To put it in short: I rewatched Michishige Sayumi’s appearance on Ougon Densetsu (黄金伝説) when she did the “1 month, 10,000 yen challenge” (一万円一ヶ月生活対決) against Robert’s Akiyama Ryuji. After finding a collection of her recipes online in Japanese and trying a couple with success, I figured it was time to share those recipes in English. The premise of the show is living on your own for 30 days with 10,000 yen to cover your food and utilities (gas, electricity, water); two celebrities challenge each other to spend the least of their 10,000 yen—the one with more money at the end of the 30 days wins.

Thus, most of the ingredients and methods listed below are mostly budget-saving (depending on your location) and contain very few ingredients per recipe. If you have any local substitutions based on your region, please feel free to comment on the specific recipe and I’ll add them in the text! A small disclaimer: about 95% of the recipes below are for one serving—if you’re planning on making them as meal prep or for a family/friend dinner, please be sure to multiply accordingly.

This will contain an index of recipes, and the ingredient/tool list below will help you get organized as you try these on your own! The list may not be exhaustive, and will be updated with more ingredients/tools as needed.

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Recipes

Episode 1

Love-love burger (heart-shaped hamburger steak)
Mentsuyu nikujaga and vegetable peel kinpira (light meat and vegetable stew and fried vegetable skins)
Loco moco heart bento (loco moco-style hamburger steak over rice)
Milk risotto
Usa-chan peace bento (filled onigiri with stuffed bell peppers and salad)
Easy flavored rice and minestrone

Episode 2

Winning chicken katsu (breaded chicken cutlet)
Potato gratin
Sayu-meat bean sprout bowl (meat sauce and bean sprouts with rice)
Bean sprout ankake and cheese risotto (ankake is like a thickened sauce/gravy)
Sanma fillet bowl and soup
Homemade chikuwa and satsuma-age (grilled fishcake and fried fishcake)
Homemade oden (simmered sides in broth)

Episode 3

Homemade udon noodles (plain, tomato, curry)
Magical delivery udon bento (udon in minestrone)
Tomato udon pizza

Episode 4

Homemade gyoza skins (gyoza is roughly equivalent to Korean mandoo and Chinese wonton)
Homemade gyoza
Gyoza skin quiche
Gyoza skin pizza
Gyoza skin crepes
Gyoza skin mille-feuille
Gyoza skin curry pie
Gyoza skin Peking duck-style chicken

Episode 5

Komatsuna and daikon leaf pizza (made with gyoza skins)
Flower bud shumai and cocotte (casserole)
Gyoza skin cup noodle
Ravioli and carrot jam sweets

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Ingredient/tool list

BASIC INGREDIENTS (These you probably have at home or are easily accessible)

Spices/Additions

salt and pepper
ketchup (you may want to buy pasta/pizza sauce for some of the recipes)
Worcestershire sauce

Shelf-stable (to an extent)

all-purpose flour
granulated sugar
oil (vegetable or canola for a neutral taste)
rice vinegar (should be a yellowish tint, not clear/white vinegar)

Perishables

onion
potato
cabbage
carrot
bell pepper
ground beef or pork (can be a mix as well)
ground chicken
chicken breast/thigh
egg
cheese (mozzarella or any other white cheese would probably go best with most of these recipes; some require slices, some could go with shredded )
milk

SPECIALTY INGREDIENTS (You may need to find these in specialty/Asian stores)

Perishable/refrigerated section

bean sprouts (white with a yellow end)
long green onion (scallion is OK, but you want some white/thicker part at the bottom)
chikuwa (white fishcake, usually with a hole through the middle; if you don’t want to make the homemade version)
cod or any other sort of white fish (for the homemade chikuwa; cheap fresh white meat fish is OK)
sanma (mackerel pike; for the fillets)
komatsuna (mustard spinach)
daikon (one small, leafy daikon should be enough)
gobo (root vegetable; chicory, lotus, or parsnips apparently work as well)

Shelf-stable section

curry roux/powder/flakes (Japanese-style which is traditionally more sweet; S&B or Vermont is your best bet)
white, short-grain rice (sometimes known as ‘sticky rice’ or ‘sushi rice’; Michishige had bought roughly 5 pounds for the 30 days)
panko (dried bread crumbs)
mentsuyu (sauce used for noodles; usually comes concentrated; look for bonito/katsuo if not vegetarian, or kombu if vegetarian; 3倍/3x strength is ideal; will need to be refrigerated after opening; this is used as a substitute for soy sauce)
sesame oil (a small bottle should be enough; used mainly as flavoring in these recipes)

Tools you may not have at home

Grater: even better if it’s the plane-type that can go over a bowl
Peeler: Y-peelers are the easiest to use; can use a knife if skilled enough (I’m not)
Kitchen scissors: or scissors with sharp edges
Mortar and pestle: Any rounded wooden stick could work as a pestle in a sturdy bowl; the alternative is a food processor (Michishige elected not to use one to save on electricity)
Rolling pin: needed for the udon and gyoza
Small grill: if planning on making the homemade chikuwa, you’ll want an open flame (if you don’t have an open flame burner)
Small serving dishes: the kind used for one person. Oven/microwave safe porcelain/glass is your best bet.
Strainer: for your noodles

The more expensive appliances you’ll get some life out of

Rice cooker: the show has an expensive looking one, but anything that cooks by weight should be OK
Toaster oven: Japanese microwaves are cool cause they can function both as a microwave and as an actual oven—most other regions are separate appliances. You may want to have a toaster oven for the recipes that require baking.
Microwave oven: some recipes specifically call for microwaving—I haven’t tried these in a traditional cooking manner yet.

I must reiterate: this translation/guide is for educational/informational purposes only.