Ryuji's "Supreme Omiotsuke": Turning the Hearty Miso Soup from Okinawa into a Bowl You Can Eat with Just Rice

According to Ryuji, ordinary miso soup is a side dish, and a meal of "just miso soup and rice" is not very common. Tonjiru (pork miso soup) is the exception, but what Ryuji wanted to make this time was not tonjiru but a hearty miso soup packed with ingredients. The miso soup at the Okinawa shop was so delicious that Ryuji wanted to show how to make that kind of complete-meal miso soup—that was the motivation this time.

The concept is "miso soup where you can put in anything you like." Miso soup ingredients tend to stick to standards like tofu and green onion, but Ryuji says you can actually put in anything, and miso soup is "seriously accommodating." Laughing that bananas probably wouldn't work, Ryuji proposed a miso soup that isn't tonjiru, loaded with plenty of vegetables. Since it uses no oil, it's also good nutritionally, Ryuji explained.

The ingredients were decided based on what was in the kitchen. Ryuji wanted animal protein, so pork was used. Tonjiru would call for pork belly, but this time pork scraps (koma-giri) were enough. The Okinawa shop used luncheon meat (Spam), but on the mainland it costs around 800–900 yen, so Ryuji said there was no need to use it. Bacon is fine if you have no pork, and a certain cook whom the speaker named sometimes even puts bread in miso soup and eats it as it softens. That's how versatile this recipe is, in Ryuji's view.

For greens, komatsuna would have been ideal, but A-ko had bought garlic chives. Ryuji said garlic chives or spinach would also work, and in the end decided to use frozen spinach, which Ryuji has been into lately. Because it can be made with whatever's on hand, the barrier is low.

The final ingredients were frozen spinach, bean sprouts, firm tofu, carrot, onion, eggs, and pork scraps. Ryuji emphasized that it's fine if any of these are missing or if there's more of any of them. The tofu must always be firm (momen). If you put silken tofu in a soup packed with ingredients, it breaks up into small pieces and loses its presence as an ingredient. Eggs go in because they're highly nutritious and go well with miso soup.

The carrot used had a darkened surface. A cooking show would probably throw it out, but Ryuji peeled it on camera to show that once peeled, the inside is perfectly edible. It had lost some moisture and was a bit pithy, but Ryuji said it was fine.

From here, Ryuji talked about how "knowledge is money." Throwing away vegetables you bought is the same as throwing away your own money, and the ability to judge whether ingredients that are past their date or discolored can still be used translates directly into money. Ryuji wants these videos to give viewers knowledge, so Ryuji shares all their knowledge here. Ryuji went on to recall that, when first starting out in culinary research, they didn't know the story that Okinawa leaned toward a bonito-dashi culture because its water is hard. Ryuji knows it now because they studied, and if you stop studying, you stop growing. So if it ever looks like Ryuji has stopped studying, Ryuji asked viewers to say, "There hasn't been any new knowledge lately."

Use about 40–50 g of carrot and 50–60 g of onion. For things like curry, onions are cut along the grain, but for hearty miso soup, Ryuji's method is to cut them across the grain. The firm tofu can be cut however you like; Ryuji cut it into thirds, then sliced it horizontally into bite-size pieces.

For the pork scraps, the guideline is 120–130 g, cut a little on the small side. If the pieces are too big, they're hard to eat together with the vegetables, and since this isn't tonjiru, smaller is better. When A-ko asked whether pork belly should also be cut small if using it, Ryuji said they thought so. On the difference from tonjiru, Ryuji said tonjiru doesn't usually include onion, tofu, spinach, bean sprouts, or eggs, and that this is the key point of this miso soup.

Tonjiru would involve sautéing the ingredients, but not this time. Put all the cut ingredients into about 600 cc of water, then turn on the heat. The Okinawan miso soup also starts in cold water, and root vegetables are said to be best started from cold water, so that's fine. Tofu releases a soybean flavor as it simmers, so it's better to add it at the start.

As it comes to a boil, a large amount of scum rises from the pork. Ryuji said that in their "Supreme Tonjiru" they don't skim the scum, but since this is a delicate miso soup meant to highlight the flavor of the miso, you should definitely skim it this time. Bringing it to a good boil makes the scum gather in one spot, so it can be skimmed off in one go.

Other ingredients such as sweet potatoes or potatoes can also be added. However, adding nagaimo (Chinese yam) makes it thick and slimy. Ryuji personally loves nagaimo miso soup, but whether people can accept the sliminess varies, so like nameko mushroom miso soup, it's a matter of taste, Ryuji said.

This time, Ryuji didn't make kombu and bonito dashi. To explain why, Ryuji brought up the idea that the trick to delicious miso soup is "not adding salt." Dashi made from kombu and bonito has almost no salt, so you can add that much more miso. On the other hand, granulated Japanese-style dashi and kombu dashi contain salt, so you have to cut back on the miso accordingly or it gets too salty. That's why it's best to use umami that contains as little salt as possible.

Normally you'd make dashi from kombu and bonito, but that wouldn't be Okinawan-style. According to Ryuji, Okinawa originally had little kombu, and on top of that, its water is hard. Ryuji introduced one theory that in hard water, calcium prevents the umami of kombu from being extracted, so katsuobushi (dried bonito), which yields flavor more easily even in hard water, developed instead. Ryuji also gave the examples that Okinawa soba and goya champuru both taste of bonito.

So what's used this time is Ajinomoto, because it adds umami without extra salt. You could add kombu, but it can make the soup smell of kombu and interfere with the bonito aroma, so Ryuji says deliberately using Ajinomoto makes it taste best. Lately Ryuji has been making many dishes without Ajinomoto, but in a dish like this it's better to use it—that's how Ryuji positions it. With more meat, Ajinomoto wouldn't be needed, but with this amount it's better to use it. The amount was about 7 shakes, and since it came out generously, Ryuji said they'd really like to add about 8.

For bonito, add 3–4 g of bonito powder. One pinch is roughly 1 g. If using regular katsuobushi flakes, it's better to heat them in the microwave and crumble them into powder so they don't catch in your mouth. With this, the liquid itself becomes a salt-free dashi, and seasoning it with only miso makes it "come together perfectly," Ryuji said.

Next, add half a bag (about 100 g) of bean sprouts. If you like them, a whole bag is fine. According to Ryuji, some people get angry when miso soup has bean sprouts in it, saying it's "like poor people's miso soup," but bean sprouts go very well with miso, and especially in a miso soup eaten with rice, Ryuji really wants you to add them. A-ko said they used to add them often too. It's tastier if you simmer them until they soften a bit.

Add 75 g of frozen spinach, about half a bag. Fresh spinach or komatsuna also works; komatsuna can go in at the same time as the bean sprouts. When A-ko said there wasn't a single difficult step, Ryuji replied, "That's what food you eat every day is all about." You can't put a lot of effort into miso soup, but you still want vegetables and protein. This bowl has tofu and pork, plus eggs later, so it's very nutritious, Ryuji said.

Here, Ryuji also emphasized the difference from chefs' channels. Ryuji's channel teaches practical cooking rooted in daily life, not restaurant dishes. If you want to make something truly delicious, other channels are fine, but if you want to learn food you eat every day, Ryuji thinks their channel is the place, and since these are things Ryuji has cooked and eaten at home every day, they should be easy to make, Ryuji said. People have to eat every day, so Ryuji thinks about how to make that delicious, easy, cheap, and nutritious.

When using fresh spinach, those concerned about oxalic acid should boil it once before adding it. In Ryuji's estimation, however, around 100 g won't produce much bitterness, so those who don't mind can sauté or simmer it as is. Here Ryuji also brought up the example of natto. It's said that heating natto destroys nattokinase, but how beneficial that actually is for the body isn't known. So it's better to think about the positives rather than the negatives, in Ryuji's view. Spinach is high in oxalic acid, but it's also rich in other nutrients, so unless you're eating huge amounts in salads or 400 g at a time, there's no great need to remove the oxalic acid, Ryuji said. If you're concerned, chopping it roughly and soaking it in water for about 15 minutes, or boiling it once, will remove it. People who eat spinach every day should remove it, but if it's just a few times a month, Ryuji feels you don't need to worry much—that was how Ryuji put it.

For the miso, use white miso. The miso soup they ate in Okinawa also used a whitish miso, and Ryuji said that may have been Okinawan miso. Tasting it before adding the miso, it had become a full "dashi" flavor, with the sweetness of the onion and carrot coming through.

Ryuji first dissolved 3 tablespoons of miso and tasted it, ending up with 4 tablespoons in total. Since there's no other source of saltiness, this is the type where you add more miso, Ryuji says. Three tablespoons has plenty of flavor, so if you prefer it light, that's fine. Ryuji likes a strong miso flavor, and with lots of ingredients, went with 4 tablespoons. If it gets too strong, just add water. Four tablespoons of miso to 600 cc of water is Ryuji's own preferred ratio.

It's often said that you shouldn't let miso soup boil once the miso is in. But with hearty miso soup, you don't need to worry about that so much, Ryuji says. Because it's a dish of vegetables simmered in miso flavor, the aroma of the miso doesn't need to be treated as so important.

To finish, crack in 2 eggs, since this is for 2 servings. The eggs set more easily if they're slightly submerged in the soup, and you can cover the pot or not. They're delicious close to raw and broken up as you eat, but Ryuji wants to cook them until they've turned white all over. According to A-ko, the Okinawa shop's eggs were cooked to about the level of a poached egg.

Here, Ryuji shared a pet theory: nothing tastes better than food made to your own taste, so home cooking is the best, and restaurants can't beat home cooking. No restaurant will customize dishes to your palate, and Ryuji has never once changed this view.

In between cooking, there was also a moment where A-ko talked about the comment section. Sometimes people say A-ko speaks better in the makanai episodes, and sometimes they write "Never put her on again." Ryuji replied that A-ko isn't the one at fault and is worrying too much about the comments. Ryuji called on viewers, saying "Never put her on again" is okay, but please stop writing things like "die" or "ugly."

There's also a trick to plating. It's a shame visually if the eggs get buried under the other ingredients, so scoop out the eggs first, ladle in the ingredients and soup, and place the eggs on top last. If you want the eggs to look even nicer, it takes extra effort, but making poached eggs separately and placing them on top is a good option. Shichimi was sprinkled on at the Okinawa shop too, so sprinkle it over everything. The bowl was a ramen bowl; with this many ingredients, a donburi bowl is fine, Ryuji said. Rice is optional, and some people will probably be full from this alone.

A-ko tasted it and said it was just like that shop, and the reproduction was amazing. When Ryuji asked whether it tasted like it had Ajinomoto in it, A-ko said not at all. Both said the bean sprouts were a nice touch. The rice was cooked in a "Fukkurin."

A-ko said that if you make a big batch, it would be perfect for people who work late into the night, and since it's mostly vegetables, there's no guilt. The idea also came up that it might be good for people like night-shift nurses who tend to struggle with their diets. Ryuji added that if making it ahead, you can just add the eggs at the end.

For a change of flavor, use doubanjiang. The Okinawa shop also added it, and adding a little turns it into a spicy miso soup that goes even better with rice. Ryuji said they wanted to recommend this version.

While eating, they also talked about the response to recent videos. Ryuji thought the nanakusa-gayu (seven-herb rice porridge) video wouldn't do well, but it did very well, and so did the yudofu (simmered tofu) video. Ryuji made an ume-nagashi video thinking no one would want ume-nagashi from them, but it's getting a surprising number of views. A-ko said maybe people want health-nurturing dishes, and Ryuji replied that maybe people want to see them because Ryuji hadn't done them before. A-ko often searches X (formerly Twitter) for posts by people who made Buzz Recipes, and said there are strangely many people making rice porridge.

According to A-ko, a fair number of people are still making a broccoli recipe from a while back. Ryuji explained that this is because it's a recipe that can be built into everyday meals. Highly viewed recipes like hamburg steak or Napolitan spaghetti are things you only need to make once or twice a month. Ryuji has done nothing but those kinds of recipes until now, so lately Ryuji has been aiming for things that can be used every day and that let you adjust your nutrition. Ryuji wants it to be a channel where they study together with the viewers.

They also talked about episodes featuring guest chefs. A-ko said they're very educational, and that the episode with Morita-san was especially good. Ryuji said that although they consider themselves to love cooking a great deal, they might not be able to beat Morita-san, because Morita-san has been researching constantly and has even gone overseas to study. Ryuji also said they'd like Kawagoe-san, whose pasta was delicious, to come back, since it's been more than a year since the last time. Ryuji can't cook washoku (Japanese cuisine), so Ryuji deeply respects washoku chefs, and the conversation turned to wanting to collaborate with a washoku chef as well.

Even with just one ramen bowl each, both of them got quite full. A smaller portion of rice was enough, and that means eating less rice, which makes it healthier, Ryuji said. Ryuji said ramen has only about 100 g of noodles after boiling, so it doesn't feel like you've eaten much, and it's oily too. The good thing about miso soup is that it's delicious and satisfying without using any oil at all.

Lately Ryuji has been introducing things that you could happily eat every day, and believes that leads to making videos that raise viewers' QOL ("quality of life," as A-ko explained it). Having been given this much work and having become widely known as a culinary researcher, Ryuji said it's now time to give back. If everyday cooking videos improve viewers' quality of life and help them eat healthy, delicious food, maybe that can repay the debt even a little—that was how Ryuji put it.

The rice they couldn't finish was sprinkled with Ajishio, wrapped in nori, and made into onigiri. Since the meal was mostly vegetables, they'll probably get a little hungry in 2–3 hours, so they'll eat them then. A-ko was delighted, saying onigiri are their favorite food in the world. If you wrap the nori on ahead of time, the moisture makes it soft, like old-fashioned onigiri, and that's delicious too, Ryuji said.

The basic rule is to turn leftover rice into onigiri, and even if you do this at home, nobody teaches you these things, Ryuji said. To wrap up, Ryuji concluded that this "Supreme Omiotsuke" has it all: it's easy, highly nutritious, and healthy.