bucatini Archives - Taste With The Eyes

Creamy Gochujang Noodles

In the mid-2000s, Korean street food vendors took cues from the Italian pasta dish penne alla vodka by introducing heavy cream into their traditional tteokbokki.

Tteokbokki is a popular stir-fried rice cake snack that is simmered in a spicy-sweet gochujang sauce. Gochujang is a Korean red chili paste with sweet heat and a fermented umami richness. The addition of cream results in a distinctive rosy color, hence the moniker “rosé tteokbokki.”

My previous Korean-French fusion salmon dish, a Creamy Gochujang Braised Salmon, blended those same spicy and creamy elements. This Korean-Italian fusion noodle dish also wows with a delicious fruitiness, slight smokiness and depth of flavor from the sun-dried Korean red peppers in the paste.

Bucatini stands in as an interesting alternative for rice cakes because of its wonderfully chewy quality. Handmade bronze dies give the pasta a fabulous coarse, sauce-absorbing surface, perfect for soaking up all those spicy-sweet-creamy-umami flavors that rosé tteokbokki is famous for…

Creamy Gochujang Noodles

Creamy Gochujang Noodles Recipe

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How to Cook Tender Octopus

How to Cook Tender Octopus
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Octopus Pasta

Seriously, there are so many crazy ways to cook tender octopus… from beating it on a rock to slamming it against the side of your sink (ten times no less) to boiling it with wine corks. Or you can massage the cephalopod vigorously with lots of salt until it froths then plunge him into a copper pot full of boiling water. Or you can roast him in a 200°F oven for five (!) hours…

Or try my simple fool-proof method below, cooking time five (!) minutes.

How to Cook Tender Octopus

The cooking method actually depends on the type of product with which you start. Here I begin with one pound of Frozen Cooked Spanish Octopus Tentacles (Pulpo Cocido) which is readily available and easy to prepare. This product can be found in the frozen seafood section of Whole Foods Market. Surprisingly, unlike other seafood, octopus’ texture might even benefit from the freezing process so fresh octopus in not considered to be superior.

The octopus is from the Eastern Central Atlantic Ocean, a product of Spain. It has already been cleaned; tentacles have been separated from the head. It was cooked with salt and bay leaves, then frozen. Keep it frozen until the day before use, then thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Place thawed tentacles in a pot and cover with fresh water. Bring the water to a boil then turn down immediately to a low simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the tentacles from the pot and let cool slightly on a platter so they can be sliced.

Octopus Pasta

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Saffron Lemon Shrimp with Bucatini

Saffron Lemon Shrimp with Bucatini
Feta, Kalamata Olives, Oregano, Red Chile Flakes

These large plump shrimp have a striking golden hue. Here, the exotic flavor of saffron – that heady spice derived from the dried stigmas of a crocus – takes a simple shrimp and pasta dish to another level.

Traditional Greek ingredients – kalamata olives, oregano and feta play supporting roles as lemon “two ways” adds bright tangy notes and red chile flakes bring piquant qualities. And while spaghetti or linguini shapes would work just fine, those robust bucatini noodles magically weave this super-satisfying dish together.