Meatless Maitake Kimchi Bowl Wins: Ryuji vs. the Mushroom Doctor in a "Void Mushroom Recipe Showdown"

Ryuji says he has "been doing void recipes for about five years" and challenges the Doctor, treating them as a newcomer with "three weeks of void experience." Ryuji made void oyster mushroom pasta, and the Doctor made a maitake kimchi bowl.

Ryuji's pasta contains only two ingredients: pasta and oyster mushrooms. Since this is a void showdown, he keeps the ingredients to a minimum, adding only a few seasonings. He starts by bringing 360 cc of water to a boil in a frying pan.

Ryuji originally planned to season the dish with soy sauce and kombu dashi. But last time, the Doctor pointed out that Kore! Uma!! Tsuyu contains mushroom dashi. Ryuji has been involved in promoting this product for about four years, yet he had never mentioned that point. Surprised, he said, "You even noticed that?" and "Why haven't I, the one doing the promotion, ever mentioned it?" So this time, he decided to use the tsuyu. Once the water boils, he adds about 1½ tablespoons, noting that the amount can be adjusted to taste. If you don't have the tsuyu, he says you can substitute about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of kombu dashi.

That's all the seasoning, and once it comes to a boil, the pasta goes in. It simmers over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until the liquid is gone. According to Ryuji, cooking it this way lets the pasta absorb plenty of flavor.

The key point Ryuji highlighted is when to add the oyster mushrooms. It's tempting to simmer mushrooms together from the beginning, but oyster mushrooms become slimy when simmered. If you combine them with the pasta from the start, you end up boiling the pasta in thickened water, which makes it harder for the pasta to soften and lengthens the cooking time, he says. So he adds the oyster mushrooms about a minute before it's done.

The oyster mushrooms are torn by hand, but since large pieces are fine, he put in a whole cluster. "With mushrooms, you really should eat plenty," Ryuji said, encouraging viewers to use a generous amount. Finally, he adds a little butter and tosses everything together. According to Ryuji, the aroma of the tsuyu pairs well with the butter, and it brings out the plump texture and aroma of the oyster mushrooms. Since it's made in one pan, he says it's extremely easy.

It's finished with yuzu kosho. Because the Doctor's udon last time also used yuzu kosho, Ryuji worried it would look like he was copying outright. Still, he explained that this was a combination he had been thinking about for a while, and that a little of it goes very well with the dish. The Doctor responded, "We probably have similar tastes."

While the pasta was simmering, the conversation turned to wild mushrooms. According to the Doctor, mountain mushrooms start appearing in April, so it's almost time to start foraging.

Ryuji talked about being served domestic truffles at a sushi restaurant he frequents. When he asked where they were harvested, the supplier refused to tell him anything. The Doctor replied that people don't reveal where mushrooms can be found. If they did, the spots would be overrun, and overdigging would wipe them out. The Doctor doesn't look for truffles themselves. People think you're strange if you dig in the ground, so they can't really dig much. The Doctor's sole target is porcini, and Ryuji recalled that the porcini he had once eaten was delicious.

This led to the topic of "eating mushrooms with mushrooms." The Doctor said they once did a hot pot on another show in which cultivated mushrooms were eaten with the flavor of porcini powder. However, not many mushrooms made it into the cast members' bowls, which were filled mostly with chicken. As a result, the punchline ended up being "eating chicken with porcini." That's why the Doctor wants to work harder on dishes where you eat mushrooms with mushrooms. Ryuji pointed out that last time's "Eri-Chiri" was based on the same idea: a dish in which king oyster mushrooms are eaten with the thick, silky texture of enoki. Ryuji said he is also thinking of making a dish with store-bought porcini ground into powder, and that he'd like the Doctor to teach him when he does.

At the tasting, Ryuji judged his own dish, saying the flavor of the oyster mushrooms, the butter, and the pasta go well together. The yuzu kosho is optional, but it adds freshness, he said. People tend to add garlic to pasta, but in this recipe he deliberately leaves it out to let the aroma of the oyster mushrooms stand out. One-pan pasta has a reputation for noodles that don't taste good, but he said this method makes them al dente, with a nice chewiness.

The Doctor said it was light and easy to eat, suiting people of their age. Pasta at restaurants sometimes has so much olive oil that they can't eat it, and they prefer eating it this way. Ryuji agreed. Restaurants sometimes add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, which alone comes to about 300 kcal. Since restaurant pasta is oily, Ryuji thinks it may be better to make pasta at home, where you can control the amount. The only fat in this recipe is the butter, and if you're concerned, you can halve the butter and it will still taste good, he said.

Asked about adding mayonnaise, he said it would be "delicious," but since the dish already has butter, something like Tabasco would be better if you want more of a kick. The Doctor revealed that they had tried adding butter to last time's udon, but it made it too heavy.

The staff also tasted it and were surprised that oyster mushrooms could produce so much umami. According to Ryuji, after trying various things, oyster mushrooms alone were the tastiest. He also considered adding bacon, but found it unnecessary.

The Doctor's dish is a maitake kimchi bowl. According to the Doctor, maitake has such a strong character that no matter what you pair it with, the maitake wins out. They tried all sorts of combinations, including curry flavor, but none worked. They concluded that kimchi is about the only thing that can hold its own against maitake. They spent two full weeks thinking about it, and after nothing worked, kimchi was what they finally figured out. Stir-frying it with kimchi makes it satisfying even without meat, so they put it on rice to make a bowl.

The Doctor says maitake is well suited to void cooking because you can eat the whole thing. Pull it apart by hand into slightly small pieces. Eating a whole pack alone is a bit heavy, but it's completely different when combined with kimchi, they say.

Add just a little oil to a frying pan, turn on the heat, and stir-fry the maitake thoroughly. This is the most important point: stir-fry until browned to drive off the moisture. That gives it a better bite, they say. According to the Doctor, not much liquid comes out while stir-frying, but once it crosses a certain line, it suddenly goes limp. Ryuji praised how easy it is, made in a single frying pan without using a knife. As it cooks, the umami becomes concentrated and the texture becomes meat-like. Ryuji said he tends to rely on meat, and praised the fact that this can be made with mushrooms alone.

Once the maitake is done, add 50–60 g of kimchi and stir-fry. The seasonings are half a tablespoon of Kore! Uma!! Tsuyu, the same as in Ryuji's pasta, and half a tablespoon of oyster sauce. Ryuji said he hasn't done much with that combination with oyster sauce himself, and remarked that the umami of the mushroom dashi adds a nice aroma.

Turn off the heat, then tear one slice of cheese into rough pieces and place them on top. Once it melts a little, serve it over rice and finish with a small drizzle of sesame oil. Seeing the heaping pile, Ryuji said, "What a look," adding that the cheese peeking in and out made it look delicious.

After one bite, Ryuji exclaimed, "What is this? It's delicious. I've never heard of a dish like this." He said the kimchi goes great with the maitake, that you don't need meat, and that it feels like you're eating meat. And yet, it's light, he said.

The Doctor explained the reason for adding cheese from a nutritional standpoint. Maitake is rich in vitamin D, and vitamin D promotes calcium absorption. It's a combination in which the vitamin D in the maitake improves the absorption of the calcium in the cheese, they said. Ryuji laughed, "Could you please stop coming at this so seriously to win?" Since it's just stir-frying with no knife, it is void, but the recipe is cool, he said. He remarked that everything, from the cheese and vitamin D talk to using the aroma of kimchi to tame the maitake's distinctive flavor, felt like the work of a researcher.

The staff also tasted it, reacting one after another with "That's it, I lost" and "I've never had this before." Ryuji complained that even the counterargument that something with such a junky flavor must be bad for you had been shot down by the nutritional explanation, so there was nothing left to say. The Doctor replied, "I only know about mushrooms, so I can't make regular dishes."

Looking back, Ryuji said that while the Doctor's recipe is just stir-frying, the touches are meticulous: using tsuyu containing mushroom dashi, the pairing with cheese, and searing the maitake well to create a texture so satisfying that meat isn't needed. Ryuji asked for a rematch, and the showdown wrapped up with the Doctor proving impressive even at void recipes.