Kinoko Bakase on the Functional Claims for "Shimofuri Hiratake" and a Knife-Free Beauty-Skin Rice Bowl

According to Bakase, Shimofuri Hiratake, which Hokto has been promoting since last year, has been sold under the "Food with Function Claims" label since July. The basis for the claim is that ergothioneine, a compound found in oyster mushrooms, helps maintain skin moisture. When Ryuji asks whether a function claim can't be added unless it's approved, Bakase replies that such labeling becomes possible once the national government accepts the notification.

Bakase explains that ergothioneine is a type of amino acid. The core claim this time is that experiments have shown eating oyster mushrooms containing ergothioneine helps keep skin moisturized. When Ryuji sums it up as "So it's good for your skin?", Bakase confirms it. As for how to eat them, he adds that even once is fine, but it's better to eat them as continuously as possible.

When Ryuji asks whether other mushrooms lack ergothioneine, Bakase answers that king oyster mushrooms, shiitake and others contain small amounts as well. Even so, he says, among the mushrooms commonly cultivated in large quantities, oyster mushrooms have the most. The richest is a yellow mushroom, he notes, but it isn't grown much. According to Bakase, this is the only mushroom to have obtained a function claim based on ergothioneine.

When Ryuji reacts that this seems like quite an achievement, Bakase looks back and says that, counting from the start of development, it took about eight years. The team ran their own experiments on how ergothioneine affects the body, ultimately obtained results from a clinical trial on human subjects, published a paper, and arrived where they are today.

The topic shifts to Bakase's own body. He says he eats this mushroom and others many times more than the average person. When the company measured saliva components to check how much was being absorbed into the body, most employees came in at around 0.2–0.3, while Bakase exceeded 1.0, he reports. He adds his own estimate that this is probably about ten times that of an ordinary person. When Ryuji laughs and asks whether he researched himself, Bakase clarifies that the data in the paper came from an unspecified number of people.

Bakase is 59 years old. Ryuji remarks that "that's not the skin of a 59-year-old," and jokingly says that he too has switched most of his mushrooms to oyster mushrooms and gets told his skin looks nice—maybe it's thanks to the oyster mushrooms.

During the cooking, Bakase's Instagram also comes up. He currently has just over 9,000 followers; before appearing with Ryuji he had just over 3,000, so that's an increase of about 6,000. When Ryuji flatters him by calling him an influencer, Bakase replies that he's aiming for 10,000, and Ryuji is delighted by his enthusiasm.

This episode's recipe is Bakase's beauty-skin rice bowl. No knife is needed—just a frying pan and a stove.

The steps are as follows. First, tear one pack of Shimofuri Hiratake by hand and put it in the frying pan. Add about 100 g of cherry tomatoes, 4–5 cm of tube garlic, and about 1–1.5 teaspoons of olive oil, then turn on the heat. Tomatoes take a while to cook through, so crush them thoroughly while stir-frying. Next, add about half a can of mackerel and some consommé. Bakase had in mind 1 teaspoon if using granules, but on this day they broke a cube in half. The liquid from the mackerel can goes in too, since it adds umami, and everything is simmered. Serve over rice and finish with grated Parmesan.

Bakase recommends using one pack of oyster mushrooms per person per meal, saying they shrink when cooked so that's "nowhere near enough, really." Ryuji says that not needing a knife makes it easy, and that recipes like this are welcome on his channel, which sometimes gets called out for lacking vegetables. He also describes it as an Italian-style dish whose components are close to acqua pazza.

Bakase also explains his reasoning behind the ingredients. Along with oyster mushrooms rich in ergothioneine, tomatoes contain lycopene, a compound with antioxidant properties, and canned mackerel contains DHA and the like and has strong antioxidant effects, he says. Ryuji adds that olive oil is also good for the skin. In other words, the dish combines three kinds of ingredients said to be good for the skin. Before mackerel, Bakase tried chicken, pork, ground meat and more, but his trial and error found mackerel worked best.

Vitamin D also comes up. They didn't expose the mushrooms to UV this time, but Bakase says that those who want to go further can put the mushrooms in sunlight outside the window or under a UVB fluorescent lamp for reptiles to increase vitamin D, making them even better. Ryuji expands on this, saying vitamin D is also good for immunity, but there's a moment where Bakase turns out not to have been listening.

To finish, Bakase pulls out fresh thyme grown in his garden at home. It appears just as Ryuji says sprinkling on some parsley might be nice, and Ryuji laughs, "You should've said so," while checking its aroma.

On taking a bite, Ryuji's first reaction is "This is really good." He says the slippery texture of the oyster mushrooms, the acidity of the tomatoes, and the umami of the reduced mackerel go well together. Canned mackerel has a fishy smell straight from the can, he says, but heating drives it off, and with the garlic working too, there's no off-odor. Bakase adds that even people who don't like raw tomatoes could probably eat them cooked.

Ryuji stresses that, before even getting to whether it's good for the skin, it simply tastes good. He says he'd like to eat it once every three days and that, since it provides both vegetables and protein, this one bowl could serve as his whole lunch. As for the thyme, he says dried thyme might work too, and sprinkling it on makes the dish feel like café food. He also says that someone close to him who only makes simple things would probably make this, since it doesn't require a knife.

While cooking, Bakase mentions how tough sponsored work is, and Ryuji shoots back, "This is a sponsored video," drawing laughs over Bakase having forgotten it was his own company's sponsorship. Ryuji reveals as a behind-the-scenes story that Hokto commissioned one video, but since having Bakase on yields enough content for a whole video by itself, he's shooting two on his own initiative. Next time, Ryuji plans to make a beauty-skin recipe.

The second half turns to Hokto's mail-order mushroom set. It's sold in a limited quantity of 300 sets per month, and according to Bakase it's been well received. It includes large king oyster mushrooms and three packs of oyster mushrooms, among other things, and Bakase says king oyster mushrooms of this size can't be found in stores.

From there, the conversation moves to mushroom freshness. Ryuji says that through filming with Bakase, he's become able to tell roughly how many days have passed since harvest for mushrooms at the supermarket. King oyster mushrooms develop vertical wrinkles as they age, and he shows that the ones in the set have none at all. When Ryuji mentions something Bakase taught him—that mushrooms lose flavor as the days pass—Bakase answers that they clearly do, and king oyster mushrooms in particular lose flavor easily. As a recommended way to eat them, Bakase suggests grilling king oyster mushrooms whole, then cutting them and sprinkling on seasoning. Ryuji says that if you brought them to a barbecue, they'd be the star.

Finally, Ryuji talks about going hiking with Kuwata. He sent Bakase photos of mushrooms he found, and the reply came back: "Edible, but not tasty." However, Bakase had wanted to see the underside too, so Ryuji urges viewers to also photograph the underside when taking pictures of mushrooms. According to Bakase, with the top, the underside and the stem, he can generally tell. Ryuji describes this as being "like an AI," and the video ends.