What is Wafu Butter Shoyu Pasta?
Wafu Pasta is a generic term for a fusion dish that combines spaghetti with a twist of Japanese flavors and seasonings.
Japanese-style pasta uses unique ingredients that are traditionally enjoyed with rice. Earthy Japanese mushrooms, iconic seafood treasures like sea urchin or cod roe, and flavor enhancers like nori, shiso leaves, soy sauce, dashi, and bonito flakes are all used to create these wafu pasta dishes.
Meanwhile, Butter Shoyu Pasta is just an example of wafu pasta using butter and soy sauce (also known as golden combo in Japan). The result is a light, refreshing, and balanced dish with a hint of richness from the butter and umami from the soy sauce.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make 15-minute Wafu Pasta at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. While you wait, roughly cut the thoroughly washed spinach and the bacon into squares or rectangles. Depending on what mushrooms you use, you can leave them whole or slice them.
I used shimeji mushrooms this time, but you can make it with any kind of mushroom! For example, shiitake or king oyster mushrooms are great alternatives.
Once the water is boiling, add the salt and mix well. Add the pasta (I used 1.8mm spaghetti!) and boil for about 1 minute less than the packaging states so it’s al dente (firm to the bite).
Be sure to use plenty of water so the pasta has room to dance, and don’t forget to salt the water! I follow this rule: 1 liter of water and 1 tsp salt per 100g pasta. It’s easy to remember and works every time!
Heat a frying pan on medium and add cooking oil and butter once hot. It’s time to add the bacon and mushrooms when the butter has melted. Cook until the bacon is slightly crispy and the mushrooms are softened.
Once done, add the spinach with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Drain the water and add the pasta to the frying pan once the pasta has finished cooking. Pour in the soy sauce and mix well.
How to Store
If you made too much pasta, you can store it in a Tupperware in the fridge and reheat it within a day or two. However, it’s best to cook only what you’ll eat immediately for optimal taste and texture.
When reheating, a small amount of olive oil can help retain moisture and prevent dryness.
Storage summary
Room temperature – Not recommended.
Refrigerated – 1 to 2 days.
Frozen – Not recommended.
I hope you enjoy this Wafu Pasta recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
Other Japanese Pasta Recipes
- Spaghetti Meat Sauce
- Spaghetti Napolitan (Ketchup spaghetti with hotdogs)
- Mentaiko Pasta (cod roe spaghetti)
- Uni Pasta (creamy sea urchin spaghetti)
Wafu Butter Shoyu Pasta (Japanese Style Spaghetti)
Ingredients
- 1600 ml water
- 160 g dry spaghetti 1.8mm
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 40 g Oriental spinach or other types of spinach
- 100 g mushroom of your choice I used shimeji
- 40 g bacon
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- finely chopped green onions
Instructions
- Roughly cut 40 g Oriental spinach and 100 g mushroom of your choice. Cut 40 g bacon into cubes.
- Bring a pot of 1600 ml water to a rolling boil and add 160 g dry spaghetti to a pan of boiling water along with 1 ½ tsp salt. Cook according to the instructions on the packaging.
- Heat a frying pan on medium and add 1 tsp cooking oil and 2 tsp butter. Once the butter has melted, add the bacon and mushrooms.
- Once the bacon is slightly crispy and the mushrooms are soft, add the spinach and 1 pinch salt and pepper.
- Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain the water and transfer it to the frying pan. Add 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) and mix well.
- Plate up and sprinkle with finely chopped green onions.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Substitute with shiitake or king oyster mushrooms if preferred.
- I used 1.8mm spaghetti for this recipe.
- Wash spinach thoroughly to remove dirt and sand.
- You can replace bacon with bite-size chicken thigh for a leaner finish.
- Use a large frying pan to comfortably mix all ingredients with spaghetti.
Hallo Yuto
Ausgezeichnetes Rezept. Bin total begeistert.*Daumen Hoch*
Ich habe Veganen Bacon genommen, passt super dazu.
Die Spaghetti waren bei mir flache Udonnudeln.
Da hatte ich noch so viele. ^^’
Vielen Dank und alles gute.
Gruß Kathleen.
Hallo Kathleen,
nochmals vielen Dank für Ihr Feedback und Ihr Foto! Ich freue mich immer darauf, Ihr Ergebnis zu sehen!
Ich bin gespannt, mehr zu sehen!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Yuto