Ryuji's Mushroom Hot Pot and Marinated Eggs: Pairing Peperoncino Aromas with Yuzu Ponzu

This is the second tie-up with Mizkan. Last time, Ryuji used this ponzu to make pasta and other dishes. Ryuji says they had not made many recipes using ponzu before, because they couldn't decide which ponzu to use as the standard.

According to Ryuji, ponzu varies quite a lot from product to product: some are strongly acidic, while others are rich in umami. "Kaori no Kura Marushibori Yuzu" has a pronounced yuzu aroma and is the umami-rich type. Ryuji says that since coming to like it, it has become almost the only ponzu they use at home.

What got a particularly strong response in the previous video was a peperoncino made with ponzu. It was so well received that people who made it sent in enthusiastic messages. That was when Ryuji realized that the aroma of garlic and the aroma of yuzu go together extremely well. This discovery is the starting point for this hot pot.

Since it is still the cold season, this time Ryuji went with a hot pot. Ryuji describes it as a simple, healthy hot pot packed with mushrooms, one that makes a complete meal on its own.

Ryuji admits that simply boiling the ingredients and dipping the mushrooms and chicken in ponzu is plenty delicious. But that would make it an ordinary hot pot. What people expect from a cooking researcher's recipe is a new idea, and Ryuji wanted to include an element that felt like one of their own "Buzz Recipes." After some trial and error, the peperoncino flavor turned out to be the tastiest, so that is what Ryuji went with.

This hot pot has a predecessor. Ryuji explains that while developing the "Ryuji, I Believe in You Hot Pot," which uses a whole cabbage, and trying to make it even better, the mushroom version turned out to be the best. The idea of adding the chicken whole, without cutting it, also carries over from that hot pot.

The mushrooms used were oyster mushrooms, enoki, and shimeji. Ryuji says any mushrooms you like are fine, including maitake and shiitake. However, Ryuji recommends against nameko. Enoki alone thickens the broth quite a bit, so adding nameko would turn the whole pot gloopy. Enoki is treated as the most important ingredient.

For the meat, chicken is used. Pork works too, but chicken brings out more umami, and the combination of chicken stock and mushroom stock makes it delicious. Thigh is the best cut. Ryuji explains that you can make it with breast, but breast can't beat thigh for juiciness and comes out a bit dry.

First, put garlic into the pot and add chili pepper. The amount of chili is up to you; Ryuji likes a bit of a kick, so they added a generous amount. That slight heat goes well with the yuzu aroma. For oil, 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Rice bran oil is fine, but olive oil is a better match. Sauté this, and at this point it is essentially peperoncino oil.

To prep the mushrooms, all you need to do is cut off the stem bases. For the enoki only, make cuts into the base with a knife. The base is stuck together, so the cuts make it easier to separate later. Oyster mushrooms can be eaten stems and all. Don't cut the chicken.

Once the oil is ready, add the chicken and water. The mushrooms go in right after the water. According to Ryuji, adding mushrooms while the temperature is still low releases more and more umami. Ryuji says they heard from "a certain mushroom expert" that heating mushrooms starting from cold water increases their umami.

The mushrooms are stood upright and crammed in until they spill out of the pot, with the enoki wedged into the middle. The staff are surprised—"Is all of this going to fit?"—and laugh that it's "going for the gag" when they see that even the lid won't close. Ryuji jokes that "the theme is a mushroom village" and "the hidden theme is the breath of life," while stressing that it really does taste good. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder and salt over the chicken, then finish by covering the chicken with the mushrooms.

For the heat, start on medium and bring it to a boil once. After that, simmering on low for about 25 minutes gives the best result. If you want to eat sooner, you can cut the chicken, but Ryuji says simmering longer makes the chicken fall-apart tender and delicious.

Ryuji is also clear about why the chicken goes in whole. Cutting chicken is the most tedious step, and as it simmers, the fibers come apart on their own. While waiting, you can do other prep, such as cooking rice. As it simmered, the mushrooms shrank, and the lid that wouldn't close at first eventually closed on its own.

While the hot pot simmers, the marinated eggs are made. Since this is a tie-up, Ryuji asked Mizkan about introducing one more dish, and Mizkan suggested marinated eggs. Ryuji explains that their own recipe alone would have been fine, but since the opportunity was there, they wanted to make Mizkan's recommended recipe too.

The marinade for the eggs is "Kaori no Kura Marushibori Yuzu" alone, with nothing else added. Here Ryuji also introduces another way to use it: mixing this ponzu half and half with yakiniku sauce makes a very tasty dipping sauce for good, fatty meat. It might seem like they would clash, but it goes well with the aroma of garlic.

Add a swirl of Mizkan's regular grain vinegar to the boiling water. Ryuji laughs, "Because I'm a promotional genius," as they add it, but the purpose is practical. Adding vinegar makes the shells much easier to peel, so Ryuji says you should definitely do it. Ryuji explains that this is because the vinegar softens the shells.

Eggs will crack if dropped in forcefully, so lower them in gently. This time, all 6 eggs from one pack were used. Boil on low heat for 8 minutes. High heat makes them set too firmly, so it's better not to let the water boil vigorously. After 8 minutes, none of the 6 eggs had cracked. Ryuji says vinegar also has the benefit of making eggs less likely to crack. At this, a staff member interjects, "I'm the one who taught you that," and Ryuji replies, "I knew it already." Ryuji says that most cooking knowledge was discovered by someone else, and the only difference is whether you know it or not.

Peel the shells under running water. The water gets between the shell and the white, which makes peeling easier. Still, Ryuji says that the shells slipping right off is thanks to the vinegar. They did peel cleanly, and with an 8-minute boil, the yolks were slightly soft.

When marinating, it's better to use a thin kitchen bag (a cheap plastic bag) rather than a Ziploc. Put the eggs in, pour in the ponzu, and submerge the whole bag in water to push the air out, so the eggs are fully covered even with a small amount of ponzu. Ryuji explains that Ziploc bags are a bit stiff, so a thin bag saves ponzu.

The eggs taste better with about 5 to 6 hours of marinating, so at home, marinating them the day before and eating them the next day works well. Since there wasn't enough time during the shoot, they ate eggs the staff had marinated in advance. There were two kinds: eggs marinated for half a day (2 eggs) and eggs marinated that morning for 3 to 4 hours (3 eggs).

After 25 minutes of simmering, the chicken was tender enough to cut with chopsticks alone. Ryuji used to use kitchen scissors, but many people said they "don't want to get out the scissors." Simmered this long, the chicken falls apart, so scissors aren't needed. Ryuji says cooking it together with the mushrooms might also be a key factor. Even though it's a hot pot, the texture of the meat is closer to a braised dish.

The broth had thickened slightly. According to Ryuji, enoki is the raw ingredient for nametake, and it's used for nametake because it turns thick and silky when cooked. Ryuji says this slightly sauce-like consistency is delicious.

The broth itself is seasoned quite lightly, and the ingredients are eaten dipped in ponzu. A staff member who tried the enoki is surprised at how well this ponzu goes with the peperoncino flavor, calling it "a little mysterious." Ryuji explains that this ponzu goes quite well with toasty, savory things.

Chicken tends to taste bland in a hot pot, but the aroma of the ponzu comes through, so it doesn't get boring. After eating, the staff member said that you might not believe the way it looks, but you should believe the taste. They also said the garlicky peperoncino character adds an accent that keeps you from tiring of it.

Ryuji describes how the umami flows: the mushroom umami goes into the broth, and the chicken umami moves into the broth and the mushrooms. Mushrooms that have soaked up the chicken stock are three times as tasty as usual, giving a meaty satisfaction even though they are a healthy ingredient. During the shoot, the staff also noticed how few dishes there were to wash. The meat just needs to be broken up, and Ryuji says there's no problem doubling or tripling the two-serving recipe and making it in a large pot.

Ryuji also recommends another way to eat it: "shio-pon," where you sprinkle a little Aji-Shio over the ingredients and then add a bit of ponzu. Ponzu inevitably has a strong soy sauce flavor, but eating it with salt lets the aroma rise up softly. Ponzu alone gives a rich, full flavor with pronounced umami, while shio-pon is much lighter and more refreshing.

Shio-pon is also good for people who like a lighter taste. If you prepare both, you can enjoy one hot pot with two flavors, so you won't get tired of it. Either way, Ryuji says the hot pot tastes better with some acidity.

Noodles are fine for the finish, but Ryuji recommends rice. Using a method Ryuji has been using a lot lately, rinse unheated packaged rice in water and put it straight into the pot. Don't add any more water; just lightly season with salt and it's ready in an instant. Finally, add a swirl of ponzu. Ryuji says you can use more than you might think.

No egg goes in. The broth is already thickened, so adding egg would make it sticky. Ryuji says putting the flavor of this ponzu on top of the peperoncino-style broth is the best. Tangy zosui rice porridge isn't something people eat much, but it actually works very well as the seasoning for a finishing porridge.

Ryuji describes the product's features as a robust flavor and a yuzu aroma that tastes freshly squeezed. Prefacing it by saying they aren't making comparisons, Ryuji stated that for this hot pot "Ajipon won't do"—it's similar but different—so it should be made with "Kaori no Kura."

Between takes, the previous tie-up also came up. It was so well received that it led to this second one. In addition to the previous pasta and marinated salmon, Ryuji recommends marinating things like grilled chicken or pork with onions. The marinated eggs are also a kind of marinade recipe, and Ryuji says most things, including grilled or raw vegetables, become delicious when marinated.

When the staff pointed out that Mizkan's ponzu was also used in the "Desperation Paella," Ryuji explained that they had just used it on their own; that video was not a Mizkan sponsorship, and they had been paid by a different company. Ryuji went on to say they dislike YouTubers who make it look like they aren't being paid. Since it's work, Ryuji's position is that all of their PR clearly states that they are being paid. Ryuji also says they never cut corners on sponsored work and only put out things they're confident in.

Finally, here are the results of the marinated egg taste test. The eggs marinated for 3 to 4 hours had runny yolks, and the staff were surprised that ponzu alone could make them this delicious. The eggs marinated for half a day, on the other hand, were darker in color and were judged better as a snack to go with drinks.

The two concluded that marinating for about 6 to 8 hours seems ideal. Marinating them before bed should be just right. Ryuji added that if marinating for longer, eggs boiled for about 7 and a half minutes, so they're softer, might work well too. Prepare the marinated eggs the day before, and on the day itself, use this one bottle of ponzu all the way from the mushroom hot pot to the porridge. That is Ryuji's proposal.