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–+ servings

Japanese Meat Sauce Spaghetti

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 3 portions

Ingredients 
 

Meat sauce

  • 1 tsp cooking oil neutral
  • 200 g ground pork ground beef, or beef-and-pork blend (70:30)
  • 100 g onion finely chopped
  • 30 g carrot small dice
  • 25 g celery finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp red wine
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 400 g canned tomato whole
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pinch nutmeg powder
  • ½ tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 pinch black pepper

Pasta

  • 240 g dry spaghetti 1.7-1.9 mm
  • 2500 ml water
  • 2½ tsp salt

Garnish (optional)

  • 1 tsp grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp fresh parsley chopped
  • Tabasco sauce to taste

Instructions 

  • Warm a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tsp cooking oil. Once hot, add 200 g ground pork and press it flat into a single layer. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until the underneath develops a brown crust, then flip and repeat on the other side for 2-3 minutes.
    Ground pork pressed into a thin layer in a stainless steel pan on the stove top
  • Add 100 g onion, 30 g carrot, 25 g celery, and 1 garlic clove. Break up the meat as you stir, until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cook until the onions are translucent.
    ground pork and finely diced vegetables in a stainless steel pan to make spaghetti meat sauce
  • Push the ingredients to the side to make some space in the pan, then pour in 2 tbsp red wine and scrape the fond using a wooden spatula. Let the wine bubble for about 30 seconds before mixing it into the meat and vegetable mixture.
    deglazing a stainless steel pan to make spaghetti meat sauce
  • Add 2 tbsp tomato ketchup and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, and mix until everything is evenly coated. Continue to stir over the heat for 1-2 minutes to caramelize the sugars in the ketchup.
    adding ketchup and Worcestershire sauce to spaghetti meat sauce in a stainless steel pan
  • Pour in 400 g canned tomato and use a spatula to break and crush it down. Add 1 bay leaf and 1 pinch nutmeg powder, then stir everything together.
    whole canned tomatoes and a bay leaf in spaghetti meat sauce in a pan on the stove top
  • Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered until the sauce has reduced by half. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
    simmering Japanese spaghetti meat sauce in a pan on the stove top
  • While you wait, pour 2500 ml water into a large pot and bring it to a rolling boil. Add 2½ tsp salt and mix, then add 240 g dry spaghetti and boil according to the packet instructions.
    dried spaghetti boiling in a pot of water on the stove
  • Once the meat sauce has reduced, turn off the heat and remove the bayleaf. Add ½ tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) and 1 tbsp unsalted butter, and mix them in.
    Spaghetti meat sauce simmering in a pan, with a cube of butter melting on top
  • Drain the pasta and divide it between serving plates. Top with a generous helping of meat sauce, then finish with 1 tsp grated parmesan cheese, 1 pinch black pepper and 1 tsp fresh parsley. Add a few drops of Tabasco sauce for a spicy kick. Enjoy!
    Japanese style spaghetti meat sauce topped with grated cheese and a piece of fresh parsley in an off-white pasta dish

Notes

Sear the meat as 1 slab, not crumbled: Press the ground meat flat against a hot pan for 3 to 4 minutes a side before you break it up.
Cook the ketchup 1 full minute against the pan: Add the ketchup before the canned tomato and let it sizzle against hot metal for at least 60 seconds. Raw ketchup stirred straight into liquid stays sharp and reads candy-bright through the finished plate.
Add soy sauce and butter only after killing the heat: Soy sauce aromatic compounds burn off on a live flame and butter splits into oil and milk solids instead of emulsifying. Off the heat, both fold into a glossy finish in 10 seconds.
Use pasta water, not tap water, to loosen an over-reduced sauce: A few tablespoons of starchy water from the spaghetti pot stirred in off the heat brings the sauce back to a glossy pour without thinning the seasoning. Tap water rescues the texture but dilutes the flavor.