Japanese spaghetti

[Hiroyuki]

Is there a Japanese-style spaghetti? By that, I mean is the spaghetti different from the pasta I would buy in the U.S. (e.g., De Cecco which is widely available here)?

For example, is it made from durum wheat? Is the spaghetti generally made in Japan or are Italian imports popular? How does it cook up: al dente or is there another preference in Japan? Are other shapes and sizes (the one in the photograph appears to be on the thick end of the spectrum) popular in Japan?

I would have assumed that the sauces would be different (as evidenced by the descriptions above), but I have no expectation of whether the spaghetti has been "adapted" to Japanese preferences. Tasting Japanese-style mayonnaise was a surprise 

Let me show you two interesting examples of spaghetti made in Japan:

http://www.himawarinet.com/ss_co/goods.cgi?m_id=69

This product contains glucomannan derived from "konnyaku".

Glucomannan:

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/ametsu/437314/494812/

And the other one:

http://www.sunshop.co.jp//shopping/cgi-bin...0300g&tid=list3

This one is made from domestically grown wheat. No indication that it is durum wheat.

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Spaghetti has been TOTALLY adapted to Japanese preferences. Cold spaghetti dishes are examples. But I heard that cold spaghetti is an invention of an Intalian cook inspired by Japanese cold buckwheat noodles. I don't know whether this is true.

[jhlurie]

The most popular shape of pasta here is definitely spaghetti, the long medium thickness noodles.

Think of all the Capellini, Vermicelli, Fusilli and Linguine crying out for consumption! The Rotini, Farfalle, Gemelli, Radiatori, Penne, Orecchiette and Rigatoni lingering uneaten in boxes! The poor neglected Fettuccine...

Okay, joking aside, do you ever stumble across "fresh" pasta, or only the dried stuff?

[torakris]

I have seen fresh pasta, mostly in the International supermarkets, but like most fresh pastas found in your local American supermarket's refrigerated case, dried is almost always better....

Frozen spaghetti is big here though...

[torakris]

In a search for a picture of frozen pasta, I ran across this :

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/nippn/388499/

it is a corroke (croquette) filled with napolitan spaghetti, frozen, for convenient use in a bento

He are just some of your choices among the frozen pasta meals:

http://www.nippn.co.jp/product/reitopasta.htm

usually they are one serving and are heated up in a microwave

[torakris]

microwaving spaghetti seems to be popular here, maybe because of the lack of stove top space?

Here is a tupperware like product that you add dried spaghetti and water to and then pop in your microwave to cook. I couldn't find a good picture but here is the commercial for it:

http://www.kureha.co.jp/living/00cm/images..._yasai-shin.mov

[Hiroyuki]

Think of all the Capellini, Vermicelli, Fusilli and Linguine crying out for consumption!  The Rotini, Farfalle, Gemelli, Radiatori, Penne, Orecchiette and Rigatoni lingering uneaten in boxes!  The poor neglected Fettuccine...

Okay, joking aside, do you ever stumble across "fresh" pasta, or only the dried stuff?

"Fresh" pasta, or "nama" (literally, "raw") pasta has gained popularity in Japan recently.

http://www.horenso.com/shop/pasta_set.html

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/seimen/

http://x68k.net/futagami/pasta/pasta.shtml

The point is, spaghetti has been so easy to assimilate into Japanese noodle culture, which includes soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (Japanese wheat noodles), ramen (Chinese noodles), and other types of noodles. It is no wonder that Japanese use spaghetti in just the same way as other types of noodles.

Edited April 14, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

I was going through some old Japanese cooking magazines last night and ran across some very Japanese pastas

mizuna a type of green) and aburage (deep fried tofu pockets) seasoned with konbu (kelp) and yuzu (a type of citrus) and of course EVOO

a dish called ochazuke spaghetti made with spaghetti and various tsukemono (pickles) as well as bancha (type of tea) and arare (puffed rice pellets-- a common topping for ochazuke) and of course the EVOO

[Hiroyuki]

Tonight's supper:

Japanese-style cod roe spaghetti

[torakris]

are those katsuo-bushi as well?

[Hiroyuki]

are those katsuo-bushi as well?

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Sorry, my daughter asked me to read her a book before I could finish typing all the necessary information.

As you say, katsuo bushi and strips of nori on top.

The ingredients include onions, buna shimeji mushrooms, cod roe, and Japanese sake.

I poured store-bought men tsuyu (noodle soup), a condensed type, just before eating.

I selected this Japanese-style spaghetti for posting because I thought it would be less offensive to some of you than the napolitan spaghetti drowned in ketchup.

[torakris]

.

I selected this Japanese-style spaghetti for posting because I thought it would be less offensive to some of you than the napolitan spaghetti drowned in ketchup.

←

[smallworld]

I selected this Japanese-style spaghetti for posting because I thought it would be less offensive to some of you than the napolitan spaghetti drowned in ketchup.

Thanks for sparing us, Hiroyuki. Very considerate of you.

I made tarako spaghetti for dinner tonight and my husband said it was the best wa-fu spaghetti he's ever had. I don't know if he was exaggerating or not, but it was very good.

The only difference was I used more mushrooms (hiratake, buna-shimeji, shiitake), added a bit of butter, and skipped the nori and katsuo-bushi in favour of shiso. But essentially it was the same. I've never thought of using onions in wa-fu spaghetti, same goes for mentsuyu. But it really really works.

Thank you!

[smallworld]

Hmm, for some reason I can't edit my post above. Too old?

I had meant to say that I made tarako spaghetti with Hiroyuki's recipe. Rather than bragging about my cooking skills I was trying to compliment Hiroyuki...

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Does anyone have a recipe, in English, for the Japanese style napolitan spaghetti? My father-in-law has told us a couple of time about the spaghetti his grandmother (from Japan) made that sounds very close to the Japanese take on napolitan spaghetti. I was thinking that it would be fun to make him some.

[Hiroyuki]

Does anyone have a recipe, in English, for the Japanese style napolitan spaghetti? My father-in-law has told us a couple of time about the spaghetti his grandmother (from Japan) made that sounds very close to the Japanese take on napolitan spaghetti. I was thinking that it would be fun to make him some.

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I don't have a recipe for that. Typical ingredients include ham, onions, and green peppers. (You can add corn if your like. ) I make mine with canned tuna (I'm a fan of both fresh and canned tuna), onions, and mixed vegetables (corn, green beans, and carrot cubes).

Fry all ingredients in oil until done.

Boil spaghetti until soft (not al dente! ).

Add the spaghetti and mix well.

Then, finally, add as much ketchup as you want. (I tend to add a lot of it.)

This results in a dish like this:

http://www.eatsmart.jp/do/search/detail/Se...e/9002010000006

Enjoy!

Edited January 6, 2005 by Hiroyuki (log)

[alacarte]

A spaghetti-related question:

what is the connection with spaghetti and cake in Japan?

I recently returned from a trip to Tokyo/Kyoto, and I was surprised to see so many shops offering spaghetti and cake. At least one Kyoto chain called itself just that: "spaghetti and cake."

[Hiroyuki]

A spaghetti-related question:

what is the connection with spaghetti and cake in Japan?

I recently returned from a trip to Tokyo/Kyoto, and I was surprised to see so many shops offering spaghetti and cake. At least one Kyoto chain called itself just that:  "spaghetti and cake."

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I'm not sure, but I don't think there is any connection between them other than the fact that they are both considered youhuu (Western) and are quite popular among the Japanese, especially young females.

I did a search to find that there are shops called SECOND HOUSE, which serve sphaghetti and cake among others.

There is six of them in Kyoto city, one in Osaka, and two in Shiga.

http://www.secondhouse.co.jp/sub1.htm

(Japanese only)

Probably these shops made you think so... No?

[torakris]

my husband made mentaiko pasta for our lunch yesterday.

just mix the mentaiko with some butter, add hot pasta and garnish with nori

[easternsun]

looks great!! i love the pictures! i will have to spend a little time working out how to do that!

my vote is definitely kani-miso spaghetti...yummy!

one thing i cant deal with is the squid ink pasta - what is it called again?

[torakris]

one thing i cant deal with is the squid ink pasta  - what is it called again?

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ikasumi pasta

I love ikasumi! I once had an ikasumi risotto at an okonomiyaki places, we cooked it ourselves on the teppan (griddle) and it was great..

[easternsun]

one thing i cant deal with is the squid ink pasta  - what is it called again?

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ikasumi pasta

I love ikasumi! I once had an ikasumi risotto at an okonomiyaki places, we cooked it ourselves on the teppan (griddle) and it was great..

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what about the black lips and teeth?? i think i dont like it because once i was on a date with a man who slurped his ikasumi so violently that he gave my lovely white dress a white with black paint splatter effect.

[smallworld]

Some of the best, and most interesting, Japanese style spaghetti I've had is at Kyou-fuu Spaghetti Pontoiru, in the Shinjuku Subnade (underground walkway/shopping complex). The spaghettis are all light and adorned with Kyou-yasai (Kyoto vegetables), yuba, katsuo-bushi, ume and the like.

On a recent visit, my husband and I shared these two:

Eggplant and Wa-fuu meatsauce spaghetti.

Ume and chirimen-sanshou spaghetti with chicken soboro.

Both very nice. The meatsauce was pretty much a fancied-up niku-miso, and both seem easy to duplicate at home. My husband has promised to make the ume-chirimen pasta for dinner tomorrow night, and I'll be taking on the meatsauce pasta next week.

[tokyogurumegal]

It's been a while since I've been back to this restaurant in Tokyo, but I always enjoyed the shiso pasta at Basta Pasta in Harajuku (right on Meiji-dori). For those who want Japanese style pasta in the US, there's a Basta Pasta in NY in Union Square area (I think it's on 17th St and 5th Ave). It's inexpensive too!

Looking at all those mentai spagetti is making me hungry...

[torakris]

Does any know of a good Japanese spaghetti cookbook?

I have paged through some at the book store but they are always like for two servings or more of Italian style, etc.

I want a book that shows that kind od stuff in smallworld's picture....

[JasonTrue]

Hm. I can't really face the use of butter in Japanese dishes. I find it jarring.

Kimchi on the other hand works well with buttery dishes.

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Hopefully not straying too far off topic, but

I don't feel the same conflict... butter-shouyu (butter/soy sauce) is one of the great flavor combinations not yet abused by western cooks, but used with fair skill in Japan, especially in izakaya and robata-ya type venues. Besides, Hokkaido's butter production makes it less incongruous.

- Renkon bataa: Renkon (lotus roots) blanched, then grilled with butter and seasoned with soy sauce.... mmm... you may like to add bits of shaved katsuo.

- yakimochi shouyu bataa: Mochi grilled in butter, seasoned with shouyu and wrapped in nori.

- Enoki bataa: Enoki grilled with butter and salt.

- Jaga-bataa: well, this is not particularly Japanese, but regarded with nostalgia by many Japanese. Roasted potatoes with butter and salt, or parboiled potatoes briefly grilled and served with butter and salt.

I got some Korean or Chinese matsutake at a reasonable price last fall while using a minimal kitchen at a weekly apartment in Tokyo, and the only fat I had on hand was butter, and the only seasoning I had was a bit of shouyu and a bit of salt... It was by no means a problem.

I'm so glad local, in-season matsutake average only $20-60/lb. in Seattle, even though they are a bit less aromatic than the Japanese ones. I don't think I could ever pay typical Tokyo department store prices for them... you know, 6 matsutake for 20,000 yen.

Oh, wafuu spaghetti... well, how about kinoko spaghetti, with some shimeji, enoki, whatever else is handy, butter, and a little sprinkle of soy sauce at the tail end.

[Added mysteriously dropped sentence on comment on matsutake]

Edited April 9, 2005 by JasonTrue (log)