00:00One bowl of batashoy pasta, steam rising, nori and shiso catching the light,
00:05three pantry staples you have had for years doing this. Watch what happens when the soy sauce hits
00:11the empty side of the pan. A printable version of this recipe is available on my website,
00:16simply google wafu pasta so that you to grab yours. Before the stove turns on, we do our prep.
00:23Wash 100 grams of spinach, shake the water off and pat it dry. Cut into bite-sized pieces and
00:29set it near the stove. Slice 50 grams of bacon, diced 1 clove garlic,
00:36slice 4 shiitake mushrooms and give them a light sprinkle of salt.
00:41Now the pasta, fill up up with about 1600ml of water, bring it to a proper rolling boil,
00:48and add 1 tablespoon of salt which is roughly 1% of the water weight.
00:54Drop in 180 grams of dry spaghetti and stir well for the first 30-60 seconds so the strands do
01:02not
01:02fuse together in the bundle. Here is the one rule I want you to follow. Cook the spaghetti for 1
01:08minute less than the package says. We are going to finish that last minute inside the skillet with
01:14the toppings, not in the pot. While the pasta is cooking, heat a wide skillet over medium-low and
01:20lay in 50 grams of sliced bacon in a single layer. If your bacon is on the leaner side,
01:26add a small splash of neutral oil to get things started, otherwise you can skip that.
01:31Let the fat render slowly until the edges pick up color and you see a thin layer of golden fragrant
01:38drippings in the pan. Add the shiitake mushrooms and the diced garlic to the bacon fat and spread
01:45everything out into a single layer. Resist the urge to stir. Let it sit undisturbed for
01:522-3 minutes until the moisture evaporates and the edges develop a light golden color. Pour in one
01:59tablespoon of sake and add an eighth teaspoon of dashi powder. The liquid heats the hot pan and sizzles
02:06sharply and it lifts all those caramelized bits, the fond back of the surface and folds them into the sauce.
02:15This is free flavor that would otherwise stay stuck to the pan. Let the alcohol cook off for about 10
02:21seconds. Toss in spinach and stir just until the leaves start to wilt, about 15-20 seconds.
02:29Now push everything to one side of the pan and pour half tablespoon of mirin onto the empty space,
02:35lace, sit and bubble on the exposed pan surface for about 10 seconds before you fold it into the rest.
02:43Push everything to one side again, expose the hot pan surface and pour about two-thirds of your
02:50one tablespoon of soy sauce, which is two teaspoons, directly onto the scorching metal.
02:57Stir everything together of medium-low heat for another 10 to 15 seconds so the soy sauce wraps
03:05evenly around every piece. If the toppings finish well before the pasta, add a splash of pasta water to
03:12keep things from drying out or sticking. Now for the combined step. Grab your tongs and lift the spaghetti
03:19directly from the pot into the skillet. Do not bother with the colander here. Add a splash of the reserved
03:27paste water and toss everything together with real energy for about 20 to 30 seconds. Move the pasta
03:34through the mushrooms and bacon and spinach so every strand picks up colour and fat.
03:42Turn off the heat. This is important. Now add one tablespoon of unsalted butter and the second
03:48addition of soy sauce, which is the remaining one teaspoon. The first addition of soy sauce got caramelized on
03:55the pan surface for the deep roasted aroma. This second addition goes in of heat to keep the bright,
04:02raw, fermented top notes of the soy sauce intact, so it's one ingredient, two flavour dimensions.
04:10Now toss well, adding more pasta water a small splash at a time if you need to,
04:15until the sauce looks glossy and coats every noodle evenly. What you're looking for is polishing from
04:21one end of the pan to the other. No pools of water around the edge, no oily slicks separating out,
04:28just a smooth gloss. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over the pasta and give it one final toss.
04:35The acid lifts the whole dish, cuts through the richness of butter and the saltiness of the soy sauce,
04:41and keeps each bite feeling fresh instead of heavy. Plate it up immediately into serving bowls. Finish with
04:49chopped green onions, kizami nori, fresh sizzle leaves if you can find them, and ground black pepper to taste.
04:56And there it is, a glossy wafu butter shoyu pasta with rendered bacon underneath,
05:03earthy shiitake, wilted spinach, the deep toasted aroma of soy sauce caramelized on the pan,
05:10and the bright fresh top note of the second addition and the lemon lifting everything.
05:16Want even more delicious recipes? Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
05:22Okay, let's go over the ingredients one more time, and if you're ready to cook,
05:26grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box with a picture that's about to pop up on
05:31your screen. That's a wrap, you can find the full printable version of this recipe on my website,
05:37linked right here on the screen. It has all the extra details to help you get perfect every time.
05:42If you enjoyed this, check out my Noodle playlist. And next week, I'm sharing Natto 101 video.
05:48Hit subscribe so you don't miss it. See you then.
05:50Bye.
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