(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
It was in late 2022 that an Italian chef/YouTuber Marco showed how to make “okoge (burned) pasta” on his channel “Kyou nani tabeyo (What should I eat today)?” Okoge means “burn” in Japanese. The chef, who lives in Japan, used the Japanese word to describe the unique texture of this pasta.
This recipe became an instant hit, and many YouTubers followed by creating videos on their own. It was also spotlit by many TV shows and magazines in Japan.
Since I love pasta, I knew I would eventually give it a try. There were a couple of reasons for my reservations. First, the recipe requires a unique way of cooking pasta, which is to fry the noodles in a frying pan instead of boiling them in a pot. I’m so used to cooking pasta in boiling water that I never thought of frying it.
Secondly, the recipe has another name which sounds unnerving to me. According to Marco, the recipe is commonly known in Italy as “Spaghetti all’assassina,” or “assassin’s pasta,” due to a couple of theories. One being that the pasta’s red sauce looks a little bloody; the other theory is that a customer at some restaurant in Italy described it as killingly good or spicy.
Whatever the truth is, a few years have passed since I saw Marco’s video before jumping into preparing my own killer pasta.
As I began preparing to cook the pasta myself, I ran into a problem. To cook “okoge pasta” the authentic Italian way, it would take an iron frying pan large enough to not break the noodles.
I saw some other recipes that allowed spaghetti to be broken in half so they could fit in a regular-sized pan. However, breaking dry pasta is a big no-no for Italians. I’ve heard about many Italian chefs who were adamant about not breaking pasta when cooking.
Fortunately, I found a recipe by Fabio, another cooking YouTuber, who came up with a method for those who don’t own a large enough pan but still want to cook it the authentic way.
Once I began cooking, it went quite smoothly. In fact, it was one of the easiest recipes I’ve tried.
In the end, the dish turned out great. The fried pasta was crisp on the outside but soft on the inside. The slow-simmered tomato-and-chili-pepper sauce was flavorful and delicious.
The recipe wasn’t deadly enough, but it was addictive. So, two days later, I made sure to cook it again, but this time with more chili. Definitely a killer recipe worth not ignoring for years like I did!
Okoge Pasta (Spaghetti all’assassina)
Materials
Spaghetti (80g, Teflon pasta is preferable as it has a smooth texture. Bronze-die pasta is not suited for this as it tends to have a rough texture)
Olive oil (35g)
Garlic (a few cloves)
Chili pepper (a few pieces)
Tomato purée (120g)
Tomato paste (16g)
Water (250g)
Salt (a little)
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Recipe by Fabio (@chef_Fabio)
1 Prepare tomato broth by mixing water (250g) and tomato paste (16g) in a pot.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
2 Remove sprouts from garlic cloves. Crush the cloves with the side of a kitchen knife and roughly slice them into a few pieces per clove.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
3 Tear red chili peppers and put them in a frying pan with sliced garlic. Add olive oil (35g) to the pan.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
4 Put the pan over the lowest heat. When the smell of garlic and red chili becomes distinct, add tomato purée (120g) and salt (a little). Heat up the mixture without stirring it.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
5 When the mixture starts making a bubbling sound, put spaghetti (80g) in the mixture in the pan.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
6 If the pan is too small to contain the spaghetti, scoop up the heated mixture and put it on the spaghetti. This will help moisten the pasta and make it pliable enough to fit in the pan.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
7 When the pasta is completely contained in the pan, strengthen the heat a little and fry the pasta. At this point, the pasta spreads like a flat bundle in the pan. Fry each side for three minutes by flipping it with tongs.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
8 As the pasta is fried, heat up the tomato broth over low heat. Make sure the broth doesn’t get boiled.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
9 In the frying pan, collect pieces of garlic to the center of the pan, and crush them with tongs.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
10 Add the tomato broth to the frying pan. Don’t put all the broth in at one time. Adjust each amount so you can repeat this 4-5 times. Every time you add in the broth, simmer the pasta and the broth so that the broth doesn’t remain in the pan.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
