Amatriciana Udon (Italian × Japanese)

Method

1. Trim the rind off the guanciale and cut it into 1 cm strips. Crush the tomatoes by hand, thinly slice the scallions and finely grate the pecorino.

2. Bring the water to the boil in a 20 cm pot over high heat, about 9 min. Udon is blanched in unsalted water.

   Add in this stepWater for the udon 1½ L

   high heat

3. Put the guanciale in a 26 cm frying pan without oil, then turn the heat on to medium heat and cook for 6 min. When plenty of fat has melted out and the edges are crisp, lift out half for the topping.

   Add in this stepGuanciale (or pancetta, thick bacon) 80 g

   medium heat

4. Pour the sake into the pan, scraping the base, and let it bubble briefly, then add the tomatoes, dashi, soy sauce and mirin and simmer over medium heat for 6 min, until slightly thickened, just enough to coat noodles.

   Add in this stepCooking sake 2 tbspCanned whole peeled tomatoes 240 gBonito dashi stock 150 mlSoy sauce 1 tbspMirin 2 tsp

   medium heat

5. Drop the frozen udon into the boiling water for 1 min 30 sec, until the noodles separate, then drain well.

   Add in this stepFrozen sanuki udon (about 200 g per portion) 2

6. Add the udon and butter to the sauce and toss over medium-high heat for 1 min, until the sauce coats the noodles glossily.

   Add in this stepButter 10 g

   medium-high heat

7. Turn off the heat, toss in half the pecorino and divide between bowls. Top with the reserved crispy guanciale, scallions, bonito flakes and the rest of the pecorino, and sprinkle with shichimi.

   Add in this stepPecorino Romano 30 gScallions 2Bonito flakes (katsuobushi) 2 gShichimi togarashi 1 pinch