Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara

Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara

Greetings From Kyoto

Kyoto photographer Kosuke Okuda and I teamed up to do an article for the Russian travel magazine Afisha Mir (Афиша-Мир). I just got a PDF of the article — hot off the server!

In the article I introduced the long history of Aritsugu which was founded in 1560. Aritsugu is one of the most famous makers of traditional Japanese knives and they are found in good kitchens all over Japan. We focused on the special eel bone cutting ‘honegiri’ knife that is used for the traditional Kyoto summer delicacy of ‘hamo’ pike eel. The knife is over 40 cm long, weighs more that 500 gm and costs more than $1,000 USD!

I wrote it, but I can’t read it!!

Kyoto photographer Kosuke Okuda and I teamed up to do an article for the Russian travel magazine Afisha Mir (Афиша-Мир). I just got a PDF of the article — hot off the server!

In the article I introduced the long history of Aritsugu which was founded in 1560. Aritsugu is one of the most famous makers of traditional Japanese knives and they are found in good kitchens all over Japan. We focused on the special eel bone cutting ‘honegiri’ knife that is used for the traditional Kyoto summer delicacy of ‘hamo’ pike eel. The knife is over 40 cm long, weighs more that 500 gm and costs more than $1,000 USD!

I wrote it, but I can’t read it!!

Kyoto photographer Kosuke Okuda and I teamed up to do an article for the Russian travel magazine Afisha Mir (Афиша-Мир). I just got a PDF of the article — hot off the server!

In the article I introduced the long history of Aritsugu which was founded in 1560. Aritsugu is one of the most famous makers of traditional Japanese knives and they are found in good kitchens all over Japan. We focused on the special eel bone cutting ‘honegiri’ knife that is used for the traditional Kyoto summer delicacy of ‘hamo’ pike eel. The knife is over 40 cm long, weighs more that 500 gm and costs more than $1,000 USD!

I wrote it, but I can’t read it!!

Kyoto photographer Kosuke Okuda and I teamed up to do an article for the Russian travel magazine Afisha Mir (Афиша-Мир). I just got a PDF of the article — hot off the server!

In the article I introduced the long history of Aritsugu which was founded in 1560. Aritsugu is one of the most famous makers of traditional Japanese knives and they are found in good kitchens all over Japan. We focused on the special eel bone cutting ‘honegiri’ knife that is used for the traditional Kyoto summer delicacy of ‘hamo’ pike eel. The knife is over 40 cm long, weighs more that 500 gm and costs more than $1,000 USD!

I wrote it, but I can’t read it!!

Now this was good! I made carbonara pasta with matsutake (pine mushroom), pancetta and yuzu. Domestically harvested matsutake are insanely expensive in Japan. I have a theory that anything super expensive is best eaten raw or cooked very quickly, otherwise the subtlety of the ‘expensive’ flavor is soon lost in the heat. So, I didn’t use Japanese pine mushrooms but some cheaper imported from North America (that is where I am from). To make this taste the way I wanted it to, I needed quite a bit of pancetta, and in Japan it is fairly difficult to find and quite expensive. (Due to the amount of money spent on pancetta for this dish, I now have 10 kilos of homemade pancetta on the cure. More on that pretty soon. Not going to buy what is easy and cheap to make again if I don’t have to. Plus, mine will surely be better.) I think the point is plenty of egg yolk, for a serving of two, I used three egg yolks and one whole egg. Also, use plenty of cheese. I zested two yuzu onto the pasta upon serving. Then, quickly cut the yuzu into sections, placed in cheese cloth and squeezed the juice over the served carbona. Wow! A pretty quick and very tasty seasonal autumn meal.

Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Matsutake Pine Mushroom (Made in USA)
Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Sautéing the Pancetta
Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Matsutake Pine Mushroom & Egg
Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Sautéing the Pancetta & Matsutake Pine Mushroom
Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Sautéing the Pancetta & Matsutake Pine Mushroom
Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Carbonara Served — Lots of Cheese, Yuzu Juice and Zest
Matsutake Pine Mushroom, Pancetta & Yuzu Pasta Carbonara
Dessert