IF I RANTED, I HOPE IT ISN’T THOUGHTLESS…
The brass dinner fork and spoon is made by the amazing Ann Ladson.
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If I ranted, I hope it isn’t thoughtless.
If I wrote songs, I hope it isn’t comfortable.
If I were a wood-worker, I’ll have a summer cabin.
If I made things with metals, I hope I had made these.
If I were sociable, I hope I am also sincere.
If I were a friend, I hope I don’t mistake loyalty with bias.
If I envied, I hope I could say it out loud.
If I had experienced joy, I hope it is without victims.
If I had a garden, I hope it grows shades for stray dogs.
If I were young, I would change nothing.
If I were a parent, I hope I don’t always think like one.
If I were a believer, I hope I have strength for reasons.
If I were a lion, I hope I respect the lambs.
If I were a vegetarian, I am going to have a pet pig.
If I were smart, I hope it comes with wisdom.
If I were a follower, I hope I wasn’t blind.
If I asked myself questions, I hope it isn’t answered by someone else.
If I were a particle physicist, I hope I can overlook human pettiness.
If I had compassion, it shall be selective.
If I were powerful, I hope I have the capacity to let go.
If I were in the same position, I hope I could resist the mistakes.
If I could live anywhere, I want to live in New York.
But if I lived by the sea, I hope it is home for sea urchins, too.
And if I lived by sea urchins, I hope you would visit me in the summer.
If you visited me in the summer, I hope I make this for you.
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Ingredients
- 1.8 oz (50 grams/about 1.5″ square) pancetta, very finely diced or minced
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp black salt, or sea salt
- 2.1 oz (60 grams) fresh uni/sea urchin without shell
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 tbsp (22 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- Sea salt to taste
- 7 oz (200 grams) linguine pasta
- 1 sheet of nori/Japanese seaweed
Instructions
- TO MAKE PORK SALT: Cook finely diced/minced pancetta and ground black pepper in a small pot over low heat, stirring frequently, until all the fat has rendered out and the pancetta is very dry and crispy (resembles very fine pork cracklings). This will take a few minutes depending. Drain the pancetta-bits well then wrap them with paper towels on a flat surface, pressing it to extract any excess oils and changing the paper-towels if necessary, until the pancetta-bits are very dry. Transfer them to a mortar with black salt, then pound until finely ground (the pancetta will not ground properly if it wasn’t rendered/dried sufficiently). Set aside until needed.
- TO MAKE UNI CARBONARA: You can use uni from fresh sea urchin, or from store-bought boxes that already did all the dirty work for you. Whatever you choose, just make sure that they are absurdly fresh. Pass the uni/sea urchin through a very find sieve into a bowl, then discard any solids/impurities that remains on the sieve. Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth, then the unsalted butter (its’ fine if there are small bits of butter that don’t blend). Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water with 2 heavy pinches of salt to boil. Cook the linguine according to instructions until al dente, then drain through a large sieve. Return the linguine to the still hot cooking-pot while it’s still dripping a bit of pasta-water, then add the uni-mixture. Without applying any more heat, stir the linguine and the sauce together for about 20 seconds, until the sauce starts to thicken from the residual heat. Season lightly with sea salt (but not too much because we’re gonna top it with pork salt), then divide into 2 serving plates.
- Wave the nori/seaweed-sheet 2″ above open flames for a few seconds to crisp up, then crumble it with your hands over the pasta. Sprinkle with pork salt, then serve immediately with a glass of white wine.
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32 responses to “UNI CARBONARA WITH PORK SALT”
This is GENIUS!!!
This is a beautiful dish! I love the idea of using nori in pasta.
Pasta – always a good idea ;-) Go carbs!
decadent and beautiful as always!
Totally, utterly captivated. Thank you for this, Mandy. These words, these photos (!) and this incredible pasta are all perfect.
Oh boy, carbonara is one of my faves! A very beautiful, thoughtful post as well!
I’ve become obsessed with your blog. Everything about this post is just perfect.
i saw something like this (this one sounds better though- pork salt and seaweed?!?!) when i visited chicago last year, but chickened out in favor of some polenta dish. will definitely have to try this now!!
By black salt you mean the Indian sulfur black salt, that tastes of egg, yes? Not the Hawaiian black lava salt? Love the poem and those utensils are gorgeous.
Tunie, it’s Hawaiian black lava salt :) I saw it being used on uni nigiri in a sushi restaurant before, but sea salt is just fine, too :)
Oh man I love uni carbonara. So creamy and salty and briny.
This rendition of carbonara looks lush. I love the sea-infused twist with the addition of uni and nori.
This is absolutely gorgeous, and I LOVE the idea of the pork salt.
Where on earth in Beijing did you find UNI in their shells?? Wow!! This looks so good. The salted pork idea is great. Looks soooo yummy!
You know whatelse is good this way: Japanese style tarako, cod row. It is sold slightly salted here in supermarkets. Peel off the outer covering and mash up the tiny row with the egg yolks and lots of butter. Add to the hot pasta, that is enough cooking! Put lots of nori on top. We can buy nori pre-sliced into thin slivers here which is great!!
I made a mistake: NOT cod row, it should be COD ROE, (⌒-⌒; )
poetry, food, art, what more do you need?
Your writing and culinary talents just elevated the quote ‘Stay hungry. Stay foolish.’ to another level for me. One pitfall in your recipe though… I don’t know how anyone can resist fresh uni. I would finish them off and be left with nothing for making the carbonara.
At firs I cringed when I read pork salt, but when I saw what it is…yummy!
Great post, very stylish!
I want it. I need it. NOW! I just saw this new post whilst preparing your onigri from last week… absolutely awesome!
Damn, I’m hungry now! ;-) This one immediately goes on the list for the next hunger attack (I will just have to leave out the sea urchin though… I don’t know where to get good uni here in Germany).
Ylva
YLVA, without sea urchins, you may need other flavouring agents like traditional carbonara. garlic, loads of good parmesan cheese and generous amount of black pepper :)
Yeay, more parmesan and garlic! ;-) Thank you Mandy. We will try it this way. Maybe I will even add a little bit of miso on top of that…? Yummie!
Pasta is always a good idea!
OH MY! This is all of my wife’s favorite things in one bowl, well, except she’d probably opt for bucatini if I made it. But I think she’d probably love any kind of pasta if you just happened to stop by and make this wonderful creation.
My mind gets blown a little more each time I come to your site. You’re sort of a unicorn but you must know this. The writing, photography and food…love it all so much. Thank you.
Made this for dinner with friends last night—they were bowled over. I thank you and gave you oodles of credit. I can confidently say that you now have 3 new fans! We used to collect urchin/uni from the rocks in Corsica–cut them open and sip them down with some crisp white wine for lunch. Unfortunately, I was not able to get them that fresh last night. Another problem was that I did not have the fork and spoon from your photo. I think this would have made the dish. Please, oh please, would you let me know where you purchased them?
Zoe, thanks!! Click on the link “Ann Ladson” below the first photo!
Your photos always blow me away. That fork and spoon in particular look amazing in the dark photography you have going on. I must confess, your food blog is one of my main motivations for wanting to become a better food photographer and writer. Thanks for the share and keep doing what you’re doing!
Frances, thanks for your kind encouragement!
Love this!
Where can I find those amazing utensils?
Dan, it’s by Ann Ladson! There’s a link to her online shop at the beginning of the post :)
Ez a vacsora csÃzcsgasºtronómiai szintű volt-é avagy netán mégsem?Hosszas vita zajlott errÅ‘l a Bűvös blogon, rosszmagam részvételével. Az ottani hangadó opponens (egy Levin “nevű” titokzatos, viszont copfos úr) szerint alapvetÅ‘en nem fér össze a magas szintű gasztronómiai teljesÃtmény és a jóllakás igénye. Szerintem meg igen.EttÅ‘l a sortól jól (is) lehetett lakni, hasonlóan Zsolt korábbi borvacsoráihoz. Szerencsére!