Familiar spaghetti is tossed with crisp cabbage and a rich bold sauce that will make pasta night just a little different.

Doenjang Cabbage Noodles

Serves 4

Inspired by a bowl of doenjang guk and Seonkyoung Longest, this is sure to become a family favorite.

Ingredients

500g (1 lb) spaghetti or linguini

2 T butter, separated – 1 T cut into smaller pieces and kept cold

275g (a little more than .5 lb) white cabbage, cut into 1 in chunks

200g (a little less than .5 lb) ground meat of your choice, optional 

100g (1/2 medium) onion, sliced thinly with the grain

5g (1 t) ginger, minced

5 garlic cloves, minced

.5 t black pepper

.25 t kosher salt

Sauce

5 T doenjang

2 T soy sauce

2 T mirin

1 T gochujang

1 T sake or soju

1 t fish sauce

Recipe Know-how

1.      Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add enough salt to season well.

2.      In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.

• Begin cooking pasta

You want to time the beginning of cooking the sauce so that the pasta is 2/3 cooked based on package directions by the time it is added to the saute pan.

3.      Heat a large sauté pan over medium high. Add 1 T butter, allowing it to melt and become foamy.

• Add the onion, ginger and garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onions begin to just soften.

• Add the ground meat, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink.

• Add the cabbage cook 1-2 minutes or until just beginning to wilt.

• Add sauce and cook a further 2-3 minutes

4.      Using tongs, add pasta to the sauce along with 1/3 c pasta water.

• Add butter. Continually toss pasta while shaking the pan to create a silky sauce.

If more pasta water is needed to make a creamy sauce that coats all of the noodles add it 1 T at a time.

5.      Serve.