If you've watched the Japanese TV series "Midnight Diner," you should be familiar with spaghetti Napolitan. However, traditionally speaking, Napolitan spaghetti should actually be called "Naporitan" spaghetti.
What is Napolitan Spaghetti?
Naples is a city in southern Italy, famous for its tomato-based pasta. It is said that Napolitan Spaghetti originated after Japan's defeat in World War II, when a Japanese hotel chef created this dish for an American general. At that time, the chef was not familiar with the general's tastes and was afraid of upsetting him, so he based the dish on the tomato pasta that was popular with the U.S. military at the time and added some Japanese ingredients to create a pasta with a distinct Japanese flavour. Since this pasta bore a resemblance to the tomato pasta from Naples, Italy, it became known as Napolitan Spaghetti.
Later, Napolitan Spaghetti became widely popular, and many Japanese restaurants began to imitate it. However, due to post-war shortages in Japan, restaurants replaced fresh tomato sauce with ready-made ketchup. For many Japanese people at the time, Napolitan Spaghetti was considered a luxurious dish.
Flavour of Napolitan Spaghetti
Traditional Napolitan Spaghetti is made by stir-frying cooked pasta with sautéed ingredients in a pan, giving the pasta a slightly charred surface. The texture is a balance between moist and dry, differing from the more common wet or oily Italian pasta dishes. This dish became very popular in Japan during the Showa era and is a nostalgic memory for many people, making Napolitan Spaghetti a classic representation of Japanese home cooking.
Is the Sauce the Highlight of Napolitan Spaghetti?
The sauce for Napolitan Spaghetti is based on ketchup, typically using regular bottled ketchup instead of the marinara sauce commonly found in traditional Italian cuisine. This gives the dish a unique sweet and tangy flavour, with a pleasant balance of acidity and sweetness, making it very appealing.
So tomato sauce can be said to be the soul of Napoletana pasta. This time, I used the ingeniously crafted KAGOME Tomato Ketchup, Japan's No.1 tomato ketchup rich in lycopene, offering a particularly rich tomato flavour 🍅. Its soft squeeze bottle design makes it easy to use and control portions, showcasing Japan's meticulous attention to product design.
The cooking video is already prepared for you. Scroll down for detailed written recipes and instructions!
Ingredients (serve 2)
KAGOME Tomato Sauce | 50g |
|---|---|
Spaghetti | 100g |
Onion | 1/4 Bulb |
Sausage | 2 pcs |
Mushroom | 3 pcs |
Green Pepper | 1 pc |
Worcestershire Sauce | 1 tbsp |
Salt | 1 pinch |
Oil | To taste |
Grated Parmesan Cheese | To garnish |
Steps
1.
Slice the onion into strips; slice the sausage; slice the mushrooms; slice the green pepper into rings.
2.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the pasta with a little oil and salt, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add a little oil, then add the onion and sausage, sauté until golden.
4.
Add the mushrooms and green pepper, mix well.
5.
Add KAGOME tomato sauce and Japanese Worcestershire sauce, stir well.
6.
Add the cooked pasta and a small amount of pasta water, mix well and cook until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
7.
Finally, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese to taste and serve.
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