Spaghetti Napolitan
Spaghetti Napolitan should be thought of as a yaki (“fried”) noodle dish more than an Italian-style pasta. This smart, effortlessly delicious version comes from ketchup lover Chiaki Ohara of Davelle, a Japanese café on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Frying the ketchupy noodles and vegetables over high heat, in a generous amount of oil, results in a deeply satisfying sauce, so don’t be afraid of a little fire (or oil, for that matter). This is Japan’s yoshoku (“Western-style”) interpretation of Italian tomato spaghetti, a dish that’s hard to get right, but Ms. Ohara’s Napolitan ratios are quietly precise and genius. If you can relish it, the soft fried egg on top adds so much.
Ingredients
- salt
- 8 ouncesspaghetti
- ¼ cupketchup
- 1 tablespoonsoy sauce
- 2 teaspoonsworcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoonsugar
- olive oil
- 2slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 smallcarrot, sliced
- ½yellow or white onion, sliced
- ¼green bell pepper, sliced
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 largeeggs
- radish sprouts or chopped parsley, for garnish
Directions
- 1
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions and drain.
- 2
While the pasta cooks, in a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and sugar and set aside. Heat a large skillet over high and add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom. Add the bacon, garlic, carrot, onion and bell pepper and spread evenly. Cook, stirring once, until fragrant and starting to brown at the edges, about 1 minute. Cover with a lid and cook on low until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
- 3
Add the drained pasta and ketchup mixture, then turn the heat to high. Toss to combine, adding small splashes of water to loosen the pasta if needed, and stir-fry until the sauce darkens a shade and starts to stick to the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and 10 turns of black pepper. Remove from heat and cover until ready to serve.
- 4
Separately, heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom, then crack in the eggs. When the whites start to set, add 2 tablespoons water around the eggs and cover with the lid you’ve been using for the pasta. Cook until the yolks are still jiggly but covered over with white, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt.
- 5
Divide the spaghetti between two plates, then top each with a fried egg and garnish with the radish sprouts.