Accounting for Taste

This Japanese-inspired mushroom pasta uses a mixture of mushrooms (such as oyster, shiitake, and cremini, but use whatever you prefer) and bacon tossed with garlic, soy sauce, butter, and spaghetti to make a quick pasta.

While the sauce coats the pasta lightly, its flavor is anything but subtle thanks to the addition of dashi powder. It is the key ingredient that adds a punch of umami to the dish. So before you start this dish, make sure you have dashi powder on hand. It is easy to get at an Asian market or online.

Begin by crisping the bacon in a skillet, then remove it and brown a pound of mushrooms in the fat left in the pan (any type or mix of mushrooms will do), followed by scallions and garlic. To finish the sauce, stir in some pasta cooking water, butter for silky texture, and the instant dashi powder and soy sauce. Despite only lightly coating the spaghetti, the resulting sauce turns the dish into a flavor powerhouse.

The Hubs had the leftovers for lunch the next day and said it was even better!

Mushroom Bacon Pasta

Servings: 4
Time: 40 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

12 oz. spaghetti
Table salt for cooking pasta
5 slices thick cut bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch strips
1 lb. assorted mushrooms, sliced ½-inch thick
4 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. instant dashi powder

Directions

Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and ½ tablespoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot.
Meanwhile, cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until bacon is golden and crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate.
Add mushrooms to fat left in skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until mushrooms have softened and edges are golden, about 5 minutes. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook until fragrant and butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Stir in ½ cup reserved cooking water, butter, soy sauce, and dashi powder.
Transfer to pot with pasta along with reserved bacon and toss to combine. Adjust consistency with additional reserved cooking water as needed. Sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve.

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Recipe by Maggie Zhu for America’s Test Kitchen