SUSURU Taste-Tests Ryuji's Bone-Free "Generic Rich Tonkotsu Butamuso"

Ryuji says the recreation attempt came the day after eating the frozen Butamuso that SUSURU had sent. It turned out "pretty well," so Ryuji wanted SUSURU to try it. However, that attempt was about a year ago, and while cooking, Ryuji showed a mix of confidence and nerves, saying, "It should be good."

Ryuji says they end up imitating pretty much anything they eat. Ryuji has apparently even recreated the mazesoba and ramen from "Suzuki," the shop the two were planning to visit afterward. Ramen shops might be annoyed by this, but Ryuji's position is that it comes from nothing but respect, and that it would be great if the recreations led to more sales for the shops. On the other hand, Ryuji named Kurume's Taiho Ramen as one ramen that seemed impossible to recreate.

SUSURU was surprised at how few ingredients there were. SUSURU joked that the shop version of Butamuso uses a huge amount of pork bones. In response, Ryuji explained that pork bones are a banned ingredient that never appears in Buzz Recipes. The reason is that supermarkets don't sell them, so they can't be used in home cooking that's meant to be easy to make.

Instead, Ryuji uses thick-cut pork belly. Into 1 liter of water go 300–350 g of pork belly, 100 g of onion and 15 g of garlic, and everything is simmered. The onion and garlic will later fall apart and dissolve, so they can be cut into large pieces. Ryuji explained that the onion is there to add vegetable thickness. Ryuji also said this is a recipe for people who can't simmer pork bones for hours, and that this is the only way to make a rich-style ramen at home.

On the amount of pork, Ryuji says meat releases flavor into the stock more easily than bones. However, using hundreds of grams of pork per bowl isn't viable cost-wise for a ramen shop, so it's an approach only possible at home.

Gelatin is added partway through the simmering. Ryuji explained that this is an important step to make up for the collagen that only pork bones can provide.

For the chashu, the pork belly is simply taken out of the pot and doused with soy sauce. Hearing that not even mirin is used, SUSURU shot back, "Aren't you underestimating Butamuso?" Ryuji's explanation went like this: chashu is eaten with the ramen rather than on its own, so even meat simmered for only 20 minutes works perfectly well with just soy sauce. In fact, plenty of shops finish theirs with soy sauce alone. Ryuji added that with Yamasa soy sauce, it holds up pretty well.

The key to getting thickness is mochi. Ryuji says that to make it a rich tonkotsu Butamuso, you need mochi, or you won't get that thick, sludgy texture. It's apparently the same trick Ryuji uses when recreating Tenkaippin. After the mochi was melted in and the mixture blitzed with a blender, the soup instantly turned cloudy white and thick. Ryuji described it as emulsifying together with the fat from the meat. Before blending, the onion and garlic gave it a somewhat Western aroma. Even so, Ryuji expected it to become proper ramen once the soy sauce went in.

The seasoning is 8 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 2 teaspoons of Ajinomoto, 15 shakes of garlic powder and about 11–12 shakes of table pepper. SUSURU added that ramen kaeshi is often made from soy sauce and mirin. As for the table pepper, SUSURU said it's a blend of black and white pepper and is SUSURU's favorite pepper of all.

According to Ryuji, the drawback of this soup is that it's so rich the ingredients have trouble fully dissolving. Ideally Ryuji would have topped it with back fat, but there was none on hand, so lard was added instead to boost the tonkotsu character. After tasting the soup, Ryuji decided it needed a bit more punch and reduced it a little. Even so, SUSURU was surprised that in just a few dozen minutes it smelled like a ramen shop.

The amount of lard led the conversation to SUSURU's love of back fat. According to Ryuji, SUSURU even orders "extra oil" at Nogata Hope, and SUSURU admitted to really loving back fat.

During the roughly 15-minute simmer, the talk turned to ramen shops. Ryuji's criterion for choosing a shop is "a place SUSURU hasn't been." When out in the regions, Ryuji apparently looks for shops SUSURU hasn't visited, gets there first, and then asks SUSURU about them the next time they meet.

Ryuji recommended "Bou Bou Ramen," near Ryuji's family home in Chiba. It's a tantanmen shop with two varieties, red and black, and both are delicious. Ryuji says that locally it's treated almost like its own genre: "Bou Bou Ramen." SUSURU didn't know the shop.

SUSURU mentioned a shop called "Shishou," which had sent a DM saying, "Please come with Ryuji." It's a shop that piles a ball of Ajinomoto on top of the bowl, and it's said to be very filling. The two also talked about the ramen at another shop along a national highway in Chiba, saying it has a flavor you get inexplicable cravings for. SUSURU described it as having the vibe of food court or highway service area ramen, but said that's exactly what makes it good.

SUSURU also brought up Tanaka Shoten, a tonkotsu ramen shop that used to be open from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., where SUSURU tested the difference in flavor right after opening versus just before closing. Ryuji responded that quite a few ramen shops change significantly in flavor between opening and closing. In addition, SUSURU raved about a shop visited together with Ryuji's staff, saying it's honestly SUSURU's favorite in Japan.

Ryuji also talked about SUSURU's approach to reviewing. SUSURU is fairly strict about convenience store products, and only occasionally covers cup ramen, even though such reviews are guaranteed to go viral. Ryuji believes the reason is SUSURU's philosophy that "ramen absolutely has to be eaten at the shop." SUSURU confirmed that going to the shop and eating there really is best.

According to Ryuji, when SUSURU gets drunk, SUSURU says, "I will never take money from shops, because ramen shops are what keep me going." Ryuji said SUSURU has a surprisingly passionate side, and that's what Ryuji likes about SUSURU.

The topic of how wildly opinions on ramen differ also came up. Ryuji says that even shops Ryuji finds delicious sometimes get a "meh" from friends. SUSURU says that if the noodles are lackluster, that alone kills the mood. SUSURU likes firm noodles with a solid texture, and pasta has to be al dente too.

The noodles that day were Topvalu chuka noodles. Ryuji revealed that Senrigan's noodles were the first choice, but they couldn't be obtained. During plating, the question came up of whether to put the noodles or the soup in first. Ryuji said nobody could tell the difference if they compared the two, joking that if anyone could, Ryuji would get down on hands and knees and bow. SUSURU said that arranging the noodles too neatly can make the corners stick together and turn floury. However, that doesn't affect the taste; it's just a matter of appearance. The toppings are menma, green onion, the soy-sauce-only chashu and nori.

SUSURU asked whether Ryuji finalizes recipes by having people around taste them. Ryuji answered that, basically, the recipes are developed solo, and whatever Ryuji finds delicious gets released in a video. Lately Ryuji sometimes improvises, but since the flavor is already worked out in Ryuji's head, it almost always succeeds. That said, Ryuji often has the staff present taste things, and if they say "you should make this a recipe," it's generally good to go.

After eating the finished bowl, SUSURU praised it for its solid pork flavor and punch, with real soy sauce character and umami. The soup clings to the noodles as you slurp them, and it has some heft. SUSURU also said it tastes like the definitive version of a rich tonkotsu ramen made at home. The two agreed that adding that much Ajinomoto definitely brings out the flavor.

As for how faithful the recreation was, SUSURU rated it quite high in terms of first-bite punch and richness. On the other hand, SUSURU pointed out that the aroma of pork bones just can't be produced. Ryuji acknowledged that point too. Commercial oils with pork bone aroma locked into them do exist, but they aren't available to home cooks. If you're making a generic version, this is how it has to be done, Ryuji explained. SUSURU also rated the chashu, which was simply doused with soy sauce, as "totally fine like this."

Ryuji estimates that one bowl of this soup contains about 100 g of pork. That's exactly why the pork flavor comes through, and the conversation returned to how this wouldn't be viable cost-wise for a shop. Finally, asked whether it passed or failed, SUSURU first joked with the familiar comeback, "Let's kill him." SUSURU then answered "Pass" for real and wrapped up by saying, honestly, it was super delicious. It was announced that the two would then head to Suzuki, and that the visit would be published on SUSURU's channel.