Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta with a Japanese twist! A dash of soy sauce is the secret ingredient that gives nice umami and savoriness to the dish.
Whether it’s a Monday dinner for the family or a Friday date night, no one can dispute the idea of a rich, comforting, and oh-so-good pasta like this Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta. And yes, the Japanese love pasta just like anyone else. We love noodles and carbs, and we enjoy experimenting with global dishes, giving them some new dimension with our very own Japanese twist.
Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta
In Japanese cuisine, there’s a thing called Japanese-style pasta or what we call Wafu Pasta (和風パスタ). They are essentially Italian pasta dishes that include a few Japanese condiments, and sometimes Japanese ingredients.
In this Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta, for example, I added shiitake mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms, to give new life to the Western-style noodle dish. I also added a splash of soy sauce to the cream. You don’t need a lot of soy sauce here, but just the right amount to lend nice umami, depth, and savoriness.
Some other condiments like miso, sake, and tonkatsu sauce are also commonly used in Western dishes (pasta, soup, main dishes, etc). You don’t have to save Japanese condiments for Japanese food. Have fun experimenting!
Here are some Wafu Pasta recipes on the blog:
- Easy Wafu Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus
- Classic Mentaiko Pasta
- Ume Shiso Pasta
- Napolitan (Ketchup Spaghetti)
Versatile Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta
This recipe calls for 4 main ingredients: pasta, bacon, mushroom, and garlic, which are staples in the kitchen. But feel free to replace them with pretty much any other ingredients from your fridge. Here are some of my suggestions that would go with this creamy sauce.
Protein
- Chicken
- Ham
- Sausage
- Shrimp
- Salmon
Vegetables & Mushrooms
- Spinach
- Arugula
- Kale
- Asparagus
- Portobello mushrooms
- Oyster mushrooms
- Chanterelle mushrooms
- Enoki mushrooms
Do you have any other good ideas? Please share in the comments below!
5 Tips to Remember When Making Pasta
The following tips will apply to the majority of pasta recipes you’ll be cooking.
- Use 4 quarts (4 L) of water for ½ to 1 lb of pasta.
- Add 1 ½ tablespoons of kosher salt (if table salt, use half) to the water.
- Typically, cook 4 oz (113 g, ¼ lb) of dried pasta per person.
- Cook pasta till al dente; slightly undercooked or “firm to the bite”.
- Reserve ½ cup (120 ml) pasta cooking water just in case you need to dilute your pasta sauce.
Love of Italian Food in Japan
If you have never been to Japan, it’s probably hard to imagine that the Japanese cook and eat western food quite often. In fact, Italian restaurants are everywhere in Japan, and I mean everywhere. At home, we cook all kinds of pasta, some are with a Japanese twist (we call this type “Wafu Pasta” 和風パスタ).
Several years ago I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the growing Japanese influence on San Francisco food (It’s an interesting article to read if you have time). In the article, the editor Michael Bauer mentioned that chef David Kinch at Manresa said, “the best French and Italian restaurants in the world outside of France and Italy are in Japan. It is that amazing.” My neighborhood Italian restaurants in Yokohama serve superb Italian food compared to the local Italian restaurants here in my neighborhood in the US.
When you’re in Japan and got tired of eating Japanese food, try an Italian restaurant and you might be pleasantly surprised!
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Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon (5.3 oz, 150 g)
- 1.8 oz shimeji mushrooms (½ package; or use any other mushrooms)
- 4 cremini mushrooms (1.8 oz, 50 g; or use button mushrooms)
- 4 shiitake mushrooms (1.8 oz, 50 g; or use any other mushrooms))
- 1½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
For the Pasta
- 8 oz pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine; 4 oz, 113 g per person)
- 4 quarts water
- 1½ Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Creamy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 cup milk
- ⅓ cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Garnish
- parsley
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Add 1½ Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 4 quarts water to a large pot and bring it to a boil for cooking the spaghetti. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Once the water is boiling, add 8 oz pasta and cook according to package instructions. Tip 1: Stop cooking 1 minute earlier as you will continue to cook the pasta in the frying pan. Tip 2: Before draining the pasta, reserve ½ cup (120 ml) pasta cooking water. Drain well and set aside.
- Cut 4 slices bacon into ½-inch (1.25-cm) pieces.
- Cut the bottom of 4 cremini mushrooms and slice them. Cut the bottom end of 1.8 oz shimeji mushrooms.
- Remove the stems of 4 shiitake mushrooms and slice the caps.
- In a large frying pan, heat 1½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil on medium heat. Note: If you use a nonstick frying pan, you can skip the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the bacon and sauté.
- Once the bacon fat renders, crush 2 cloves garlic and add into the pan.
- Add all the mushrooms and sauté together. Add 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour) and make sure to keep stirring so the flour doesn’t stick at the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in 1 cup milk, ⅓ cup heavy (whipping) cream, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Continue scraping off the bottom of the pan. The flour will thicken the sauce.
- Taste the sauce and add ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. If the sauce is too thick, you can add ¼ cup of pasta cooking water (after that, add one tablespoon at a time) to dilute the sauce. Tip: You want to make sure it tastes a bit stronger than you want the final dish to be (because you will add the spaghetti).
- Add the cooked spaghetti to the frying pan, or alternatively, you can pour the sauce over the spaghetti on a serving plate. Using the pair of tongs, coat the spaghetti with the sauce.
- If you‘d like, add freshly ground black pepper. Serve and garnish with parsley.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 9, 2011. It was updated with new images in February 2019.
Cooking Time: <45 minutes
Makes 2 servingsIngredients:2 servings of spaghetti
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 slices bacon, cut into ½” pieces
3 mushrooms, sliced
2 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 pkg shimeji mushroom, cut off the base part of shimeji mushrooms
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/3 heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 cube vegetable bouillon
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
Parsley for garnishDirections:1. Start cooking spaghetti according to package instructions. Prepare the rest of ingredients. You can combine heavy whipping cream and milk in the same measuring cup.2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat olive oil on medium heat and cook garlic until fragrant.3. Add bacon and sauté.4. Add the three kinds of mushrooms and mix all together. Sprinkle pepper if you like.5. Stir in flour and keep mixing with wooden spoon. Constantly scrape off the bottom of the pan.6. Stir in whipping cream and milk and continue scraping off the bottom of the pan.7. Add bouillon and break it with the wooden spoon. Bring the sauce to a boil.8. When boiling, add soy sauce and mix all together.9. When the sauce gets thicken, add black pepper (and salt) to taste. Bacon is salty so I usually don’t put salt here.10. You can add spaghetti in the skillet to mix with the sauce, or you can pour the sauce over the spaghetti on a serving plate. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
Just posting under a random wafu pasta recipe. I really enjoy buttered noodles as an easy, carb filled comfort food. After reading some of your wafu recipes, I was wondering if there was something similar, like miso-butter noodles, I could make? Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Taylor, How about “Miso Butter Pasta with Tuna and Cabbage” or “Creamy Miso Pasta with Tofu and Asparagus”? 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/miso-butter-pasta-with-tuna-cabbage/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/creamy-miso-pasta-with-tofu-and-asparagus/
Hi Nami!
I’m going to make this dish tonight, I love japanese carbonara but wanted something that wasn’t so cheesy! I can’t wait to make this 😀
Thank you for making so many great recipes and making them free!
Hi Rachel,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!😊
I made this recipe for my family (I added chicken too) and we loved it! It was so delicious! Definitely, I will making this wafu pasta quite often. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Wonderful! So glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to write feedback. xoxo
Today my grandfather passed away, and I was looking for a dish on your website that was comforting. This dish was exactly what I was looking for. It was so delicious. Thank you for sharing it with the world.
I’m terribly sorry for your loss. 🙁 I’m glad this dish brightened you a little… My condolences to you and your family on the passing of your grandfather.
Hi! Thanks so much for sharing! I was super excited to cook this because there’s this pasta place in little Tokyo, Los Angeles that serves my favorite Japanese/Italian Pasta and this did a good job mimicking that pasta! I made it with shrimp and added more soy sauce because I like the umami taste a lot. Unfortunately my grocery store only had baby Bella, white and enoki mushrooms… but, I will definitely try again with the proper ingredients. Thank you!
Hi Katrina! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! We have a lot of wafu pasta recipes in Japan and I hope you can make that at home! Soy sauce and butter are a great combination. 🙂
Oh my goodness, my family loved this recipe. Unable to get shimeji mushrooms, cremini mushrooms worked just fine. Shoyu added a lot of flavor. This recipe is a keeper!
Hi Tracy! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! Yes, pretty much any mushrooms would work for this recipe. Thanks for trying this recipe and for your kind words!
Hi Nami,
I love japanese wafu pasta and everytime I go to Japan, I’ll try to eat at least one atItalian restaurant…I have a question though, can I omit the roux making parts (butter and flour) and just use cream? Will it affect the taste? Arigatou!
Hi Fiona! You will be missing the flavor and the texture. It’s hard to achieve them with just heavy cream. 🙂
A chef friend recently introduced us to Wafu pasta so when I was looking for a mushroom pasta recipe to make tonight and saw that this was one, I knew I had to try it. Wow! What flavors and consistency! And you’re right – the soy sauce really IS the secret ingredient to this very umami dish! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Hi Amy! I’m so happy to hear you learned about Wafu pasta and gave this recipe a try! Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. And this week I’m sharing simple 3 Wafu pasta recipes. I hope you enjoy them too! xo
I am simply astonished how much flavor is in this dish considering how simple and easy it is!!! Wow!!! 😱😱😱
I made mine with pork belly instead of bacon because I’m trying to limit my intake of processed meats for health reasons. I can only imagine how delicious it is with bacon!
Way to go, Nami! 👏💪
Hi Lion! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. Arigato for your kind feedback. xo
Hi Nami!
I have been following you for a very long time since leaving Japan. This dish reminded me of the various pastas I loved there and I couldn’t quite figure out what the secret ingredient was until now! It’s soy sauce! Thank you so much for your recipes. You have brought a lot of joy in my household.
Hi Dianne! Aww I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes and thank you for your kind words! Now you can make different wafu pasta variation at home! 😉
Just made this tonight and it’s EXCELLENT! Thank you for the great recipe!
Hi June! Wonderful! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂 xo
Really nice recipe, I added an egg yolk before the finish and it turns out to be amazing. The yolk add the body and richness to the sauce. Always love your recipes Nami.
PS. Can you show us how to cook hokkaido butadon? I have it when I went on a trip to hokkaido last year. I tried to recreate it a couple of times, but they are nowhere near the original.
Hi Jenjira! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! The egg yolk addition sounds delicious! The Butadon… the sauce is pretty sweet and savory right? I’ll add to my list. Thanks for your request! 🙂
Quick question, where did you get that spoon and fork from?
Long time reader of recipes, thanks for all you do.
Hi Sam! Thank you for reading my blog for a long time! 🙂 They are from Cutipol (Portugal brand) and this series is called Goa.
https://www.cutipol.pt/store-cutlery-goa-collection-24-pieces-set-wood-chest-2559
If you’re in the US, you can purchase from two online shops:
http://www.abchome.com/shop/brands/cutipol
https://www.amara.com/us/shop/flatware
Hope this helps! I like their simple, but functional flatwares.
[…] Pasta – oh yes, you can top furikake on Mentaiko Pasta, cacio e pepe pasta, or any simple creamy pasta. […]
Hi Peter! I’m not sure where you live, but here in the US, kosher salt (or sea salt) is a standard salt in most recipes (even though you’re not kosher). It’s basically pure salt you get, which is great for cooking. However, if I don’t write “kosher salt” and just write “salt”, some recipe users who use table salt as their cooking salt may put too much salt in the food. Therefore, we always specify what type of salt it is. If you use table salt, you need to cut down of the salt in half. Hope this makes sense.