fishposting
shirasu angel hair
Shirasu---the young fry of anchovies or sardines---are a staple food in Japan. Boiled in brine and then dried (to varying degrees), they have a mild flavor and excellent macronutritional profile.
Here, I combine them with angel hair pasta and mitsuba, a peppery herb native to Japan. A nice olive oil and black pepper round things out.
The steps are simple.
Serves 1-2. Not more than 30min.
- 26g shirasu
- 100g angel hair
- 10ml olive oil
- 5 sprigs of mitsuba
- black pepper to taste
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Bring water for cooking the pasta to a boil; add salt to make it quite salty (angel hair cooks quickly). Pick the mitsuba leaves while the water comes to a boil. Chiffonade most of it, but save some for a garnish.
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Put the pasta in. When there is less than seconds to go before the pasta is ready, add the shirasu. (Skip this step if it's not at all dry.)
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Drain the pasta and shirasu. Toss in the pot with the olive oil. After some vigorous stirring, add the chiffonade of mitsuba. Add black pepper.
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Plate the pasta, garnishing with some mitsuba leaves.
You could use more or less fish. Shiso parsley would sub in well. Butter could replace the oil, you could use parmesan. Use the fully dried chirimen-jako, but put it in the water with more time remaining.