Miso carbonara pasta 味噌培根蛋汁意面

Adding this common Asian ingredient – miso paste – really takes this classic carbonara pasta dish to the next level!

Al dente pasta coated with smooth, silky egg based sauce infused with amazing flavours of Italian cured meat… This pasta dish only requires a few ingredients, and is absolutely satisfying. The abundant umami of miso will add another layer of flavour to the dish. I am sure you will fall in love with this carbonara pasta with an Asian twist!

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 serving pasta (I normally use 50-60g dry pasta or 100g fresh pasta, adjust ingredients according to your portion size)
20-30g pancetta / guanciale
1 large egg
5-10g grated Parmesan
1tsp white miso paste
lots of pepper

Instructions:

Whisk together the egg and grated Parmesan in a bowl.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, cook pasta according to package instructions.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a non-stick pan, add chopped pancetta / guanciale, cook over medium heat until crispy.
Transfer pancetta to a plate (so it remains crispy), or leave in the pan. Add cooked pasta and splash of pasta cooking water to the pan, switch to low heat.
Add miso paste, stirring until miso is melted, and well combined with pasta, then turn off heat.
Quickly stir in the egg mixture, stirring constantly until the sauce is creamy and glossy. Transfer pancetta back to the pan. Add lots of ground pepper. Serve immediately.

Bilingual version recipe with Chinese

notes:

if you cannot find guanciale or pancetta, you can use bacon (not recommended though)
Make sure to turn off the heat when you pour in egg mixture because you would not want scrambled egg! One trick is to remove the pan from the heat source to bring down the temperature