. Grated is also fine, and Ryuji mentioned that a tool like a Bunbun Chopper makes it easier. The premise of this recipe is "I just don't want to sauté anything."

Once the pot is full of ingredients, the seasonings are added without any water. This time the salt was measured properly at 7 g. According to Ryuji, 1 teaspoon of coarse salt comes to about 6 g. To this are added 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and about 2 teaspoons of tomato ketchup for extra tomato flavor, and then it simmers as is for an hour.

What Ryuji emphasized as "the key to waterless curry" was to always put the lid on. If too much moisture evaporates, it won't turn into curry. Ryuji added at this point as well that if too much does evaporate, you can just add water, even though it's a waterless curry.

The heat was set to medium-low. Here Ryuji started explaining that induction and gas flames behave completely differently. In Ryuji's view, recent apartments almost all have induction, while gas is more common in rural areas. Medium-low on gas corresponds to "2" on the heat-level meter. On induction, the setting used this time would be about 5 to 6, Ryuji said. A-ko was surprised that it was lower than expected.

According to Ryuji, the reason induction is said to be difficult is that how the heat transfers changes depending on the material of the pot or pan. This happens with gas too, but it's more pronounced with induction. Ryuji revealed that there are a great many comments saying their waterless recipes "failed." Ryuji believes the cause is not having specified the material, such as aluminum or iron pots. Most people think all pots are the same, and cookbooks don't mention such things. Ryuji also said that because they cook every day, they can tell how much heat a pot's material delivers. The pot used this time was an aluminum yukihira saucepan, on a gas flame.

Specific guidance for medium-low heat was also given. A flame that just barely touches the bottom of the pot is "low heat," and medium-low, leaning toward medium, is a little stronger than that. If you hear a bubbling sound, that's a sign the heat is getting through.

According to Ryuji's explanation, heating slowly for about an hour makes the chicken's fibers loosen until it becomes fall-apart tender. The vegetables, kept on the heat the whole time, melt down and become the roux.

Partway through, A-ko noticed that the curry contains no oil. Ryuji confirmed this, answering that the only fat used is the chicken's own. People who want to go even further can remove the chicken skin, Ryuji said.

After about 30 minutes, the lid was removed. A lot of liquid had come out of the ingredients, and A-ko was surprised that so much came out without adding any water. At first the pot had looked too small, but Ryuji said this size is just right. Gaps are made between the ingredients so the chicken can be submerged, the vegetables are pushed down too, and it simmers for another 20 to 30 minutes. The longer chicken simmers, the more tender it gets, so taking your time is best for waterless curry. It gets very hot inside, so there's no need to flip it over. Those who want to flip it can.

Another tip came up here: use a pot deep enough for the ingredients to fit snugly, not a shallow one. The larger the area of the pot bottom exposed to the flame, the more easily moisture evaporates. That's why, for waterless curry, Ryuji asks people to use a pot rather than a frying pan and to seal it with a lid.

The final total simmering time was about 50 minutes to an hour. Ryuji thinks it could probably be done in a little less.

When the curry finished simmering, the liquid in the pot had barely reduced. Curry powder is added at the end. This time it was S&B curry powder, but any kind you like is fine. According to Ryuji, other products such as Indian Curry are also good, and Ryuji is considering switching to a different one. There was also mention that buying a large size makes it much cheaper per gram.

The guideline is 2 tablespoons, but 3 or 1 tablespoon is also fine; it's entirely a matter of taste, Ryuji said. The chicken had become so tender it left Ryuji at a loss for words. That, Ryuji explained, is why it went in whole without being cut. The conversation drifted a bit here, with Ryuji saying that lately everything tastes good, sometimes even things everyone else says are bad, and that cooking is a mysterious thing.

What Ryuji put the most effort into explaining in this episode was the relationship between waterless curry and water. First, Ryuji says, making it with only the vegetables' moisture doesn't by itself make it taste good. Liquid is just liquid. When you reduce something, only the water escapes from the pot, and the umami stays behind. So adding water after too much has evaporated doesn't change the flavor—that's the reasoning.

Ryuji says they often get comments from viewers like, "It's a waterless curry, but there wasn't enough liquid so I added water. Is that why it doesn't taste good?" Ryuji flatly called that the right move, even describing people who added water as "super smart." If it has gotten too thick, you want it a little looser, or it tastes too strong, just add water. It's still a waterless curry—that's Ryuji's position. In fact, Ryuji added a little water to adjust it before plating as well. Ryuji added that unless you say these things clearly, nobody will understand.

The seasoning is just salt, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and curry powder, with no dashi either. The only umami comes from the vegetables and chicken. Ryuji often uses Ajinomoto, but says that's only because it's needed, and that they're also good at dishes without umami seasoning. This curry is one of those dishes, Ryuji said.

The rice was cooked in advance and frozen. Ryuji said rice cooked slightly firm goes well with curry.

After eating, A-ko said it really tastes like a vegetable curry, and that considering you can eat it while dieting, it's very good. It isn't greasy and doesn't seem like it would sit heavy on the stomach, A-ko added. Ryuji felt it was a little short on salt and said you can sprinkle on more to taste. The total salt is less than 8 g, Ryuji said. When A-ko asked how much salt regular curry has, Ryuji answered that there's probably about 3 g per serving, and said this is on the low side by comparison. Both are Ryuji's rough estimates.

Ryuji also gave reasons why this curry is healthy. Because it uses no oil, it's quite low in calories. Most of the roux is vegetables and there's no flour, so it has a light taste. The thick parts are where the vegetables have melted down, so it lacks the sticky heaviness of typical Japanese roux. Ryuji also said it's close to a Sri Lankan curry.

According to Ryuji, this curry is very close to the curry Ryuji ate while staying with a vegetarian family in India some time ago.

At the same time, Ryuji pointed out that the curry people picture differs from person to person. Serve Indian curry to someone who loves Java Curry or Vermont Curry, and they may call it "bad." Ryuji also said a child who heard "it's curry tonight" and pictured Vermont Curry would be confused if this came out. They are fundamentally different dishes, and since Ryuji's curry is a quite runny, authentic-leaning one, it's "its own thing"—that's how Ryuji frames it.

A-ko says it's a flavor that people who are serious about cooking would likely appreciate. Kids used to typical curry might react with something like "Hmm, I see," A-ko added. Ryuji said they rate it quite highly, since most of the calories come from the chicken, it's practical, and it's very tasty. Ryuji also suggested that making this your everyday curry might help keep you in better shape. There was also a suggestion that swapping white rice for brown rice would make it even more appreciated.

Finally, Ryuji said that even though they also like dishes that aren't strong on umami, people don't really get it. Precisely because people don't get it, Ryuji wants them to understand once in a while. That's why Ryuji occasionally puts out curveball recipes like this one. Ryuji wrapped up by saying it's diet food that still tastes good, and A-ko responded, "Perfect." The episode ended with Ryuji saying they'd like to hear what people think after making it.