Udon Carbonara

I love Udon noodles and thought it would be fun to pair them with a traditional, classic Italian pasta dish–Spaghetti Carbonara.

Udon noodles are a toothsome Japanese noodle made with very simple ingredients: flour, water, and salt. They are thick, bouncy and chewy.

What is traditional Spaghetti Carbonara…

It’s a classic Roman pasta dish made with 4 main ingredients: hard cheese, like parmesan; a cured pork product, such as bacon, pancetta, or guanciale; eggs; black pepper, and of course, pasta, making it really 5 ingredients.  :-)

Using the Udon noodles instead of pasta made this dish even easier to put together as they cook literally in minutes. As an homage to the Japanese noodles I decided to add a little white miso paste, which helped rich up the sauce.

Start by grating good quality parmesan. You will need 2/3 cup for the noodles and more for topping.

In a bowl combine the parm, 2 egg yolks, 1 Tbsp. miso and generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Mix until it becomes a thick paste. Add a pinch of salt and dash of white pepper.

I decided to use pancetta, but bacon works well, too. Guanciale is hard to find in your local grocery store. In a heavy bottomed skillet, over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil and cook the pancetta with 1/2 cup finely diced onion.

Once the pancetta gets a little crispy and onions soften, add 1 Tbsp. minced garlic. Stir to combine well and cook for another 2 minutes. Add another pinch of salt and dash of white pepper.

As the pancetta is cooking bring 1 cup of water and 1 Tbsp. sesame oil (another nod to the Asian-fusion in this dish) to a boil. Drop in the Udon noodles and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the noodles reserving 1/4 cup liquid for reducing the sauce.

Add the Udon noodles, egg mixture, 1/4 cup cooking liquid from the noodles, and pancetta all together and mix well. The residual heat from the noodles and pancetta will “cook” the sauce. You want all ingredients to be quite warm, but not so hot that the egg sauce gets scrambled. Smooth and creamy is what we’re going for. The warm cooking water from the noodles will loosen the sauce. Stir thoroughly to make sure all noodles get coated in the sauce.

Taste and adjust seasoning. If you’re squeamish about the raw egg yolk, leave it off, but it really is a nice addition to the sauce and because all ingredients are hot, the yolk cooks once you break it and mix into the dish.

You can garnish with green scallions, parsley and more black pepper. I kept it very simple using only the egg yolk for topping.

This dish comes together in minutes. It is creamy and packed with umami flavor. A nice twist on an Italian favorite.

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Udon Carbonara

Creamy rich fusion of Japan and Italy. Decadent and delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 packs Udon noodles
• 1 Tbsp. Sesame oil to add to cooking water
• 1/4 cup Reserved Udon cooking water
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated; more for topping
• 4 lge. Egg yolks, divided; 2 for the sauce; 2 for topping
• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. White miso paste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt and dash of white pepper to taste
• 4 oz. Pancetta
• 1/2 cup Onion, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp. Garlic, minced

Instructions

• In a bowl, combine the grated parmesan, 2 egg yolks, miso and black pepper. Add a pinch of salt and dash of white pepper. Mix until it becomes paste-like. Set aside.
• In a pan over medium heat, cook the pancetta and onion until the pancetta gets crispy and the onions soften. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes. Add another pinch of salt and dash of white pepper. Turn off the heat.
• While the pancetta is cooking, bring 1 cup of water and 1 Tbsp. sesame oil to a boil. Drop in the Udon noodles and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the noodles reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.
• Mix the noodles, egg/cheese mixture and cooking liquid until well combined ensuring noodles are thoroughly coated. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
• Top with a raw egg yolk which gets mixed into the sauce upon serving.