"Screw-It Crispy Gyoza" Made with Just Ground Meat and Gyoza Wrappers, Plus a Big Mac-Style Sauce for a Flavor Switch

According to Ryuji, there aren't many recipes in Ryuji's repertoire that use gyoza wrappers. The only ingredients this time are ground meat and gyoza wrappers. When a staff member asks whether there will be any vegetables, Ryuji answers, "Because it's a pain," and makes it with meat alone.

The recipe uses 200g of mixed ground beef and pork. Ground pork alone works fine, but the mix gives it a meatier flavor. The meat was from the fridge and right at its best-by date, and even the staff remarks that "the color looks borderline." Ryuji admits, "It has to be today or never," and explains that the meat is getting used up because Ryuji truly hates food waste.

For the filling, add the following seasonings to 200g of mixed ground meat and knead well.

• Mayonnaise: 1 tablespoon
• Salt: 1/2 teaspoon
• Pepper: 4 shakes
• Ajinomoto: 6 shakes
• Nutmeg: 3 shakes (to cut any gamey smell)
• Garlic powder: 8 shakes

Ryuji calls this a "spicy meat filling" and says all that's left is to smear it onto the gyoza wrappers and fry them. When a staff member asks whether it's "void cooking," Ryuji replies that it's "business cooking."

Since the dish is just fried, Ryuji says "anyone could think of it," and prepares a sauce for switching up the flavor just in case. Making it is optional, and the dish is plenty good without it. The reason for making it is that "as a cooking researcher, just frying this would be boring, right?" The base flavor is a simple salty one.

The sauce is made as follows.

• Mayonnaise: 25g
• Ketchup: 10g (11g went in during filming)
• Yellow mustard: 4g
• Sugar: 2 pinches
• Salt: 1 pinch
• Garlic powder: 4 shakes
• Ajinomoto: 3 shakes

Adding yellow mustard "makes it taste more like junk food," but it can be left out if you don't have any. When a staff member says it's "like a hamburger," Ryuji agrees. The idea is that ground meat and a wheat-flour wrapper are basically a hamburger, so dipping it in this sauce gives it a hamburger flavor. Ryuji also says that if you like it, you can make a double batch of the sauce.

To make it, rub the meat filling onto a gyoza wrapper, lay it meat-side down in a frying pan, and press it flat. You can spread the filling sloppily, because pressing it spreads the meat across the whole wrapper. A staff member notices that your hands don't get dirty, and Ryuji says that's exactly it: wrapping gyoza gets your hands really messy, which Ryuji hates.

No oil is used. Fat renders out of the ground meat, and mayonnaise is oil anyway. Once frying begins, fat can actually be seen bubbling up around the wrappers. Ryuji adds that if your pan isn't nonstick, you should use a little oil. How many you can cook at once depends on the size of your pan, so it's best to make the next batch while the current one fries.

Because the meat layer is thin, flip them as soon as they're cooked. Some spots on the wrapper side got overcooked and frizzled. Ryuji said, "If you want them to look nice, maybe start with the wrapper side," but when the staff asked whether starting wrapper-side down would prevent that, Ryuji answered, "I don't know," having never cooked gyoza wrappers this way before. Then Ryuji declared, "Cooking can be like this. Because it's definitely going to taste great."

A staff member remarked that it's simple enough to make with kids, and would also make a good bar snack for dads who aren't good at cooking. Ryuji joked that you could make it while zoning out, and that Ryuji was zoning out right at that moment. It looks tastier with more meat spread on, and since making lots of them is also a hassle, you can make the meat layer thicker. Ryuji also said, "Cooking is about freedom, so do whatever you like."

While they're frying, the conversation turns to how adding lettuce lets you get some vegetables in, and how pairing it with the sauce from earlier makes it "pretty much a hamburger." They also say kids would love it, since kids like crunchy foods.

When a staff member says that not needing oil makes it "surprisingly healthy," Ryuji pushes back: "It's not healthy." Saying something like that, Ryuji explains, immediately gets you flamed. Ryuji says X (formerly Twitter) has gotten really scary lately, and wonders whether so many people are angry because they're deeply dissatisfied with the world and want to set fire to anything they can.

If there's leftover filling, another option is to put it on rice. Because more of the wrapper surface gets fried than with regular gyoza, it gets really crispy. Ryuji calls it "screw-it meat crispy."

The plate is set with drained, "half-dead" lettuce, ponzu, Aji-Shio, and the Big Mac-style sauce.

They start with just Aji-Shio. The sound of the bite gets them excited — "That sounds delicious" — and both describe it as having "destructive power." Ryuji is surprised: "Something this simple tastes this good."

Next they eat it with lettuce and the Big Mac-style sauce, and the reactions are "a mini Big Mac" and "it's a Big Mac." Ryuji says, "It's better with this sauce," revising the earlier assessment to say the two should be prepared as a set. Folding it around lettuce like a taco, "it tastes like McDonald's." The wrapper is crisp and toasty, prompting the comment, "Is it okay to eat something this good this easily?"

At the staff's suggestion, they top it with Majisco, a condiment Ryuji makes. It gives a spicy flavor like salsa, and together with the lettuce it becomes "a total taco." Ryuji says it's also nice that the lettuce adds a vegetable element, and that this is a must for drinkers.

Next they pair it with rice and drizzle on fragrant ponzu. According to Ryuji, this is the same as eating gyoza with dipping sauce, so there's no way it doesn't go with rice. Sure enough, the verdict is "it's super good with rice" and "it works with rice and as a bar snack."

Since the seasonings — Aji-Shio, Big Mac-style, Majisco, and ponzu — are all different, you never get tired of it, and they talk about how "you could throw a party with this." Asked which is their favorite, both hesitate before naming the Big Mac-style sauce, especially wrapped like a taco and dipped. Ponzu was judged "pretty good" for how well it goes with rice.

On using ground meat right at its best-by date, Ryuji says the aroma of the garlic powder, pepper, and nutmeg completely eliminated any off smell. The staff member says they didn't notice at all until it was mentioned.

There was some regret about the quantity. 200g of meat made only about 10 to 12 pieces, and they vanished in an instant with two people eating. Ryuji says making about 15 pieces with 300g of meat is Ryuji's preference. If there's leftover filling, you can just put it on rice and make a rice bowl. Ryuji adds that if you want it to taste like gyoza, you can also mix in garlic chives.

The filling is seasoned meat on its own, so it's tasty as is. Even so, Ryuji says, "Texture really matters after all." In Ryuji's view, just as plain pork becomes tonkatsu when breaded and fried, adding texture is what turns it into a dish. The two are also surprised that even the pieces stacked at the bottom of the plate stayed crispy instead of going soggy.

Ryuji started out making it in a "void" mood, but says, "It's totally stopped being void," admitting to feeling hyped for the first time in a while. The staff agrees with Ryuji's assessment that it might be the best thing Ryuji has made recently, and says they hope the video takes off. Ryuji wraps up by saying the flavor is just plain delicious, so viewers should definitely try this "god-tier recipe."