Originally uploaded by catchan1980

My first time to make Spaghetti Napolitan. This is something I posted in Japinoy.com, after watching Kuitan season 2:

Did you know that the Spaghetti Napolitan is 100% Japanese? Yep, not from Italy or from anywhere else, but invented in Yokohama. I learned this from Kuitan, season 2 last episode. They explained all about the Napolitan — the series also took place in Yokohama.

The only Italian influence in the Napolitan was the use of spaghetti (instead of traditional Japanese noodles like soba). The head chef of New Grand Hotel (?? not sure if this is the correct name) got the idea from Western spaghetti and made a dish that contains the flavors that the Japanese love. Instead of tomato sauce, he used ketchup to give that salty and sweet taste.

The first time I “made” this dish (called “Neapolitan Spaghetti”) in “Cooking Mama” game in Nintendo DS, I didn’t think too much about it. But after watching Kuitan (and hearing that lovely song “Itoshi no Napolitan” over and over again), I became curious about the dish. Incidentally, the dish played a much bigger role in the series than just being the title song, but I’m not going to ruin it, in case some people have not seen the series. 🙂

The Japanese bento book I have contained a simple kid-friendly Napolitan recipe and I knew I had to try it. I was floored with the result! My spaghetti tasted like…Pinoy sweet-style spaghetti!

Then it hit me. The Japanese Napolitan and the Filipino sweet-style spaghetti are essentially the same — sweet, salty, a bit spicy. Most Filipinos prefer sweet spaghetti and add ketchup (usually banana ketchup) to the tomato sauce to give it that sweet-spicy taste that we all love.

I decided to try making my first Napolitan, seeing that it has less than 5 ingredients! 😀 The recipe book was clear on the instructions and measurements but I didn’t follow them at all. As always, I approximated the amounts and adjusted to taste. I am a certified TLAB cook — That Looks About Right!

Ingredients:

cooked spaghetti – enough for 1 person

UFC Banana Ketchup – I find tomato ketchup a little sour for my taste. Banana ketchup is just perfect.

1/4 of a medium-sized green bell pepper, sliced into strips

1 slice of ham, cut into strips

1/4 of a medium-sized onion, sliced into strips

In a pan, heat a little oil and cook the ham. Add the green bell pepper and onions and saute until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add cooked pasta and heat for a while, about 1 minute. Pour ketchup and gently saute/toss until the pasta is uniformly covered with ketchup. — Make sure you do this gently! You don’t want to break up the noodles.

Easy-breezy…I am not Japanesy, but I loved my Napolitan. I mean, not bad for a first attempt! I will definitely try this again, this time, will add more ketchup so the pasta will have more “sauce” as I am used to that kind of spaghetti. But all in all, my stomach wasn’t complaining! 🙂

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