Todoroki's "Todoroki Pasta": A Tomato Pasta with a Sauce Made from Sausages and Bacon Right at Their Expiration Date

Todoroki shows up saying, "Miyasako called me and told me to come here." Ryuji revealed that they had asked a close acquaintance to set up a meeting with Todoroki. Todoroki insists of their own face, "This isn't makeup, it's a tattoo," and stays in character throughout.

The conversation turned to the show from more than 20 years ago. Todoroki looked back on those days as "insanely violent," with lots of dirty jokes, and said every performer "nearly died multiple times." Todoroki once kicked a junior comedian off a ledge about 3 meters high; the junior, being athletic, did a flip and landed on their feet. Ryuji asked, "Isn't Todoroki off-limits now too?" and Todoroki admitted, "Yeah, off-limits." For Ryuji, it was a character from the generation they used to watch on TV, and they couldn't stop laughing the whole time.

Todoroki's character can't look people in the eye without a drink, so the two toast with highballs before starting to cook. Ryuji said that when they had met Miyasako before, "our eyes never met at all," and Todoroki replied that Miyasako is "probably about as shy as I am."

For the ingredient shopping, the staff bought a whole, uncut chicken thigh. Todoroki grumbled, "Normally, if you're cooking, you'd just get the pre-cut kind," but then said, "Fine, I'll do it," and cut it up. The staff explained that they had thought Todoroki might be particular about how it was cut. It also came up that on a previous shoot, Todoroki had asked for tomato juice but was handed vegetable juice instead.

The seasoning is Ajinomoto and garlic powder, and Todoroki says, "With meat, I always season it first." As for the garlic powder: "I don't use it at home, but it's here, so I'll use it." Todoroki loves garlic and always adds a huge amount. Ryuji agreed: "My channel uses a ton too." Finally, the chicken is coated in potato starch. When Ryuji checked, "To make it a bit more tender?", Todoroki answered that this is basically how they always prep it.

The chicken is cooked skin-side down, with no oil, since fat renders out of it. The frying pan was Todoroki's own, and Todoroki had apparently practiced making the pasta alone the day before. Partway through, Todoroki realized, "I got the order wrong. I meant to do the eggplant first," but carried on anyway. The eggplant is cooked so it soaks up the fat from the chicken, and Todoroki remarked, "Eggplant is so versatile," and "It's a real lifesaver to have around." Todoroki added that their wife loves eggplant. Then a can of whole tomatoes goes in.

The heart of this dish is finely chopping three Schau Essen sausages and some thin-sliced bacon and adding them in. Todoroki said, "I want to mix it up," using a chopper, and turned it into a paste. The aim is to spread the umami of the sausage and bacon throughout the sauce; as Todoroki put it, "I mean, they're a lump of umami." Ryuji took it as something like a meat sauce.

Todoroki said they had expected the chopped meat to clump when heated, but it surprisingly didn't. Since it's processed meat that's already cooked, there's no need to fry it for long. The meat was set aside and then returned to the sauce to warm through.

For seasoning, Todoroki uses Hi-Me. Tasting along the way and adding more, Todoroki ended up using so much that Ryuji was surprised: "That was like ten-plus shakes."

The pasta is linguine, boiled for 12 minutes. Ryuji said, "I've never used linguine on my channel, have I?" but added that this sauce definitely calls for linguine because it clings so well. Todoroki mentioned that there's also a thinner type of linguine called something like "Piccolo," and Ryuji responded, "You really know your pasta." Todoroki said that knowledge comes from their wife.

The wife is a huge pasta lover; Todoroki relayed, as something heard from Miyasako, that when asked what she wants for lunch, she usually says pasta. So much so that it sounds like "she was Italian in a past life." When Ryuji teased, "You can't stand up to her, can you?", Todoroki passed along Miyasako's words: there's no way to stand up to her, the relationship is an "eternal suspended sentence," and if anything else happens, it's over.

The chatter during cooking went on with Todoroki talking about Hiroyuki Miyasako as if about someone else. According to Ryuji, Miyasako always looks lonely on the way home from drinking parties and doesn't want to go home, saying, "My wife isn't home today." Todoroki said, "I'd like you not to expose that side of Miyasako," then revealed unprompted that Miyasako plays the 2018 edition of Winning Eleven all alone at home. Ryuji said Miyasako looks really happy when drinking with Ryuji and Morita. Another anecdote came up: the night ended with the three men belting out "Gavan" at karaoke and having a blast.

Ryuji said it stuck with them that Miyasako, "with lonely eyes," had said they wanted to be used more by people. Todoroki filled in that this means there are now many people in production who grew up watching TV, and Miyasako wants them to cast Miyasako. Todoroki also said that Miyasako played forceful roles on TV because that's what was expected, and doesn't usually talk much.

When Ryuji brought up that Miyasako, asked whether they were popular with women in their heyday, had said "insanely popular," Todoroki denied it. The reasoning: Miyasako already had a wife back then, so being popular was pointless.

When Ryuji asked whether Todoroki ever bullies juniors, Todoroki replied that depending on how it's received, teasing can come across that way. But Todoroki added that if you go down that road, everything comes down to how the other person felt.

When Ryuji said Miyasako's old-style retorts would all be off-limits today, Todoroki admitted they were off-limits even toward senior comedians. Todoroki once grabbed a very senior comedian's head and said, "I'll kill you," and reflected: "Looking back, that was absolutely not okay," "Why did they forgive me?" and "So kind, my seniors."

When Ryuji asked, "You can't go on TV anymore, can you?", Todoroki answered that they're making efforts to be able to. Todoroki said they're thinking about it with the feeling of wanting to properly return at least once. As Ryuji grew wistful, Todoroki bowed and said, "TV stations, please give me a chance." When Ryuji said, "I'm on TV now and then," Todoroki shot back, "Is that a dig?" and it turned into laughter.

In the same vein, Miyasako's catchphrase came up. Many female fans ask to hear "Girls, shut up," and sometimes they ask on the street. Todoroki laughed that it's a problem, because to onlookers it looks like Miyasako is verbally abusing a woman. There was also a moment of surprise at the age gap when it turned out a staff member was 36 and Miyasako was 56.

The boiled linguine is tossed with the sauce, and olive oil and Parmesan cheese are added. Ryuji said just watching it being made was amazing and also reacted to the nice color. After tasting, Todoroki added more Hi-Me to boost the umami.

Just before it was done, Todoroki realized something had been forgotten: garlic ichimi pepper bought as a souvenir on the way back from a gig in Aomori. Todoroki had wanted to finish it with this heat. With that and a final drizzle of olive oil, it was complete. Ryuji remarked, "This is really the kind of tomato sauce I'd never make."

As for the name, Todoroki didn't know what to call a dish with processed meat turned into sauce either, so at Ryuji's suggestion it was named "Todoroki Pasta."

From the first bite, Ryuji reacted: "What is this? It's really good." Ryuji said they had never tasted anything like it and pointed out that the finishing ichimi really works. Ryuji also said the idea of chopping sausage and bacon that finely had never occurred to them. Ryuji's verdict: the tomato sauce is thick and clings well to the noodles, which is why linguine suits it. The staff also tried it and said this sauce goes well with linguine and would probably go well with seafood too.

Ryuji then wanted to try the sauce with rice and ate it like Napolitan rice. That was well received too, and Ryuji repeated, "I don't think anyone else is doing this. The idea of turning sausage and bacon into a sauce."

Todoroki explained how the sauce came to be. There were Schau Essen sausages and thin-sliced bacon at home, but Todoroki's wife had gone back to her family's home, and their son wasn't coming home because of work. Todoroki had to use them up alone, and they were at the very edge of their expiration date. So Todoroki chopped them up to keep as a make-ahead sauce, and it turned out unexpectedly delicious.

According to Todoroki, because it has a lot of moisture, it doesn't get very hard when frozen, making it a versatile sauce well suited to using a little at a time. Ryuji said it was an idea worthy of a cooking expert.

At the end of the shoot, it was announced that in return, Ryuji will cook on Miyasako's channel. What Ryuji will make hasn't been decided yet.

In the bonus segment, the origin of the pose for Miyasako's greeting "Miyasako desu" was explained. Todoroki described it as "something I heard," as follows. Miyasako used to do an "I'm such an idiot" gesture whenever they messed something up, and Matsumoto and others liked it. But after Miyasako was put in charge of a segment that assumed no mistakes would be made, the gesture could no longer be used. Later, when appearing in a Hideki Noda stage production, there was a custom of doing tai chi every morning before rehearsal, which Miyasako kept up for about three months. The movements became ingrained, and before long a tai chi–like lead-in motion started coming before "I'm such an idiot." That is said to have led to the current "Miyasako desu" move.

Finally, the conversation turned to a staff member who used to be a comedian. They had been with Maseki Geinosha, around the time their peers were starting to perform on stage. Todoroki said, "Maseki's great, they're kind," and right after added, "No, Yoshimoto is kind too," wrapping things up.