Ryuji's "Garlic Chive Meat Sauce": Turning Garlic Chives into the Sauce Instead of a Topping

According to Ryuji, this pasta was not from a regular video but something served to staff as a meal when no filming was taking place. A-ko, who handles the filming, called it their "favorite recipe," and since Ryuji kept not making a video of it, A-ko suggested this shoot, saying it "should be shared with the world." Ryuji said this recipe has not yet circulated publicly.

Ryuji left the filming to A-ko, saying they wanted recipes they were confident in to be shot by A-ko, who is skilled at camera work. The recipe itself apparently already existed around last year, and A-ko recalled, "I wanted you to release it sooner" and "I was moved the first time I got to try a little." Ryuji also mentioned sometimes cooking newly developed recipes for the people around them to taste.

The amounts for one serving are 70 g of ground pork and half a bunch of garlic chives. This time, for two servings, 140 g of ground pork and one bunch of garlic chives were used.

As the reason for using so many garlic chives, Ryuji cited seasonality. Garlic chives are a vegetable that comes to market in spring after surviving the winter cold, and chives that have endured harsh cold become crisp and thick, and develop sweetness. Filming took place in late February, at the point where "it's March starting tomorrow." Ryuji said they want to keep eating seasonal foods while they are in season as part of this series as well.

Ryuji also pointed out that there are surprisingly few dishes that let you eat a lot of garlic chives. Because garlic chives are expensive, even in Chinese cuisine there are few dishes where they are the star, and even in nira-tama (garlic chive and egg stir-fry) only a small amount goes in. At home, even if you leave just a little garlic chive unused, it goes bad quickly. Being able to use up a whole bunch at once was also described as an advantage of this recipe.

Since it is a meat sauce, thicker 1.8 mm pasta was used this time. Ryuji said thin pasta is fine too, and 1.4 mm or similar also works, so be flexible.

The pasta used was Oh My Premium's "Mochitto Oishii Spaghetti," which Ryuji is involved in promoting. According to Ryuji's explanation, this product blends domestic wheat, giving it elasticity and a chewy, "mochitto" texture. On the other hand, using Italian durum wheat gives it a "snappy" texture. Ryuji said this chewy texture goes well with garlic chives, so they'd like people to use it, but noted themselves that there is also the matter of their promoting it. After tasting, A-ko also said they preferred the thick noodles, and that the garlic chives clung to them well.

Garlic chives are easier to cut if you first divide them in half. After a light rinse, finely chop the base end, which is tough. According to Ryuji, this finely chopped part blends into the whole pasta and serves as the sauce. The guideline is about one-half to one-third of the total.

Cut the rest into roughly 1 cm pieces as a topping. When A-ko asked, "About the same as for Taiwan mazesoba?" Ryuji responded, "You know your stuff." The recipe was originally created with Taiwan mazesoba in mind.

Saying that ground pork and garlic chives alone would make for unbalanced nutrition, Ryuji made a soup with soybean sprouts that had been forgotten. A-ko had bought them, and several days had already passed, so they were on the verge of going bad.

Here is how to make it:

1. Put 600 cc of water and the soybean sprouts in a pot. The soybean sprouts are also tasty when slightly wilted.
2. Add a pinch of sliced chili pepper.
3. Add about 10 g of grated garlic. If using garlic powder, about 15 shakes is a guideline. Too much and all you'll taste is garlic.
4. Bring to a boil, then add 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
5. Finish with 3 shakes of table pepper. Drizzle in a little sesame oil if you like.

Ryuji said that when using chicken bouillon, it's better not to add any extra dashi. This soup is centered on the flavors of salt and garlic, and it is what Ryuji always drinks. Korean gukbap is also based on this method, and it is also delicious if you add chicken or similar to make it into proper gukbap. Drop in an egg and it becomes an egg and bean sprout soup; combine it with rice and it becomes gukbap-style. Since it was seasoned somewhat strongly this time, Ryuji recommended that those who want to drink it as an ordinary soup reduce the salt to about a pinch.

Ryuji lamented that soybean sprouts don't get many views when featured in videos. On the price of soybean sprouts, there was a moment where Ryuji said "they cost over 100 yen," which differed from A-ko's recollection. Ryuji speculated that soybean sprouts are more nutritious than ordinary bean sprouts and perhaps take more effort to grow.

This pasta is not made in one pan. Ryuji gave as the reason that making it in one pan overcooks the garlic chives. It can be made in one pan, and one option is to bring it together with the thickness one-pan cooking produces, but this time Ryuji wanted people to taste the garlic chives rather than the flavor of the wheat, so the noodles are deliberately boiled separately. Ryuji explained that boiling separately also has the advantage of making it easier to cook 3 to 4 servings.

The pasta is boiled in water with a 1% salt concentration. Ryuji guessed that the package time for 1.8 mm would be 11 minutes, and decided to pull it out at about 9 minutes.

Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, stir-fry the ground pork, and season with salt and pepper. It tastes best when it gets a bit browned. Ryuji said they don't much like using sesame oil, since it makes everything taste like sesame oil. Ryuji described this dish as their own original and said no one else makes it.

Even once the pork is crispy, don't add the garlic chives yet. If added too early, they become limp and mushy. Turn off the heat, then add chuka aji Chinese seasoning. The amount is 1 teaspoon per serving, so 2 teaspoons this time. Next, add oyster sauce as well. If you don't have chuka aji, chicken bouillon powder alone is fine. According to Ryuji, this pasta is basically seasoned with only two things: oyster sauce and chuka aji.

With the heat still off, add all of the garlic chives. When there's about 1 minute left until the pasta is done, turn the heat back on and stir-fry lightly. Since it's a meat sauce, the garlic chives taste better slightly wilted. This time, to finish it on the firmer side, about two ladlefuls of pasta water are added to make the sauce, and then the boiled pasta is added and tossed. Let the garlic chives wilt a little, but not too much. Ryuji said of the finishing stage that "the flavor changes by the minute, by the second," and explained that the point where it becomes saucy is when it tastes best.

In between cooking, Ryuji spoke about their view of cooking. The key to cooking, Ryuji said, is how far you can cut down the ingredients and seasonings you use and still make something delicious. It's a given that using lots of seasonings makes things tasty, and it's also a given that putting in effort makes things tasty, so neither is anything to brag about. Fewer ingredients is definitely harder, and if you keep cooking you come to understand that. Ryuji's view is that people who are truly good at cooking can make something extremely delicious with few ingredients.

From there, Ryuji went on to say that someone who serves a dish saying "sorry, I took shortcuts" and it turns out to be really delicious is a genius. That's because they can make people happy while using as little of their own precious time as possible, and value their own time and money too. Ryuji pointed out that in Japan, things made with needless effort tend to be considered good, and said that people would be happier if they thought that what's truly delicious is what's right. Ryuji also said that lately they praise themselves, thinking, "I made something delicious with few ingredients, so I'm a genius." However, Ryuji added that spending a whole day simmering beef curry, having it turn out delicious, and thinking you're the best is also a very good thing. Ryuji's position is that managing to make something with few ingredients and few steps is just as worthy.

Ryuji also showed strong pride when it came to pasta. Having eaten pasta at all sorts of restaurants, Ryuji thinks that overall their own pasta is the best, and has stopped being impressed when eating pasta out. Ryuji usually ends up thinking "I could make this tastier," and said that Morita had said the same thing.

While adding the garlic chives, Ryuji talked about the voice actor Yasumoto. Yasumoto loves garlic chives, and when they went to Shibuya together privately, ate nothing but garlic chives and said, "Garlic chives are expensive when you buy them at the supermarket."

According to Ryuji, Yasumoto, despite being a well-known voice actor, is extremely down-to-earth and apparently goes to the supermarket every day. Yasumoto knows the prices of things well, and when it comes to store-bought seasonings like stir-fry sauce mixes, knows even more than Ryuji, often sending LINE messages asking, "Ryuji, do you know about this?" Because Yasumoto cooks every day, their advice when collaborating was spot-on, and the two can exchange opinions. Ryuji praised Yasumoto, saying there aren't many people who can talk about food as much as Ryuji, a culinary researcher, can. Ryuji and A-ko expressed hope that Yasumoto would surely make this recipe.

A-ko, tasting it, was surprised that it had properly become a sauce. A-ko commented that it's amazing when you eat it knowing the ingredients, given that the main seasoning is essentially just two things. A-ko cried while eating and said they liked it as much as the "Ultimate Arrabbiata" made previously. Ryuji joked back, "You didn't react like that to the carbonara."

Ryuji explained that with uncooked garlic chives it doesn't become like a meat sauce and doesn't work as a sauce. Taiwan mazesoba uses garlic chives almost raw, but this recipe deliberately wilts them a little to give them a sense of unity with the sauce. The explanation was that the idea of turning garlic chives into the sauce is the heart of this recipe. A-ko agreed that it's not a common idea. As for why no garlic is used, Ryuji said that with this many garlic chives, a garlic-like aroma comes through.

To change up the flavor, Ryuji added "Majisco," a seasoning they created. Ryuji said Majisco is the strongest of all the seasonings they've created, with many repeat customers, and that it still sells well. A-ko remarked that adding Majisco turns it into a different pasta.

Black pepper also goes well with it. Ryuji's recommendation is to first enjoy the vivid aroma of the garlic chives and then add pepper afterward. However, Ryuji also said it's fine to add pepper from the start, and recalled that pepper was written in the original recipe too. A-ko appreciated being able to change the flavor partway through, and said it seems like a taste ramen lovers would enjoy too.

On the soybean sprout soup, A-ko said "it packs a punch," and was surprised at how it could become so delicious with these steps. Ryuji said that adding soybean sprouts gives the soup depth, and speculated on why: soybeans release umami just as tofu does, and they are also the raw material for soy sauce.

Together, the pasta and soup make for a quite filling meal. Ryuji said soybean sprouts also make you feel full because they increase how many times you chew. A-ko described the pasta and soup as "both being the stars," and said they wanted to make the soybean sprout soup themselves with an egg dropped in. About the garlic chive meat sauce as well, A-ko said, "I can make this."

Finally, Ryuji acknowledged that it might be a combination that would normally be unthinkable, and wrapped up by saying that since both Ryuji and A-ko are confident in this recipe, they hope people will give it a try.