"Shin Mapo Curry" for a Spice-Loving Band Member: Ryuji Remakes His Signature Dish with Curry Powder

According to Ryuji, mapo curry is a fictional dish that appears in the Tales of video game series. Ryuji loves the games in this series, thought "I could probably make this," and when he tried, it turned out delicious. A-ko adds that his earlier mapo curry was made for a collaboration with Bandai Namco, and that it was quite a while ago.

The earlier recipe used curry roux, but this time he uses curry powder. Ryuji's reasons are that curry powder lowers the calories and changes the flavor. The base is Ryuji's mapo tofu, to which he adds curry powder and serves over rice. The "Shin" in the name refers to this remake.

The client had said they wanted "something super spicy." However, Ryuji cautioned up front that his cooking falls within the range of "savory-spicy." Since the birthday person is apparently a serious lover of extreme heat, he said he planned to add more chili at the venue.

There was hardly any time during filming, and Ryuji himself called it a "time attack." He originally planned to make a small amount, but partway through he increased it to four to five servings so every band member could eat. Ryuji explained that this was no problem, since he makes his usual "Ultimate Curry" in four servings too. If you make it at home, halving everything gives you two to three servings.

Ryuji said he doesn't usually take jobs like this. He accepted this one because he loves the band, and his appearance at the venue would be a surprise. At this point he kept the artist's name hidden, also saying, "I don't think most of you know them."

First, he minces about 25 g each of garlic and ginger. Ryuji says, "Mapo really is better with ginger." This time, to prioritize heat, he leaves out tianmianjiang and seasons only with doubanjiang.

He heats about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot, and once it's hot, adds 300 g of ground pork. He doesn't stir the meat right away but lets it sear. Ryuji explained this as his method for mapo tofu, saying, "Cook it until it gets browned like this. This becomes umami." Medium-high heat is fine. He sets the garlic and ginger on top of the meat so they don't burn, and meanwhile chops a Japanese leek on the cutting board. It's one leek, roughly 100–120 g. Garlic chives would also be tasty, but he doesn't add them this time.

Once the meat is browned, he adds about 2½ tablespoons of doubanjiang and stir-fries. Ryuji said, "If you love extreme heat, you can go that far," while explaining that because there's a lot of meat, even this won't make it all that spicy. Next he adds about 1 teaspoon of Sichuan pepper. When A-ko asked, "Don't you usually add Sichuan pepper at the end?", Ryuji answered that he'd sprinkle some at the end too. He then explained that it tastes better when it blends into the curry as a spice, and that Chinese seasonings go very well with curry. The moment the Sichuan pepper went in, A-ko reacted, "That smells good."

Ryuji says this curry may be easier than ordinary curry, because unlike curries made with chunks of meat, it doesn't need long simmering.

For seasoning, he uses 4 teaspoons of Chinese stock powder (which Ryuji calls "Chuka Aji"). Chicken bouillon is fine too, but he says Chinese stock powder adds more richness. For mapo tofu, chicken bouillon would be fine, but he explained that for a curry eaten with rice, it's better to have a bit more richness. He adds 1½ teaspoons of oyster sauce. Oyster sauce goes well with rice, so he uses it to add depth. The water is 300 cc.

He adds the tofu as is, without draining it. On preparing tofu for mapo tofu, Ryuji said that although parboiling is sometimes said to be important, "you don't need it." He mentioned that he and Takeshi had recently concluded that mapo tofu doesn't need any pre-treatment. A-ko responded that they'd talked about this in videos such as one involving Cook Do.

Partway through, he increased the tofu to two blocks, 600 g. Ryuji stated, "Tofu is really the star of mapo curry," and said silken tofu is best for curry, because if the tofu is too firm, it doesn't meld with the rice. On the other hand, he added that people who want to eat it over several days can use firm tofu, given that it breaks apart as it's stirred.

Once it reached the mapo tofu stage, he added about 2 tablespoons of curry powder. Here Ryuji said, "This makes it curry."

Next, as a secret ingredient, he added ⅓ teaspoon of Ajinomoto. Ryuji said, "Japanese people aren't satisfied with curry unless it has umami," explaining that this is because it's eaten with rice. His view is that dishes eaten with rice feel lacking unless they're either salty or strong in umami.

He tasted it at this point and confirmed, "It's not spicy at all." Then he added sugar. A bit of sweetness makes curry go better with rice, and the guideline is "a slight sweetness." The final amount was 1⅓ teaspoons, and Ryuji emphasized, "This makes a huge difference in flavor."

To finish, since he hadn't used much oil this time, he added 1 tablespoon of rice bran oil. When A-ko asked, "Is finishing oil something you add at the end?", Ryuji answered, "Oil is a seasoning." His explanation was that it's not for lubrication but a seasoning that defines the flavor, and curry tastes better with oil on it. Finally, he dissolved 2 teaspoons of potato starch in about 1 tablespoon of water and stirred the whole pot broadly to thicken it. The heat stays high until the end; the tofu breaks up somewhat, but Ryuji says, "Broken-up tofu is delicious."

Plated, it looks close to mapo tofu. Ryuji stressed, "It looks like mapo tofu, but it's definitely curry." He finished it with chili oil and Sichuan pepper. A-ko reacted when the chili oil went on, "Suddenly it looks super spicy." Ryuji also said he thinks this curry goes even better with rice the next day.

The finished curry was transferred into plastic containers to be reheated at the venue. The live house apparently has only a microwave, so microwaving was the only option. Ryuji said it would really taste better heated to a bubble in a pot over there, but that how delicious you can make something under tough conditions like these is "the skill of a culinary researcher." He set aside the band members' portions. He explained that closing the lid right away traps heat and causes spoilage, so you should cool it in a cool place with the lid open.

In footage from the live venue, after a birthday song for guitarist Miya, Ryuji is introduced as a surprise guest, and huge cheers go up. Saying, "I thought I might be out of place," Ryuji told them how much he loves MUCC, that he got into them through "Zetsubou," and that he still sings their songs at karaoke.

When the mapo curry was served, one of the members joked to the effect that, because of their real name, they had some connection to "Mabo," and the room erupted. The members who tasted it said it was very spicy but not harshly so, and that the aroma was very strong. One remarked that they like both Indian curry and Japanese curry and had wondered whether there was something in between, and this tasted exactly halfway between mapo tofu and curry. Someone also mentioned being indebted to Ryuji's kimchi hot pot product, and at the end everyone took a commemorative photo together.

The scene returns to the studio, where Ryuji and A-ko taste the dish. A-ko said "It's spicy" on the first bite, but Ryuji says that for a lover of extreme heat, it would be mild. Still, both agreed that it properly tastes like curry and goes well with rice. Ryuji summed up the key points of the seasoning again: adding sweetness, the umami of the ingredients, and the umami of the umami seasoning.

If you want more of a curry flavor, he recommends sprinkling on curry powder right before eating. A-ko tried it and felt the sprinkled version had more curry character, saying many people would probably prefer it. As it stands, she said, it's a roughly half-and-half hybrid flavor.

As for heat, Ryuji says that as is, it's "not spicy at all," "a heat that whets the appetite," and that if he served it as super spicy, he might get scolded. He also said that for spice lovers, this level is "the same as juice." He then explained that if you only want to adjust the heat, chili pepper is the best option. Ichimi togarashi is weak, and chili pepper is the hottest, he said. A-ko reacted that she hadn't known this, and Ryuji said he planned to sprinkle chili pepper on it when serving at the venue.

Ryuji also said, "It's been a while since I made something I like." That's because super-spicy food is a genre he rarely covers in his Buzz Recipes. He also emphasized that it took a while because he was talking as he cooked, but the process itself is very simple, and the spices still come through strongly.

Between cooking steps, Ryuji's work ethic also came up. The next day he'd be leaving early in the morning on a business trip to Matsuyama, his first time in Shikoku. Takeshi was planned to come along too. When A-ko said, "You might be the busiest YouTuber in the world," Ryuji answered that he'll keep going as long as there's work. He also said that since he never trained formally as a cook, he has to work hard to stand shoulder to shoulder with YouTubers giving it their all at the top.

As for why he's been able to keep going as a YouTuber, Ryuji said he realized it's "because I'm physically tough." When everyone else gives up, he can still keep moving. His view is that this job involves a lot of throwing yourself into things and is surprisingly physical labor. A-ko also said filming and business trips are physical labor for her. Ryuji explained that since A-ko was already tired that day, he wouldn't take her to the live venue and would have her handle filming and editing instead.

Ryuji went on to say that, to be honest, he's strict with his employees. Other business owners tell him he's very kind, but if he weren't strict, he couldn't deliver good videos to viewers. So he has always told his employees, "You don't have to do it for me—do it for the viewers." He also mentioned, half-jokingly, that the previous day they had filmed a bar-hopping-style video, but everyone got caught up in drinking and didn't pay attention to the video, so it turned out boring.

Since the business trip starting the next day would mean a string of meals out, Ryuji told A-ko to "savor this now," which led to a conversation about eating out versus home cooking. Ryuji says that even when he eats his way around on business trips, he ends up feeling his own cooking is the best. He likes eating at restaurants too, but that's more something that stays in his heart as an experience, and few dishes make him think "I want to eat that again." A-ko responded that she, too, sometimes feels eating at home is best.

For Ryuji, "I want to eat that again" is the highest praise, and something he rarely says. As dishes he's recently said it about, he named the head chef's navy chicken curry, the kamameshi at a restaurant he went to with Kuwato-san, and a fillet he ate at an acquaintance's restaurant. The fillet was a lean cut, not chateaubriand, and Ryuji recalls it as "the best meat of my life." He was amazed that something simply salted and seared in a frying pan could possibly be that delicious. A-ko had eaten the same meat and said it was at the top for her too. A-ko pointed out that a lot of the dishes Ryuji names are carbs.

Returning to the topic, Ryuji revealed that the band he was visiting was MUCC. He says MUCC is unusual even within visual kei and is called "missitsu-kei" (closed-room style). As Ryuji explained it, visual kei at the time was flashy across the board, but MUCC had a unique atmosphere, and every song they released was negative. Ryuji says that when MUCC emerged, "it gave me chills." He says he used to sing "Daikirai" when drunk, but A-ko said she might never have heard it, and Ryuji admitted he hasn't sung it lately.

He says that singing visual kei at karaoke sometimes puts off the people around you. A-ko laughed that she doesn't know how to get into it, saying DIR EN GREY is the only one she knows. Ryuji pointed out that people around him came to know DIR EN GREY because he sings them often, but pitched that MUCC has lots of great songs too. A-ko said she knows Alice Nine.

Finally, Ryuji said, "I hope they like it." Since this was a first-time attempt, he said he needed to remember to bring the chili pepper to sprinkle on at the venue, and with an announcement that the live venue footage would be included as a bonus, the video ends.