Akari Hasegawa Makes Ryuji's "Yakekuso Jambalaya": Cooking It All in One Frying Pan, and Talk of the Space Between Magazines and Social Media

The ingredients are 1 chicken thigh, onion, green pepper, garlic, ketchup, chili powder, chicken stock, and parsley. Ryuji added that if you have them, 2 or 3 sausages make it more like a jambalaya. Seeing the amount of garlic, Hasegawa was surprised: "So it takes two whole bulbs." She said she had never put two in a recipe. Ryuji replied that he loves garlic, so he's the type to add a lot.

Hasegawa said she almost never uses the chicken stock or ketchup that appear in this recipe in her own recipes. Ryuji explained that he picked this dish because he thought something Hasegawa doesn't make would be better. It's loaded with meat and has a "junky" flavor different from Hasegawa's cooking, he said.

The chicken thigh is used without cutting it. With 1.5 gō of rice, the idea is plenty of meat. Sprinkle 2 pinches of salt on both sides, then rub in 1 teaspoon of chili powder and black pepper. According to Ryuji, the aroma of jambalaya is almost entirely determined by chili powder, and supermarkets always sell it. Asked what to use if it's not available, he answered that it would probably be curry powder.

Hasegawa said she doesn't use spices much, and when she does, it's with the feeling of getting down on her knees and begging readers to buy them. At this seasoning stage a very nice aroma was already rising, and the two remarked that it would probably taste great coated in potato starch and fried as is.

Ryuji says the vegetables don't need to be finely minced; about 1cm cubes is fine. Hasegawa remarked that she tenses up when told to mince, so this easygoing approach is nice. When Hasegawa started cutting the onion into wedges, Ryuji responded that it was no problem, since she was using a cut he doesn't use himself.

There's no need to remove the seeds or stem from the green pepper. According to Ryuji, that's because the stem cooks down too. Tearing it by hand is also an option, and Ryuji says he often does it himself since it looks good on camera. Hasegawa said this is where the "yakekuso" feel comes in, and that tearing them up to make this as the finale of a drinking session would be a hit. The garlic can be roughly chopped or sliced, and you don't need to worry about the core. Both the sausages and the pepper are positioned as tasting good even without them, but making it more like a jambalaya if included.

About the "yakekuso" in the dish's name, Ryuji said he wasn't sure what to call it, since it doesn't actually have that few ingredients. Hasegawa said that calling it "yakekuso" lowers the bar a lot, and she thinks that's a considerate touch.

Chatting while chopping, Ryuji said his hobbies are games and drinking, and that he loves going to restaurants. Hasegawa says food is her only hobby. Ryuji is the type who, when drunk, starts cooking even though no one asked. Hasegawa laughed that at those times she just keeps drinking and absolutely doesn't want to cook.

Ryuji cited Hasegawa's love of cooking as a reason he respects her. He also said there are some cooks who make him wonder, "Do they really like cooking?" Hasegawa replied that it's less cooking and more food that she loves. Since she can only ever deliver recipes, she said she'd be happy if people enjoyed cooking them.

Hasegawa said she's only been working for about four years. The Dashi Curry with Lots of Aromatics made in the first half was what first got her noticed, and she then published books and started appearing in magazines. About 80%—correcting herself, about 70%—of her work is shoots for magazines and her own personal mook. Last fall she started a YouTube channel and a podcast, and she updates YouTube once a week. On YouTube, she says, she can put out more out-there dishes, assuming the people making them share her interests. Her viewership grew considerably, and that's where her hamburger steak recipe spread, she explained. Ryuji said he had also featured Hasegawa's cherry tomato recipe on his channel, but it was already widely talked about well before that.

From here, it's the frying pan steps. Put a little over 1 tablespoon (about 1.5 tablespoons) of olive oil, by eye, into a 26cm frying pan. Sear the chicken mainly skin-side down, browning it and rendering out the fat thoroughly, since some people are bothered by the texture of the skin. Because it simmers for a long time later, there's no need to cook it through here. Ryuji says once it's browned, you've pretty much won, and the chicken is taken out for the time being.

While it was searing, Hasegawa said this might be the first time she's drunk alcohol on camera in a video. She also said her father watches Ryuji's YouTube a lot and must be thrilled right now. She doesn't give the impression of making hearty food, but she likes it. There are days when she eats her own cooking and wants a bit more punch, and since she's a drinker by nature, she also likes well-salted dishes. Ryuji commented that Hasegawa's seasoning is basically salt-based and that she's good at using salt. Because she doesn't use many other seasonings, her dishes are easy to make even for people who don't stock a lot of condiments. Hasegawa also mentioned that there are people overseas who make her recipes.

When Ryuji asked which cooks she's paying attention to, Hasegawa answered that she has long followed the established teachers who appear in magazines. These days few people buy magazines every month, and social media recipes have become the mainstream. She's thinking about how to connect the wonderful magazine teachers with people who search for recipes on social media. Her view is that there's a generation that won't see something unless it passively flows to them on its own.

Ryuji framed it as Hasegawa being between magazines and social media, while he is entirely on the social media side. Traditionally, cooking experts' main battlegrounds are magazines and TV, so he has no chance to get to know those teachers. Half-jokingly, he said he feels they kind of dislike him. Even so, he says he'd like to eat and learn from those people's cooking.

According to Hasegawa, even working in magazines, collaborations between teachers are rare, and she's just a one-sided fan herself. Looking at social media, she sometimes thinks to herself that a certain teacher would be perfect for people in their 20s and 30s who are busy with daily life, find cooking tough, but want to make delicious food and enjoy it. Right now, that matchmaking is difficult. Hasegawa said that by appearing in magazines, she hopes people who buy a magazine because of her will find the teachers they should really be learning from.

When Hasegawa mentioned that some people aren't good at watching videos all the way through and prefer to read text, Ryuji said he's one of them. A video takes 10 or 20 minutes, but with a book you understand it in a minute, so he says he's an "old type" book person. He also noted that people used to books are sometimes bad with videos, but can watch short videos.

In the frying pan where the chicken was removed, the chicken fat, olive oil, and spices remain. Stir-fry the garlic and sausage here, then add the onion and green pepper. Add a generous 3 and a half tablespoons of ketchup. The idea is to use ketchup in place of tomato sauce. Once the ketchup is spread throughout, add the unwashed rice and mix so it absorbs the ketchup and oil. Then add another half teaspoon of chili powder. Once everything is red and coated with oil, level the surface, pour in 480cc of water, and cook.

The chicken stock was set at 1 teaspoon. Ryuji explained that it was originally about 1.5 teaspoons, but he reduced it because of the flavors from the other ingredients. Hasegawa laughed that it's been about five years since she's seen chicken stock powder. She doesn't think at all that it shouldn't be used; she says the only reason she cooks with just salt is "because it's cool." She also expressed the view that you should definitely rely on anything you can rely on.

Ryuji stresses that turning the heat to high after adding the water is important, because simmering it slowly makes it mushy. Once it's bubbling vigorously, return the chicken that was taken out, along with the fat that came out of it. Turn to medium heat, cover, and cook for about 16 minutes.

Ryuji explained that jambalaya belongs to the pilaf family, so he follows the orthodox method of stir-frying then cooking. On top of that, he says this is the easiest way, and he also likes that it doesn't require a rice cooker. A rice cooker takes 40 to 50 minutes, but this cooks from raw rice in 16 minutes, so it's a time-saver—that is the speaker's assessment.

While it was cooking, Ryuji asked Hasegawa what she's aiming for as a cooking expert. Her answer was along the lines of "my enemy is myself," followed by the words "maybe you don't have to surpass it," but the details of the exchange are unclear from the subtitles.

As it nears completion, it starts to make a crackling sound. According to Ryuji, this is a sign that the crust (okoge) is forming. At this stage, cook it over medium-high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes to form the crust.

Hasegawa said chicken stock has a strong flavor and can sometimes make a dish taste like nothing but that. Ryuji revealed that this time he deliberately didn't let it stand out much, adjusting it toward Hasegawa's style. Since it comes after eating the dashi curry from the first half, he thought this level of umami would taste better as a "gradation" of flavor. Adding a small amount definitely boosts the umami, but he wanted it to feel like the umami wasn't from chicken stock alone, he explained.

To finish, sprinkle black pepper over the rice and scatter dried parsley all over for color. Finally, for looks, take some chili powder in your hand and sprinkle on flecks of red. Looking at the finished dish, the two laughed that it wasn't yakekuso at all, and they'd ended up making it surprisingly properly.

There's a set way to eat it, too. The chicken is cut with scissors. Since it's cooked for 16 minutes, it's tender and falling apart. Ryuji says a perfect crust formed this time, and mixing it throughout makes a fragrant jambalaya. Hasegawa remarked that you'd never guess it had roughly chopped vegetables in it. To Hasegawa's comment that it seems like it would take any leftover vegetables, Ryuji responded that anything works, like asparagus or leafy greens.

After a bite, Hasegawa said it was better than when she tasted it during cooking, and that mixing in the crust completes it. She also described it as "feeling like I've come to a theme park." Ryuji says jambalaya, to him, brings to mind Denny's. Hasegawa said it was like a more substantial version of Denny's jambalaya.

Hasegawa said Ryuji's cooking probably depends on the dish, but it isn't extremely strongly seasoned. She thinks some people assume Ryuji's food is heavily seasoned and avoid it, but this is just right, she said. Ryuji replied that sometimes he makes it stronger depending on what he's drinking that day. He also admitted he was slightly conscious of it this time, and said the seasoning can be adjusted.

Ryuji recommended his own hot sauce, "Majisco," for changing up the flavor, saying it adds a savory taste. Hasegawa said she loves Tabasco, and after trying it, said it made her want sparkling wine and that she'd like to eat this while camping.

Ryuji summed it up as a dish that, while it uses chicken stock, basically draws on the umami and sweetness of ketchup and uses the aroma of chili powder for an exotic touch. Hasegawa said that although they were talking throughout, there weren't that many steps, and not much chopping. When Hasegawa said she'd probably just tear the pepper, Ryuji responded that that might be better. Ryuji said he'd like Hasegawa's fans to make it too, since it lands somewhere with broad appeal and isn't that spicy.

Finally, Ryuji said Hasegawa was the cook he most wanted to meet, that her cooking is original, and that she's one of the few cooks who make him wish there were more like her. He then encouraged viewers to watch the dashi curry from the first half too, and closed the video.