"Faint-Worthy Pork Zucchini," Steamed Layers of Pork Offcuts and Zucchini: A Dish Ryuji Presented With the Preamble Cut

Ryuji says many people don't know how to eat zucchini. In Ryuji's view, it is a recent vegetable that wasn't sold in supermarkets when they were a child, so recipes for it haven't been explored much.

Zucchini can be eaten raw, and raw is actually the tastiest, Ryuji says. While having a staff member who had never eaten it raw taste some, Ryuji explains that it tastes like a pickle even though it hasn't been pickled. Biting into a raw eggplant brings out a harsh bitterness and a squeaky, astringent feel, but zucchini doesn't do that, according to Ryuji's comparison.

For the cooking, the zucchini is cut into rounds just under 1 cm thick.

Pork belly would also work, but this time pork offcuts are used. The reason is "pork offcuts are cheaper," and that's all, Ryuji states flatly. About 260 g was prepared.

The pork offcuts are massaged with 2 pinches of regular salt, 2 and a half teaspoons of potato starch, and sake. Pork tends to get tough, so the aim is to coat it in potato starch to help it retain moisture and turn out tender.

Rounds of zucchini are arranged in a frying pan, and spread-out pieces of pork are layered on top. When a staff member asks, "Is it a mille-feuille?" Ryuji says yes. Ryuji also remarks that rolling up the pork and placing it neatly looks cute and tastes good.

One staff member suggested that arranging it is a hassle, so why not just put everything in first and layer it on top. Ryuji acknowledged that it would be fine in terms of taste, but countered that there's also the matter of appearance, that you just feel like arranging it this way, and that it's something you can make together with kids. While arranging it, Ryuji seemed to realize that it looks neater if you place the meat first, as if sticking it on.

As for quantities, partly because the zucchini prepared was on the larger side, one zucchini was enough. As a guideline, you can just remember "200 g of zucchini to 200 g of pork," Ryuji sums up. Zucchini is relatively cheap at around 100-something yen apiece, Ryuji also says, making this a cheap and tasty dish.

About 1 tablespoon of sake is added for steaming. The explanation is that zucchini quickly releases moisture, so that's enough. Cover with a lid and place over medium heat; once it comes to a boil inside and starts to sizzle, turn it down to low and steam-cook for about 10 minutes, and it's done. After that you just leave it alone, so it's extremely easy, Ryuji emphasizes. Steaming makes the pork tender and gives the zucchini a soft, slightly crumbly texture, they say.

While it steams, the sauce is made. Soy sauce and ponzu are combined at a 2-to-1 ratio: 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of ponzu. Ryuji's view is that since it's the hot season, adding some acidity makes it tastier. The ponzu used is one Ryuji says they "love." If you don't have ponzu, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice can be substituted. However, while saying lemon juice is sold everywhere and works as a substitute, Ryuji added that ponzu has a different, refreshing aroma, and that's what they like.

This is good enough as it is, but to make it more "dish-like," add just under 1 teaspoon of doubanjiang. For umami, add 4 shakes of Ajinomoto, then 1 tablespoon of ground sesame. Adding ground sesame thickens the sauce and helps it cling to the meat and zucchini, the explanation goes.

A staff member remarked that you don't often see ponzu and doubanjiang combined. Ryuji replied that it tastes like a Chinese-style sauce.

If you were to add oil, something like olive oil would be an option, but Ryuji judges that pork and zucchini alone are tasty enough, and since it's a steamed dish, there's no need for extra oil.

While waiting for it to finish steaming, Ryuji talked about zucchini recipes. Zucchini dishes are few in Ryuji's repertoire, and what's more, zucchini videos "seriously don't get views." Ryuji's guess is that it's probably because zucchini isn't an ingredient people buy regularly.

On the other hand, Ryuji also says that zucchini is tasty, can be eaten both raw and cooked, and is reasonably priced, so they'd like to put zucchini in just about everything. But, as mentioned earlier, Ryuji repeats that it's a recent vegetable that didn't exist when they were a child, which is why there are few recipes.

After lifting the lid and checking the aroma, the prepared sauce is drizzled over, and it is eaten straight from the frying pan. Ryuji also notes that it is delicious eaten with something like salt and lemon as well.

One staff member said, "I've never had this kind of seasoning," and it was praised as going well with both rice and alcohol. Ryuji also says the pork offcuts haven't gotten tough at all, and that coating them in potato starch and steaming them works really well. The doubanjiang comes through nicely too, and there was a comment that it looks lavish, like a "dish for entertaining guests." They also agreed that it takes almost no effort, and that all you did was arrange things.

One staff member said it was about five times more delicious than they had imagined, prompting Ryuji to quip, "Just how much were you looking down on it?" There were also comments that the zucchini is truly the star, and that the refreshing ponzu comes through.

Ryuji added that the only fat is roughly what comes from the pork. Regarding pork offcuts, in response to someone saying they had been at a loss for recipes that use them, Ryuji joked about being a wizard of pork offcuts with plenty of pork offcut recipes, while saying that for this dish, pork offcuts might actually be tastier than pork belly.

Ryuji said that zucchini is an ingredient that's hard to reach for when you handle it for the first time because you don't know how to cook it, so they hope easy recipes like this will be a starting point for people to use zucchini. Ryuji also offered the view that while there are probably quite a few households that don't want zucchini on the dinner table, a soy-sauce flavor would be accepted.

Asked whether it could be made with eggplant, Ryuji replied that since it's steamed, it would be delicious with eggplant too. However, Ryuji said that with eggplant it might feel lacking without adding oil, and also that the fluffy, tender texture unique to zucchini is what makes it good.

For households with children, switching the doubanjiang to miso keeps it from being spicy, they say. Also, while this time the seasoning was geared toward drinkers, adjusting the amount of sauce poured over makes it work as a side dish for a meal too. It works both as a snack with drinks and as something to go with rice, is Ryuji's assessment.

Finally, Ryuji said they really hope people make it this summer and that this recipe goes viral. Remarking that the name, "so delicious you'll faint," might truly not be an exaggeration, Ryuji wraps up the video.