Japanese Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Spaghetti meat sauce is one of the most popular pasta dishes in Japan. Made with ground beef, onions, carrots and celery cooked in a deliciously sweet and perfectly seasoned homemade tomato sauce, this dish is comforting, easy to make and a family favourite!
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 100 g onion (finely diced)
- 30 g carrot (diced small)
- 25 g celery (finely diced)
- 1 clove garlic (finely minced)
- 400 g canned tomato (diced or crushed)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 150 g ground pork (or beef, or a mixture of both)
- 1 tbsp red wine
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 240 g dry spaghetti
- 2500 ml water
- 2 ½ tsp salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg powder
- 1 pinch cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp grated parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1 tsp fresh parsley (optional, to garnish)
Instructions
- 1
Heat a large frying pan on medium and once hot, add 1 tbsp butter.
- 2
Once the butter has melted, add 100 g onion, 25 g celery, 30 g carrot and 1 clove garlic to the pan and fry until the onion is soft and translucent.
- 3
Next, push the vegetables to the edges and add 150 g ground pork to middle of the pan. Fry until browned and mix everything together.
- 4
Once the meat has browned, add 1 tbsp red wine, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 pinch ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly.
- 5
Add 400 g canned tomato along with 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp oregano and 1 bay leaf. Mix well.
- 6
Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until reduced by half.
- 7
While it's simmering, bring 2500 ml water to a boil and add 2 ½ tsp salt. Once the water is boiling, add 240 g dry spaghetti and cook for the time stated on the packaging. (Reduce by 1-2 minutes for el dente.)
- 8
Once the meat sauce has reached your desired thickness, remove the bay leaf and add 1 pinch nutmeg powder and 1 pinch cinnamon powder. Mix well.
- 9
Drain the spaghetti and divide onto serving plates. Pour an equal amount of meat sauce on top of each portion of spaghetti. Sprinkle with 1 tsp grated parmesan cheese and 1 tsp fresh parsley (optional).
- 10
Enjoy!