Spaghetti the Japanese Way
The Japanese love spaghetti so much that they think they invented it. They actually reinvented the dish by adapting it to their palate. Tomatoes were hard to come by so they mixed ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in the early days. Now, the chefs have created sauces and recipes to complement the seafood, shiitake mushrooms, and sea vegetables readily available in Japan. At the Kansai International Airport, I was going to catch a flight back to Las Vegas and arrived early. Thinking of American taste, I noticed a restaurant called the Margherita Kitchen with plastic food displays and ordered ketchup spaghetti; however, I decided that ketchup tastes better on hamburgers and French fries and couldn’t finish the meal. I’ll be sure to try another dish when I’m in Osaka again.
Home cooks in Japan use olive oil and butter with soy sauce or chicken or vegetable broth for the sauce and add whatever is handy. Instead of Parmesan cheese, they might add shredded nori as a garnish. It’s a very versatile and budget friendly dish.
My daughter is fond of Japanese spaghetti so I usually pick up several prepackaged mixes for her at an Asian market.
