This Japanese Tik Tok influencer makes some of the most outrageous comfort food you’ve ever seen. Single sandwiches which could probably feed 6 to 8 aren’t uncommon. What got me hooked was his Cheesy Ramen…
Bayashi loves his food – especially when its simply running with molten Processed Cheese…
Cheesy Ramen Yes. I know. Sounds like some sort of non-sequitur. I mean, there’s a commercial on Canadian TV these days showing an Asian person taking a huge, ‘Ye hah!’ bite out of a 1 kg plank of old cheddar while dancing down the aisle between rows of desks in an otherwise ordinary office. I can’t help but wince.
Asian people don’t, per se, eat cheese. Maybe on Pizza. They have Pizza there, now. And Cheeseburgers, and a few other ‘specialties’. But never big, glutzy chomps right off the haunch, like that. They consume crazy amounts of Tofu per capita. But cheese just isn’t a traditional part of their dietary picture.
Enter Bayashi
Aside from the culture clash in the commercial, I’ve also noticed an enthusiastic recommendation by a kooky Californian food blogger-come-influencer about a much more in(?)famous Japanese Tik Tokker. Bayashi,who regularly displays an almost inhuman affinity for mainly American-origin processed ingredients, always seems not only pleased but surprised and delighted with himself when he shows off a new creation at the end of a video.
My attention was first snagged by a single dish review of a recently-hatched Bayashi dish in which melting cheese (like Processed Cheddar) is melted in with a cup of instant Ramen noodles, while being tossed and turned by a pair of chopsticks. Just Ramen and Cheese. I had to admit it looked good; like something new from Italy or some Cali mash-up master.
The key, for or me, I think was the fact the the ramen was mixed up with a little warm water as usual, which formed a small amount of rich-looking broth that sounded good to the food-imagination centre of my brain. Mmm… Cheddar and Beef… Kind of a French Dip without the bread or actual beef!
Excess without a mess
Gotta love this Bayashi guy. He makes his at times towering concoctions look easy to make, with next to zero fuss or muss. That aside, I’ll admit I’ve never seen anything like his toasted bacon and cheese sandwich, which must employ at least 20 slices of white processed cheddar and as many as 40 strips of crispy bacon. I’ll give him this: his sandwich creations almost always employ whole wheat or multigrain sliced bread. – A nod to healthy eating, at least.
The rest is pure, glorious excess!
Can’t view just one…
You’ll be glued to the screen as his dozens of Tik Tok mini vids flash by…
Check out his Cheesy Ramen goop-up at this page. Check out his bacon and process cheese stacker at this page…
And prepare yourself for gems like this…
Cheers!
~ Maggie J.