feed me comfort food

You didn’t see this hit coming: spaghetti with oyster sauce butter

Oestersaus spaghetti

You know: at FavorFlav, we’re not afraid of recipes with long ingredient lists or preparations that require a few hours of patience before you can sit down to eat. Usually, you really do get something special in return, like this delicious gado gado or amazing slow-cooker rendang. But of course, just like everyone else, we’re also crazy about easy-peasy quick recipes that are on the table within twenty minutes—especially when they can be made with things you can simply pull from the pantry. Like this surprising spaghetti!

 

Foto van culinair journalist Delilah Warcup - van Eyck

It gets even more fun when you can try out a trend along the way, and that’s exactly what you do with this recipe. Because in the culinary world, a simple but brilliant combination has been discovered that the internet is now full of: Asian savory sauces combined with butter. The butter takes the saltiest edge off, for example, soy sauce or tamari, miso and oyster sauce, without making the delicious umami element disappear. The butter more or less envelops and softens it, and when you stir that into hot, steaming things (or spread it on them) such as noodles, pasta or grilled vegetables, you won’t believe how delicious it tastes.

Another internet hit: miso combined with sweetness, in cookies or with chocolate. But that’s a story for another time, because we were about to tell you the success story of this quick spaghetti with oyster sauce butter, breadcrumbs and spring onion:

Instant hit

We came across this recipe through various channels (namely the website Bon Appétit, which had in turn gotten it from Marion’s Kitchen), and gave it our own twist by adding crispy-fried panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). Crispy-fried breadcrumbs are ridiculously delicious anyway; they add extra texture to dishes and, if you’re not careful, you’ll spoon the entire panful into your mouth before you can even sprinkle it over anything.

Oyster sauce with butter, why not

And the sauce you get by mixing oyster sauce and butter (that’s it) is genuinely fantastic—and it really couldn’t be easier. It’s creamy and salty, yet rich, full and complex thanks to the umami flavor of the shellfish, giving the pasta strands an almost syrupy savory coating. This is the method for 2 people (so easy it’s almost not even a recipe), and believe us: this will be on the table at least once a week!

How to make spaghetti with oyster sauce and butter

  • Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook 200 grams of dried spaghetti al dente according to the package instructions.
  • Meanwhile, take a deep frying pan or sauté pan and heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
  • Add 4 heaped tablespoons of panko (breadcrumbs) (more if you want to snack on it), a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper.
  • Fry, tossing regularly, until golden brown, and taste to check the seasoning.
  • Meanwhile, slice 1 spring onion into rings.
  • Use a spatula to sweep the breadcrumbs from the pan onto a plate, and add about 40 grams (or 3 scant tablespoons—it doesn’t need to be exact) of butter to the same pan.
  • Grate in 3 medium cloves of garlic and stir in 1 teaspoon of chili flakes.
  • Add 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce and mix well with the butter.
  • Check the spaghetti; if you need to drain it, first reserve a mugful of the cooking water.
  • Pour a splash of the cooking water into the sauté pan, add the drained spaghetti and mix everything very well until all the strands are coated in that delicious oyster butter.
  • If needed, keep adding a little pasta water to keep everything glossy; you also want to see a lovely layer of sauce at the bottom of the pan.
  • Spoon everything directly onto 2 deep plates, scatter the panko and spring onion over the top, and dig in! So delicious!

PS I made this for four people (so I doubled the recipe), including 2 children, and left the chili flakes out of the pan. I made up for it on my own plate with a few dollops of chili oil, which was also incredibly tasty.

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