Ryuji Rescues Acecook's Kombu-Water-Style Mazesoba, Slammed Online as "What Am I Even Eating for 298 Yen," with Sesame Oil and Tororo Kombu

At the start, Ryuji says he knows kombu-water tsukemen but has never heard of "kombu-water mazesoba." His staff haven't either, and they even suspect it was "forced into being a mazesoba." It also comes up that ramen YouTuber SUSURU ate this product, but did so with a sour face and some doubts. They recall that there were posts on X to the effect of "What am I even eating after paying 298 yen?"

On the price, Ryuji says it's "pretty expensive," and his staff respond that with a price that high, you can't help having expectations. At the same time, he mentions that his impression of Acecook is "a maker that has some tasty products but competes on low prices," and that this part makes him a little nervous.

The package contains only two things: a "seasoning sauce" and a "furikake" sprinkle. Everyone is surprised at how simple it is: add hot water, drain it, then mix in the sauce and sprinkle. The listed wait time is 4 minutes, but partly for filming convenience, they went with 3 and a half minutes to suit a staff member who likes firmer noodles.

Ryuji reads the ingredient list to see how the product creates the thickness characteristic of kombu water. Noting that the sprinkle contains kombu powder and that modified starch is also included, he guesses these are what produce the thickness. His take is that Acecook probably wanted to create something new: a mazesoba with a thickened sauce.

The drained noodles are fried noodles, and the group suggests they might be like the ones in Super Cup. When the sauce is added and mixed, it already becomes a thick, soup-like coating. While some say it looks tasty, others react that "it smells weird."

The verdict on the first bite is harsh. Negative comments pile up: "The kombu is strong," "It's salty," "It's needlessly thick," "It smells like kombu." Citing someone else's observation, Ryuji says the product would probably have been better with non-fried noodles. His view is that the noodles themselves are a poor match. His frank judgment is that as it stands, "it's not doable without changing up the flavor."

So Ryuji suggests adding oil, because it masks the kombu aroma. When he first adds chili oil (rayu), the staff's assessment flips completely, with someone saying, "It's tasty once you add it." Ryuji analyzes that the problem lies in the aroma and the absence of oil.

He then tries sesame oil as well. This too helps the flavor come together thanks to the oil, to the point where everyone says, "It's good" and "I could totally finish this." Ryuji says, "They should include oil in a separate packet," and "If it came with sesame oil, I don't think people would be saying all this." His explanation is that adding oil softens the saltiness and adds aroma, perhaps hiding the overly strong kombu. Ryuji speculates that SUSURU and others gave it lukewarm reviews because they ate it without adding sesame oil.

His final rating: "C as is, A with sesame oil." While he remarks that it's fascinating how food can become this much tastier just by adding something on top, he adds the caveat that the price is still a bit high. Still, Ryuji praises the idea of thickening the sauce itself as new, and something worth valuing.

From here, Ryuji moves on to recreating it. Since the product is chicken-soy-sauce flavored, he reasons it likely has a chicken-stock base with salt and sugar, plus bonito and kombu. Real kombu water takes a full day to extract stock from kombu. Since no one is going to go to that much trouble, he says he'll use tororo kombu sold at the supermarket, because it thickens instantly. He also cites the fact that no one is doing an easy recipe for kombu-water tsukemen as a reason for choosing this method.

The sauce is made as follows.

1. Add 2 pinches (about 2g) of tororo kombu. It rehydrates quickly, so you can add 2 teaspoons of soy sauce at this point.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix, and it thickens. This becomes the base that clings to the noodles.
3. Since it's chicken-soy-sauce flavored, chicken stock is a must: add 1/4 teaspoon of Hondashi as bonito extract and 1/4 teaspoon of chicken stock powder.
4. It turned out too thick, so add another half tablespoon of water.
5. He sensed sweetness in the product, so add a pinch of sugar.

Toss the noodles in this and it's done. Ryuji expects this alone to come quite close to the product's flavor, and says it's an excellent recipe in terms of simplicity. However, tororo kombu on its own has a very strong aroma, so at the end he drizzles on sesame oil to mask it. The product also contains chicken and pork fat, but his judgment was that the other elements were mostly covered.

For noodles, he used Topvalu's 130g Chinese-style noodles, boiled firm for about 2 minutes. Since this is a warm mazesoba, he doesn't rinse them in cold water. If that's too much hassle, Ryuji says Marutai noodles or similar would probably also be tasty.

On cost, he emphasizes that the noodles are about 100 yen and the tororo kombu, at just 2 pinches, is only a few dozen yen, making it overwhelmingly cheaper than a cup noodle. He also notes that tororo kombu itself has umami, so no umami seasoning is needed.

Regarding the product they had already tasted, he says, "Slightly smoother non-fried noodles would suit it better," but adds once more, "The flavor is good, and that one is tasty too." His view is that there aren't many mazesoba with a sauce that's thick in itself, so that thickness was probably its strength.

Tororo kombu often gets described as having no real use beyond putting it in miso soup or clear soup. That's why, Ryuji says, it's educational to learn there's a way to use it like this. His staff agree that there must definitely be people with leftover tororo kombu at home.

When he tosses the noodles in the sauce, Ryuji shows how none of the sauce is left in the bowl and it clings to every single noodle. He says the aroma is close to Acecook's mazesoba, too. After tasting, he increases the chicken stock to 1/3 teaspoon, reasoning that since it's chicken soy sauce, a stronger chicken stock is better. He also reveals that he made this recipe in one shot, without a test run.

The toppings are green onion, which was also included as a topping in the product, and nori seaweed. Ryuji adds that an egg yolk on top would probably be tasty too, and remarks that he's probably the only one who cooks out of respect for cup noodles.

Eaten first without oil, the reaction was "It smells great" and "It's already good at this point." When sesame oil is added next, the rating climbs even higher, with a staff member exclaiming, "That's an invention." Ryuji reflects that kombu-water tsukemen also has oil floating on its broth, so perhaps kombu's thickness and oil are a natural match to begin with.

Adding a pinch of salt on top sharpens the flavor, and Ryuji says, "That brings it to restaurant-level saltiness." The conclusion was that either sesame oil or chili oil works. There were also comments that the tororo kombu is tasty as an ingredient in its own right, and that the thickness clinging to the noodles gives a different texture. The staff say that this alone makes a complete recipe video. Ryuji also touches on a next step, saying that using this as a base and topping it with an egg to make it abura-soba style would definitely be delicious.

Ryuji says even he hadn't realized tororo kombu had this much potential. He thanks Acecook repeatedly, saying that if they hadn't made this product, he never would have come up with the idea of noodles coated in kombu. Laughing that forcing a product review into a cooking segment is just what he does, he says he wants to keep doing segments where new products inspire his dishes.

He wraps up by recommending that viewers who buy the product and find it underwhelming drizzle sesame oil on it, and that those who think 298 yen is too expensive can make it for a hundred-something yen with a single serving of noodles from Topvalu or similar and some tororo kombu. The staff reflect that they had thought it would just end with a harsh review, but that it turned out to be educational.