Kimchi Pasta

Asian-influenced pasta is quickly becoming one of my favorite food genres. My first time being exposed to this type of dish was about a year ago when I first saw @hwoo.lee’s kimchi pasta video on TikTok. Seeing that video was a huge influence in broadening my creativity in the kitchen; because of it, I became aware that combining cultures in cooking can yield amazing results. Pasta works well in this aspect because it’s really just a blank slate, so using influence from other cultures just makes sense. Since then, I’ve done multiple Asian-influenced pasta dishes, but this might have been my favorite of all. Other than the rigatoni and parm, all of the flavors in this dish were Asian-inspired. This pasta was rich, spicy, salty, and most importantly loaded with umami.

Recipe

Serves 1-2

Ginger-Scallion Oil

• 2 tbsp finely minced ginger
• 6 scallions, only the green
• 1/2 c neutral oil
• 1 tsp salt

1. Cut the scallions in half. Reserve the green parts. The whites will be used for the sauce. Slice super thin. Add to a bowl with finely minced ginger.
2. Heat oil over med high just until it begins to smoke. Pour into bowl with scallion and ginger. Season with salt.

Toasted Sesame Butter

• 4 tbsp room temp butter
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil.

1. Leave butter out of fridge for about an hour, or until room temp and soft. Add to a bowl with sesame oil. Whisk to fully incorporate, place back into fridge to warm up.

The Pasta

• 8 oz rigatoni
• 2/3 c kimchi, chopped
• 1 c mushrooms, chopped
• 6 scallion whites, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame butter , divided
• 1/4 c reserved pasta water
• 1/3 c kimchi juice
• 1/2 c grated parm
• 1 heaping tbsp miso paste
• 1 heaping tbsp gochujang

1. Add rigatoni to lightly salted boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes less than package instructions.
2. Over med high heat, sauté kimchi, scallion whites, and mushrooms in 1 tbsp of toasted sesame butter. After about 5 minutes, add miso paste and gochujang.
3. Cook for another 2 minutes before adding kimchi juice and reserved pasta water. Add parm and another tbsp of the butter. Vigorously combine to form an emulsion.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, add to sauce and cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until perfectly all dente.
5. Serve pasta with additional parm, ginger-scallion oil, and optionally a fried egg, toasted sesame seeds, and gochugaru for garnish.