Coconut-cream Spaghetti

[zhemao]

In my ongoing quest to use up the rest of my coconut milk, here's another experimental recipe. Even though this is a more western-style dish, it still has an Asian twist. It's unlikely you would find anything like this in an Italian restaurant.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti


• Italian sausages


• Sliced Crimini mushrooms


• Garlic


• Vegetable oil (or olive oil)


• Rice wine


• Coconut milk


• Dashi stock


• Soy sauce


• Tomato paste


• Salt


• Scallions

Directions:

1. Start preparing the sauce by combining equal parts coconut milk and dashi stock. I make mine from scratch using dried kombu, but you can also use store-bought instant dashi powder. If you don't have either, you can skip it and just use water, but I think it adds a bit of savoriness.


2. Pour in a bit of soy sauce and add a spoonful of tomato paste. Stir to mix evenly.


3. Slice the sausages and chop up a clove of garlic. Give the mushrooms a rinse and then drain thoroughly.


4. Heat up the pan on medium heat, then add oil and toss in the sausages, mushroom, and garlic.


5. Stir fry the ingredients until the sausages start to brown, then add in a bit of rice wine to deglaze the pan.


6. Add the sauce and some water if necessary.


7. Turn the heat to medium low, cover, and let it simmer until the sausage and mushroom are cooked through, then turn off the heat. Err on the side of undercooking, since we'll heat it up again later.


8. Cook the spaghetti in salted water. Cook it for a minute less than it says on the package, since we will finish it cooking in the sauce.


9. Once the spaghetti is done, drain and rinse with cold water.


10. Put the pan with the sauce back on medium high heat and then add the spaghetti.


11. Stir well and reduce the sauce. Then turn off the heat and serve on a plate.


12. Top the spaghetti with some green onions.

So there you have it. I was actually quite surprised at how well this turned out. The coconut milk gives the sauce a creamier consistency without using any dairy (for all my fellow lactose intolerants out there) and the dashi and soy sauce add a hint of savory Asian flavor. You could also try adding some parmesan cheese or dried chili pepper on top.

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