Microwave Cold Chinese Noodles Made with Yakisoba Noodles (No Frying), and a King Oyster Mushroom Salad

Bakase prepared two dishes: a salad of sliced onion, wakame seaweed and king oyster mushrooms, timed for new-onion season, and hiyashi chuka (cold Chinese noodles) made by heating yakisoba noodles in the microwave. Neither requires a stove. Bakase chose these two dishes out of a wish for people to eat mushrooms in summer too.

Bakase says that boiling noodles for hiyashi chuka is a hassle and makes things hot in summer. So, as a method of Bakase's own devising, already-steamed yakisoba noodles are heated in the microwave, then chilled to make hiyashi chuka. Mushrooms are added as well, and combined with pre-cut vegetables to make a salad-like dish. Ryuji reacted with "I might not have done this one," and remarked that it seemed like a recipe that would get a lot of views.

For the salad, the ingredients are onion, dried wakame, seasoned ponzu, and pre-cut king oyster mushrooms. For the hiyashi chuka, they are yakisoba noodles, pre-cut king oyster mushrooms, imitation crab sticks, pre-cut vegetables, seasoned ponzu, and Caesar salad dressing. Bakase said that Caesar dressing goes surprisingly well with mushrooms.

First, rehydrate 3 g of dried wakame in water. Even 3 g makes a lot; according to Bakase, it expands about tenfold.

Since the onion was large, half was judged to be enough, and Bakase sliced it thinly. New onions were used that day. Bakase says that some new onions are pungent and some are not, and pungent ones are best soaked in water. Ordinary onions should also be soaked in water, according to Bakase. Their eyes stung a little while slicing, but when Ryuji tasted a piece it was sweet, so they decided to use it as is without soaking.

Arrange the sliced onion on a plate and top with the drained wakame. The pre-cut king oyster mushrooms can be microwaved right in their package, so snip a small corner of the bag before heating.

Here, a technique from the previous video makes an appearance. Adding frozen okra to the hot, freshly heated mushrooms and mixing cools them down right away. Having seen this last time, Bakase was apparently still excited about it even after the cameras stopped rolling. Ryuji added that this method also keeps the mushrooms' umami from escaping. If you don't have frozen okra, you can cool them some other way. When they actually mixed it, the mushrooms cooled down immediately, and both of them were surprised.

The cooled mushrooms and okra were placed on top of the onion and wakame, about 1 tablespoon of seasoned ponzu was poured over, and toasted sesame seeds were sprinkled on to finish. After some discussion, the dish was named "Eri-Tama Salad." Ryuji added that it can also be made with bunashimeji instead of king oyster mushrooms.

While making the salad, Bakase remarked that not many people put mushrooms in salads. Ryuji likes mushroom salads and says topping vegetables with sautéed mushrooms is common. Still, Ryuji feels that people don't really eat mushrooms much in summer.

According to Bakase, Hokto originally developed its white bunashimeji with the idea that people would eat them in salads, making it a summer product. But it's hard to get people to use them in summer. When Ryuji asked whether mushroom sales are concentrated in winter, Bakase said yes. In summer, nobody wants to eat mushrooms. Bakase says the reason is that the company has never properly proposed ways of eating them that suit summer. So Bakase hopes to borrow Ryuji's help to somehow get people eating them in summer too.

Next is the yakisoba-noodle hiyashi chuka. Put the yakisoba noodles in a heatproof container, and add all of the pre-cut king oyster mushrooms as they are. The mushrooms can be used without cooking, but since the noodles need heating anyway, they go in together. Cover with plastic wrap and heat at 500 W for 3 minutes; it still wasn't enough, so they added another 40 seconds.

Everything is hot after heating, so drain it in a colander and cool it under running water. Yakisoba noodles are coated in oil, so rinse it off along with the mushrooms. When Bakase tried to do this hot job by hand, Ryuji stopped them, saying "If Bakase gets burned, I'm the one who'll get flamed," and took over.

The well-drained noodles and mushrooms go right back into the container used for heating. That way there's no extra washing up, Bakase says. Gather the mushrooms together to make it look nice, bundle the noodles into one mound, and top with the pre-cut vegetables. Tearing 2–3 imitation crab sticks by hand and placing them on top adds a touch of red. Ryuji remarked that hiyashi chuka is usually a hassle because it calls for egg or chicken, but this is easy.

For seasoning, use 1½ tablespoons of seasoned ponzu. Pour it into the bottom of the container and toss it with the noodles. Drizzle a little Caesar salad dressing over the vegetables and mushrooms. According to Bakase, many people put mayonnaise on it, so the idea is similar. Finally, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and it's done. Bakase says they love toasted sesame seeds.

The longest step in the process was the microwave time. Ryuji praised the fact that no stove is used. The filming studio is very hot, but Ryuji says they hadn't broken a sweat that day.

While cooking, Ryuji explained why they buy pre-cut vegetables. A whole head of lettuce sometimes has dirt trapped in it, and washing and drying it takes effort. That's a hassle, so lately Ryuji buys bagged salad. Bakase agreed that it's convenient because there's no waste, and you can take just what you need and eat it over several meals. Any kind of vegetable is fine, they say.

After tasting the salad, Ryuji said the crunchy texture of the king oyster mushrooms and the crisp texture of the onion go well together. The aroma of the toasted sesame is surprisingly effective, and the wakame serves as an accent, Ryuji says. Ryuji also said that, since it uses ponzu and contains no oil, it's a very healthy dish.

Bakase suggested that if you want it richer, you could add mayonnaise or Caesar dressing. It's also good if the onion is pungent, Bakase says. The onion Ryuji ate was in fact a little pungent, so Ryuji tried it with a squeeze of mayonnaise. Bakase said that the oil in mayonnaise coats the surface of the onion so the pungency is harder to taste, presenting this as hearsay: "That's what people say, anyway." Ryuji concluded that mayonnaise goes well with sharper onions, and that the ponzu-mayo combination works too.

Bakase personally pointed out a weakness of the hiyashi chuka. With hiyashi chuka, how smoothly the noodles go down is important, and yakisoba noodles may fall short in that respect. They are, however, easy to prepare. Given that, Bakase thought the texture of the king oyster mushrooms might make up for it.

After tasting it, Ryuji said that if you're making it with yakisoba noodles, you should definitely include king oyster mushrooms. The bouncy texture of the mushrooms plays the textural role that cucumber would in ordinary hiyashi chuka, Ryuji says. The noodles are a bit softer than in regular hiyashi chuka, but the mushrooms make up for it. Ryuji also said the toasted sesame really comes through and makes the mushrooms taste very good.

As for the Caesar dressing, Ryuji said it goes well and that you could add a bit more to taste. Bakase speculated that it pairs well with mushrooms because Caesar dressing contains cheese. Ryuji described it as a slightly Western-style take on Chinese food.

Later on, the conversation turned to the combination of ponzu and Caesar. According to Ryuji, ponzu alone is a bit too sour, but adding Caesar mellows it out. Ryuji called this "a clever move." The king oyster mushrooms have a meat-like texture and are the star of the dish, Ryuji says. The talk turned to how Japanese mustard or yuzu kosho would probably go well as additions, and Bakase revealed that they love yuzu kosho and make it themselves.

Ryuji said king oyster mushrooms taste better when you use a generous full pack. Bakase replied that they'd like people to eat a whole pack in one meal. From there, Bakase developed the idea that if everyone became healthier, the nation's medical costs would go down. Japan's national medical expenditure is around 50 trillion yen, and if that dropped by 10%, 5 trillion yen would be freed up. Bakase half-jokingly said that if we change things starting with food, we wouldn't even need a consumption tax. When Ryuji replied, "Bakase, you cover it, then," Bakase laughed and said, "No way." Ryuji wrapped up the topic by saying that food is important, so let's start with what we ourselves can do.

At the end, Ryuji noted that this episode used Hokto's pre-cut king oyster mushrooms, and that a recipe using pre-cut bunashimeji was featured in the previous video. As for impressions, Ryuji said that besides being delicious, it was great that the cooking was easy and the room didn't get hot. In summer, a hot room tends to be a problem when cooking, Ryuji says. In response to Bakase's challenge of how to get people to eat mushrooms in summer, when consumption tends to skew toward winter, this episode offered two stove-free dishes as one answer.