Spaghetti Hashiya's pasta master, Iwata Harumasa (photo by leslie scurry)
Mention the term "Japanese food" to just about anyone and invariably you'll get "sushi" as a response. And while that's a perfectly delicious response, Japan has more than sushi, and other typical foods that are associated with that country. In large metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, the variety of foods stretch available touch all parts of the globe. There are amazing Indian restaurants, an African restaurant in Shinjuku, superb French bistros, tapas...and pasta.
Pasta. It's popularity is natural as it is the kissin' cousin to ramen and udon. Those who crave the chewy, ropey noodles swimming in rich, pork-laden broth also quest for plates of pasta. While marinara is popular, the Japanese take on pasta sauces is as dynamic as the Japanese versions of French bakery goods and Indian curry. Tarako (marinated roe), uni (sea urchin), ika (squid) and natto (fermented soy beans) are just some of the unique foods that adorn Japanese pasta. For sheer pasta and sauce variety, Spaghetti Hashiya takes the prize.
(photo by wm. christman)
Hashiya has a staggering three-page list of pasta/sauce varieties ranging from traditional to solidly Japanese. Each plate of fresh pasta is cooked and sauced to order. There are sauces based with butter, tomato, meat, garlic and olive oil, and dressed with mushrooms, more meat, fresh vegetables and a large variety of seafood, so your options at Hashiya are many. Although you could go the traditional route and walk away very satisfied, it's the Japanese versions that hold the most interest. "...but the devil" stopped in at Hashiya last month for a quick lunch and found the pasta as excellent as ever.
Our target dish for the day at Hashiya was a bowl of their uni/tarako/ika spaghetti. When we gave our order, owner/chef Iwata-san said "but that's a Japanese style sauce...". Certainly the combination of these ingredients in the sauce would make some Westerners flinch which is why we were asked but once we nodded our acknowledgment, Iwata-san smiled and got to work.
Tarako comes in a couple of forms commonly used in Japanese pasta dishes. Plain tarako is pollock (cod) roe and has quite a rich but strong fishy taste when eaten alone. It can be used in it's raw form or roasted. Spicy tarako, called mentaiko, is marinated pollock roe and is both Korean in origin and often used in "spicy" sushi rolls, such as spicy tuna roll. (Some restaurants opt for Mexican hot sauce like Tapatio for their spicy rolls as mentaiko retains a strong fishy taste...it is fish roe after all...). This strong taste is mellowed by adding it to other ingredients making it pleasant, albeit briny, tasting. Eating tarako or mentaiko alone or with rice follows some traditional Japanese tastes and can be challenging to those not used to strong ocean flavors.
(photo by wm. christman)
Hashiya's rendition of this pasta dish uses the creamy uni as the base of the sauce. Uni typically has a sweet-ish, slightly briny taste and soft polenta-like texture. When it's whisked it liquefies just enough to count as a thick sauce. Hashiya adds plain tarako to this and that results in an orange coloured sauce with little flecks of light pink tarako eggs. Cooked thin strips of ika (akin to ika somen) are added at the last minute, then the bowl of sauce is turned out and mixed into the bowl of freshly cooked pasta. A handful of nori seaweed shards are piled on top and you're ready to rock.
The overall taste is creamy, faintly sweet and tastes of fresh ocean. The ika plays a bit of crunch into the nicely al dente pasta and the nori adds a bit of earthiness. If you've ever had each of the components of the sauce separately, you will be stunned at the transformation of them mixed together and warmed by the pasta. For hesitant fledgling foodies, this is a bowl of unique and excellent tastes that is well worth seeking out. And if Iwata-san expresses concern about this dish being a "Japanese" pasta, nod and say "daijobu" then get ready to eat.
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Hashiya has three locations in Tokyo:
in Hatagaya: 2-49-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku. Ph: 03-3373-2660 (take the Keio train line to the Hatagaya station)
in Yoyogi: 1-3-10 Yoyogi-Hachiman, Shibuya-ku. Ph: 03-3466-1576 (take the Odakyu Odawara Line to the Yoyogi-hachiman station)
in Shinjuku: 1-26-2, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, on the Basement floor of Shinjuku Nomura Building (near the West exit of the Shinjuku station)
