Not "Recreating" Yoshinoya's Braised Pork Belly but Trying to Beat It His Own Way: Ryuji's Yoshinoya-Style Kakuni

At the start, Ryuji brings up something people have often been saying lately about recreating chain restaurant menu items: there's no point recreating Yoshinoya because you can just go eat there. Yoshinoya has a strong image as an affordable place that's right around the corner. Ryuji thought that perhaps most viewers don't actually want a perfect recreation. According to him, the people who want perfect recreations are mainly those living overseas.

So Ryuji decided there was more demand for making it his own way. Yoshinoya's kakuni is simmered until meltingly tender in a rich, thick soy sauce glaze, soft enough to cut with chopsticks. Ryuji explains that it's served with chili crisp on top, piled onto rice and eaten with gusto.

Ryuji has previously released two kakuni recipes, one not sweet and one sweet. He takes pride in the fact that "the most-watched kakuni on YouTube is probably mine," but says he has never managed to top that recipe himself. Judging from reports on Yoshinoya's kakuni, Ryuji guesses that it has a very strong soy sauce flavor with a Chinese-style touch from soy sauce and oyster sauce. The idea behind this video is that if he knows that much, he can just make it with his own seasoning, and then compare the two.

Ryuji says the only ingredients are a pork belly block, ginger, a Japanese leek (naganegi), and chili crisp. The pork belly is two pieces totaling about 600–700 g.

What Ryuji considers most important is the nature of the pork belly. The meat this time has slightly more fat than lean, and more fat makes for a meltingly tender result, he says. Conversely, Ryuji flatly states that kakuni made with meat that has no fat at all is not good in the slightest. He also recounts a time he made it with meat that was about 80% lean and it came out dry. In Ryuji's view, the best ratio for kakuni is 6 parts lean to 4 parts fat. When simmered, a large amount of fat renders out and floats to the surface, and removing all of it gives the best result. Since this meat is on the fatty side, he explains that it should turn out "fall-apart tender."

About 20 g of ginger is thinly sliced. The thickness can be rough, he says. For the leek, the white part is thinly sliced on the diagonal to use as a topping, and the green part goes into the simmer. The green part is meant to remove gamey odors, but Ryuji also frankly says "you don't need it." Pork belly these days has almost no gamey smell, and ginger alone is plenty. Still, adding it gives a leek aroma, so he's including it this time.

What Ryuji stresses about the topping leek is to always soak it in water. Soaking makes the leek itself finer in texture and removes its sharpness, so it goes extremely well with rice. A minimum of 15 minutes is fine, and since prepping the kakuni takes more than 15 minutes, he lays out the timing: just put it in water at the start.

The block is too thick to simmer whole, so it's cut in half lengthwise. If you have a long, narrow block, this step isn't needed, he says. Ryuji rates this meat as having "nice marbling" and being well suited to kakuni.

This time he bought good domestic pork, so it wasn't cheap. Still, Ryuji says it's cheaper to make it yourself. Ryuji guesses that Yoshinoya probably uses imported meat, and says domestic pork really does taste better. On the other hand, he adds that the sauce is rich and delicious, so using imported meat is completely fine. That's the end of the prep.

Ryuji believes Yoshinoya's kakuni must be seared first. He also says he has never once questioned searing first. Searing once adds a toasty aroma.

The pork belly itself has plenty of fat, so no oil is added. Over medium-high heat, the pieces are laid in, turned on their sides, stood on end, and seared on all sides. Searing renders out a good amount of fat, and it quickly pools at the bottom of the pan. Fat will render out with heat even without searing, but Ryuji explains that this approach removes fat and adds aroma at the same time, and is a technique commonly used in making kakuni.

Ryuji says the rendered fat alone is probably about 1,000 kcal. Once the whole thing is browned, the fat is removed. Ryuji calls this "100% natural lard" and repeatedly asks viewers never to throw it away. It's delicious floated on ramen, and if you put it in the fridge it solidifies and can be used as natural lard. It works for stir-fries too. "This recipe gets you lard as well," Ryuji says.

During searing, a staff member mentions that they used to cut off the fat on kakuni before eating it. Ryuji strongly objects: "Absolutely not." The more you simmer the fat, the more it shrinks and the fewer calories it has, leaving behind fat that has rendered out. That rendered fat is the tastiest part, so cutting it off is the same as throwing away the best part—that's his reasoning.

According to Ryuji, people who cut off the fat are actually mostly women. He says people can eat however they like, but he feels they "just don't get it." What's more, this staff member loves back fat and is someone who adds extra back fat to their ramen. Ryuji points out that saying ramen back fat is fine but pork fat isn't is a double standard. He also argues that humans are wired to find fat delicious to begin with, and anyone who eats fried food can't possibly dislike fat.

Along these lines, Ryuji also mentions that his recently released recipe book The Great Chicken Guy (Idainaru Chicken Yaro) has gone into a reprint for the first time in a while. He also shares that when he consulted his editor about his next book, they suggested, "Let's do Pig Guy."

After removing the fat, the meat goes back into the pan and is simmered as is. The meat shrinks quite a bit, so it's fine to simmer boiled eggs along with it, he says. The green part of the leek can have grit in it, so it's washed before adding. Ryuji says adding aroma with aromatic vegetables is extremely important.

The basic amount of water is just enough to cover the meat—350 cc this time. Add 50 cc of sake for umami and aroma. As for the core of the seasoning, Ryuji states flatly: "soy sauce and oyster." That's 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, with no mirin.

Ryuji is especially emphatic about sugar. "Kakuni isn't kakuni unless it's sweet," he says, and kakuni made stingy with sugar isn't good. Ryuji's cooking normally uses almost no sugar, and when it does, it's often about half a teaspoon as a hidden accent. Even so, he says kakuni is the dish where he uses the most sugar. Ryuji uses granulated sugar, which is free-flowing and doesn't clump, so it's easy to measure out. He says about 4 tablespoons, the same as the soy sauce, is ideal, but this time he held back a little and used 3½ tablespoons. That brings the liquid to just about cover the meat.

To get a flavor tone similar to Yoshinoya's, Ryuji says you should definitely add umami. With this much sugar, you don't need much umami, but having a little does make it go better with rice, he says. So he adds 7 shakes of Hi-Me.

Asked why he uses Hi-Me instead of Ajinomoto, Ryuji cites the difference in aftertaste. With Hi-Me, the savoriness lingers after you eat. Ajinomoto hits your mouth with a burst of savoriness, but it tends to be a direct flavor and can come off a bit cheap, he says. Since he wants a restaurant-like flavor this time, he judged Hi-Me to be the better fit. Ryuji recalls that Hi-Me tasted great in a previous comparison video too. If you don't have Hi-Me, Ajinomoto will probably also be quite delicious, he says.

As for how much Ajinomoto to use as a substitute, Ryuji answers that the same 7 shakes is fine. Hi-Me has stronger umami, but its shaker holes are smaller, so with these particular bottles the same number of shakes is enough. By weight, he explains, Hi-Me needs only half the amount of Ajinomoto.

The amount of simmering liquid should be enough that the meat is submerged and the surface glistens. A drop lid isn't needed since the meat is submerged. Once it comes to a rolling boil, cover it and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Simmering for 1 to 1½ hours makes it fall-apart tender, and Ryuji says 1½ hours is better if possible.

Some say that depending on the meat, it tastes better if you parboil it starting from cold water first. Even so, Ryuji chose not to start from water this time. He wants to eat this kakuni with rice, so he wants the flavor to soak all the way through. That's why simmering it with the seasoning liquid from the start is so important, he says. Ryuji also says it may feel long because he's talking, but basically it's an easy dish—just sear and add the seasonings and it's done. As long as you don't skimp on simmering time, it'll taste better made at home, he says.

In the end, it simmered for about 2 hours. Ryuji explains that about 2 hours of simmering gives it a Yoshinoya-like fall-apart texture, and 1½ hours is still perfectly good to eat. Just before it's done, the leek that's been soaking in water is drained. The sharpness is gone, leaving only crunch and aroma, he says. Freshly cooked rice is prepared too, and following Yoshinoya's presentation, a skillet-style dish is used. Mustard (karashi) is also set out.

The finished meat is so tender that it falls apart under its own weight when lifted. Ryuji says it'll break if he lifts it any more; chopsticks slide right in, and there's no need for a knife or fork.

Despite having removed so much fat during searing, there's still lard floating on the surface of the simmering liquid. It's actually easier to remove once cooled, but there's no time, so it's skimmed off with a spoon. The liquid is also used as the sauce, so leaving a lot of fat in it makes it greasy. Skim until you think you can't get any more, and you'll get a "jet-black" sauce, he says.

The meat falls apart easily, so it's carefully transferred to the dish and plated as thick slices. Plenty of leek and chili crisp go on top. The reduced sauce left in the pan is thinned with a little water, then thickened with 2 teaspoons of potato starch (katakuriko) dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water. According to Ryuji, Yoshinoya's sauce is also thickened with potato starch. The finished dish is this thickened sauce poured over the meat, placed on rice and eaten. Yoshinoya serves it as a rice bowl, but this time, for presentation, the rice was served in a slightly larger portion.

Tasting it, Ryuji and the staff chime in one after another: it's almost too tender, the juices come out, it melts on the tongue. Ryuji calls it "the right answer" and "a masterpiece." Someone also says there's no greasiness at all. There was a comment that adding mustard makes it go even better with rice, and at one point it was eaten with mustard mayonnaise. Ryuji also says the combination of leek and chili crisp is an absolute must.

As his impression from comparing, Ryuji says that at 1½ hours it didn't get this tender, and it was the 2 hours of simmering that produced this texture.

Ryuji also urges the staff member who said during searing that they cut off the fat to eat the fatty part. The staff member replies, "It seems more okay than I expected" and "It's delicious," and says it goes well with rice too. Ryuji explains that searing once before simmering removes a considerable amount of fat, so it ends up less fatty than typical kakuni. He also says that even people who find kakuni fat hard to handle at their age should definitely be able to eat it.

In closing, Ryuji says it's unclear how long Yoshinoya's kakuni will be sold as a limited-time item, but even after it ends, you can make it at home. There aren't many steps—just sear and simmer—so he encourages viewers to make it with these toppings. A staff member says the rice disappears in seconds.

At the end, the conversation turns to health. A cold is currently going around among the staff, and the first to get sick was Ryuji, but Ryuji says he recovered after sleeping for only about half a day. Asked how he manages to post to YouTube every day, Ryuji answers that a large part of it is physical. If your health slips even a little, you can't post every day, so staying healthy is extremely important, he says.