My friends and readers often ask what I usually cook when I am too busy or when I’m too lazy to shop for fresh ingredients. Can you guess? It’s Japanese-style pasta! I’ve been making various Japanese-style pasta recipes since my college days. I always keep abundant spaghetti in my pantry for a quick meal. I’m excited to show you how to make my family’s latest favorite, Japanese-style Pasta with Shrimp and Broccolini (海老とブロッコリーニの和風パスタ)!
Wait, What’s Japanese-Style Pasta?
Is this your first time hearing about Japanese-style pasta? I’m glad that you discovered it today. We call Japanese-style pasta Wafu Pasta (和風パスタ). Basically, a pasta dish that has Japanese seasonings and/or Japanese ingredients. While wafu pasta may sound like a recent fusion creation, it has been around for a long time in the history of Japanese cuisine. A typical wafu pasta is seasoned with soy sauce, miso, and dashi, or cooked together with Japanese ingredients such as umeboshi Japanese plums, nori seaweed, spicy cod roe (mentaiko), and so on. In Japan, we even have Japanese-style pasta restaurants serving up a delicious variety of pasta dishes!
Why You Should Make This Japanese-Style Pasta
Now that I got your interest, I have to tell you why you MUST make this Japanese-style pasta!
Super easy! Did I mention the 15-minute cooking time already? Pantry ingredients, flexible/adaptable ingredients. Delicious, flavorful, and incredibly hearty!
8 Ingredients You Will Need
Spaghetti Extra virgin olive oil Butter Garlic Shrimp – They must be defrosted if frozen, shelled, and deveined. Or any other protein you like. Broccolini – Alternatively, use regular broccoli, asparagus, green peas, or spinach. Endless choice! Garlic chili oil – Read below for more info and substitute. Dashi soy sauce – Read below for more info and substitute.
What makes this dish Japanese-style? It’s the use of Dashi Soy Sauce (the mix of dashi and soy sauce) and garlic chili oil. This unique combination delivers the umami punch that Japanese food is known for. With all the flavors, you’ll be proud to serve this delicious and easy recipe at home.
S&B Chili Oil with Crunchy Garlic
This S&B Chili Oil with Crunchy Garlic has been quite popular in Japan for a while. Have you seen or used it before? It’s pretty addicting! Substitutions: You can use any garlic chili oil of your choice, or use chili oil and add more fresh garlic (double the recipe at least) in the recipe.
Kamada Soy Sauce Dashi Shoyu
Another popular brand from Japan! I love this Kamada Soy Sauce Dashi Shoyu so much and keeps it in my refrigerator all the time. No time to make dashi? Use this! It’s super convenient. Substitutions: You can substitute with just soy sauce in this recipe (if you have dashi powder or dashi broth, you can mix with soy sauce).
The video shows you how EASY and QUICK this pasta recipe is. To summarize, here are the 3 simple steps:
Start cooking spaghetti – Cook pasta for 10 minutes (I usually take out pasta 1 minute earlier than package instructions if I need to cook it in the frying pan afterward). Cook shrimp and veggie – Both ingredients cook in a flash in a pan. Remember not to overcook! Combine spaghetti with shrimp, veggie, and seasonings – Don’t worry about draining pasta in the sink. You just need to pick up spaghetti with a pair of tongs and add right into the frying pan and toss it all together.
Enjoy Japanese-Style Pasta with Green Tea!
Did you know Japanese-style pasta goes really well with green tea? Instead of wine, I served the pasta with Maeda-En Genmai-Brown Rice Tea to refresh the palate from the garlicky, spicy punch. Genmaicha (玄米茶) has a milder taste, and the toasty rice aroma makes it a delightful drink to enjoy with more than just Japanese food. I must say it’s my favorite type of green tea. What’s yours? Let’s make the pasta tonight, and dig in!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Other Japanese-Style Pasta Recipes on Just One Cookbook
Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta Classic Mentaiko Pasta Ume Shiso Pasta
