Japanese Napolitan Spaghetti
Napolitan spaghetti is a Japanese yoshoku pasta stir-fried with ketchup, sausage, onion, and green bell pepper. Cooking the ketchup in the pan first drives off moisture and concentrates its tomato sweetness, transforming it from a condiment into a proper sauce base. Worcestershire sauce adds a layer of fermented complexity. The sausage goes in first to render its fat and build flavor, followed by onion and pepper stir-fried quickly over high heat to retain their bite. Spaghetti is cooked al dente with a quarter cup of pasta water reserved, which helps the sauce cling to the noodles when tossed together. A knob of butter stirred in at the end rounds off the ketchup's acidity and gives the finished dish a glossy, sweet-savory character.
Adjust Servings
Instructions
- 1
Cook spaghetti al dente and reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.
- 2
Slice onion and pepper; cut sausage diagonally.
- 3
Heat oil and stir-fry sausage first for flavor.
- 4
Add onion and pepper and stir-fry over high heat.
- 5
Add ketchup and Worcestershire; cook briefly to mellow acidity.
- 6
Add noodles and pasta water, toss together, then finish with butter.
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Nutrition (per serving)
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