"Kakuni Simmered in Just 10 Minutes" Made with Thin-Sliced Pork Belly: Ryuji and Momoko Futamatsu Test and Taste the Recipe

At the start, Ryuji says, "I drank too much." Ryuji says they woke up at 11 a.m., at the bar they run. Cooking was impossible in this state, so Ryuji had brought in a helper for the day and introduced Futamatsu. The reason for the invitation: a past episode featuring Futamatsu had drawn strong view counts, so Ryuji wanted Futamatsu to do a recipe that would pull in views again.

Futamatsu said, "I can't cook unless I've had a drink," and, not being fond of carbonation, toasted with Ryuji using something other than a highball before starting to cook. Throughout the cooking, Ryuji teases Futamatsu about the way they talk, and Futamatsu fires back. Most of the video unfolds amid this kind of banter.

Futamatsu explained that kakuni takes about an hour to become delicious, but this time they would make kakuni that can be done in 10 minutes. When Ryuji asked, "Is that really kakuni?" Futamatsu answered, "It really is kakuni."

The ingredients are simple: thin-sliced pork belly, leafy greens for color, and eggs for boiling. The plan was to use spinach for the greens, but Ryuji said komatsuna would be fine too, and komatsuna was what they actually used. Futamatsu said that kakuni looks drab on the plate because it's all brown, so they wanted to add some green. Ryuji ribbed them about this, saying, "That's such a girly way of thinking," and also, "Don't you think you could skip the komatsuna?" Futamatsu answered that it could be skipped, but they wanted to include it.

The seasonings are soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar, plus a little Hondashi. According to Futamatsu, Hondashi adds umami and makes it delicious. Potato starch is used to coat the meat.

Futamatsu gave two reasons for using thin slices. Blocks of pork belly are sometimes surprisingly hard to find in stores. And block meat won't get tender enough to eat in 10 minutes.

The shaping process goes like this. Since the thin slices are short, first join several of them together to make them longer. Fold that back and forth, then join and layer one more slice in the opposite direction, flip it over, and tidy the shape. This makes a kakuni-like block, and you mass-produce several of the same. Ryuji quipped, "That's forcing it," while asking, "Once it's packed together this much, isn't it basically the same as a regular block of pork belly?"

Futamatsu's answer was that the stacked meat has gaps, which let the flavor get all the way inside. As for the potato starch, Futamatsu explained that without it, the surface becomes hard. The amount is about 1½ tablespoons for both sides, applied generously. Ryuji said that one of their own recipes wraps fried tofu in meat, but they'd never had this idea, and Futamatsu said, "I'm surprised you haven't done it, Ryuji." Futamatsu's blocks of meat were fairly large; Futamatsu said they could be smaller, but they wanted to give it a hearty, meaty feel.

Partway through cooking, Ryuji quipped, "This is nowhere near done in 10 minutes, is it?" Futamatsu clarified that the 10 minutes is the simmering time. Ryuji laughed that when you say "kakuni in 10 minutes" and the video ends up 25 or 30 minutes long, people say, "That's not 10 minutes," and Futamatsu admitted, "The estimate is 10 minutes, but since we're talking the whole time, making it takes 30 minutes."

Ryuji was put in charge of the boiled eggs. Futamatsu wanted them soft-boiled, cooked for 7 minutes. The reason: to go with rice. According to Futamatsu, this kakuni's broth thickens, so even without simmering the eggs together with it, the sauce clings to them and gives them plenty of flavor.

The plan was initially two eggs. Ryuji said, "400 g is about four servings, so you should do about four," and they increased it to four. One cracked when it went into the water; Ryuji said, "That's what happens when you put in a cold egg," while also calling it "luck." The boiled eggs were not chilled in ice water. Futamatsu explained that it was fine because there was vinegar in the water, adding something to the effect that anyone worried about it can chill them.

Ryuji asked what Futamatsu pays attention to when creating recipes. Futamatsu named two things: keeping it to a length that would fit in a post on X, and not using hard-to-find seasonings. Making recipes by these standards makes them easier to cook, Futamatsu said. Ryuji retorted, "You're not even on X," teasing them to target the X crowd too, not just the "sparkly girls" on Instagram.

Futamatsu says a smaller frying pan is better, because a large one requires a lot of seasoning. Add rice bran oil and start searing with the seams of the meat facing down. Cook until the surface is a little crispy, then flip once it looks good. Excess fat will render out, so wipe that away. It's enough to sear both sides; there's no need to cook it through, since it will be simmered afterward.

The seasoning amounts are as follows.

• Water: 50 cc
• Soy sauce: 50 cc
• Sake: 50 cc
• Mirin: 3 tablespoons
• Sugar: 2 tablespoons (Futamatsu describes it as "on the sweet side")
• Hondashi: 1 teaspoon

Futamatsu says they added the Hondashi to layer on umami, and it turned out delicious. The heat is medium, just enough to bubble gently; it doesn't need to be very high. The potato starch coating the meat dissolves, gradually thickening the broth.

Anyone who wants firmer simmered eggs can add them to the pan at this stage. Futamatsu put two of the four eggs into the pan and decided to leave the other two soft-boiled and pour sauce over them later. Either way is fine, Futamatsu said; just decide whether you prefer them runny or well-simmered and firm.

As it simmered, the sauce thickened noticeably. Futamatsu explains that coating the meat with as much potato starch as possible gives a rich sauce. With less, the sauce will be lighter, which is fine in its own way, and might be just right for people who are drinking, Futamatsu said.

Partway through, Futamatsu remarked, "I'm starting to feel like it doesn't actually need 10 minutes of simmering." When Ryuji said, "So it's a lie, then," Futamatsu replied that as a recipe it's 10 minutes, but maybe it doesn't have to be 10 minutes, and you can decide while tasting.

The meat becomes tender enough to bite through, but Futamatsu acknowledged that the melt-in-your-mouth texture of regular kakuni is difficult to achieve, and the result has a meaty texture instead. Ryuji responded that opinions are divided on the falling-apart texture anyway, and some people prefer it meatier.

While it simmers, boil the komatsuna in a separate pot. Just boil it until tender; Futamatsu says it's an "extra," so it can be omitted, and frozen spinach is fine too. Still, Futamatsu insisted that it's cuter with some green. Looking at the finished dish, Ryuji said, "This thumbnail's going to do well" and "This recipe's going to blow up."

After 10 minutes of simmering, turn off the heat and plate. Because the meat is coated in potato starch and the sauce has thickened, it slips right out of chopsticks. Futamatsu said, "Next time I'll use tongs." The sauce is also delicious over rice, and poured over the soft-boiled eggs, it gives them a flavor like simmered eggs even without simmering. There was also a moment when Ryuji, looking at the plated dish, joked, "Nice beef stew," and Futamatsu shot back, "I keep telling you it's kakuni."

Ryuji ate it with a soft-boiled egg and repeated, "It's good." Ryuji also said that eating the sauce over rice is "insane." To sum up the verdict: it feels less like kakuni and more like a new meat dish, but it tastes like kakuni. The texture is meaty. Ryuji said the sauce is so good that it makes the soft-boiled eggs good too, and agreed with Futamatsu's comment that with its sweet-savory flavor and no spiciness, it's a taste boys and kids will like.

Ryuji also noted that it isn't tough despite being thin-sliced meat, and guessed that this was probably thanks to the potato starch. The conversation turned to whether too much moisture would escape without the potato starch, and Futamatsu replied that they had tried it without potato starch, and it was tough.

Another person who tasted it said it was more delicious than regular kakuni. They said they don't like the greasiness of regular kakuni, prefer this version, and find it goes well with rice. Futamatsu explained again that kakuni is meant to be eaten when it's falling apart, but this one is meaty and feels like a proper meat dish. Ryuji concluded that it's different from kakuni but has its own merits, and isn't that difficult to make.

When Ryuji asked, "On Instagram, is it no good without green?" and "Do views drop without green?" Futamatsu answered that they probably do. On Instagram, people often come in after seeing the photo. So it's important to make people think "that looks delicious" at a glance, Futamatsu said. Even if it isn't a fancy recipe, you make it look fancy. That's the Instagram style, and while it's not essential, it's cuter with it — that was Futamatsu's explanation.

Futamatsu has 229,000 followers on Instagram. Futamatsu said 90% of the fans are women, and the men are probably just those who found them through Ryuji's videos.

During the cooking, Futamatsu announced that they would be starting a YouTube channel. Futamatsu wanted to ask Ryuji, who can see the big picture of what the public wants, what kind of videos to make going forward. Ryuji's answer was, "Just show yourself as you are." The gist was that rather than a rigid format like "Today I'll be making such-and-such," Futamatsu should show their natural self, like today.

Toward the end, Ryuji teased, "You'll click over to the channel and she'll be acting all cutesy" and "She'll be doing 'Today, for my husband…'," and Futamatsu laughed and played along. The channel name hasn't been decided yet, and will be posted in the description once it goes live. The video ends with small talk, including Futamatsu explaining why they dyed their hair pink, and Ryuji joking that their own comments "will get twisted in the edit."