Tomato Curry and Chorizo Spaghettini 番茄咖哩義大利麵

What goes well with pasta? Which flavor profile that I haven't tried to integrate it? Curry should work, as I imagined in my head. Simple curry powder will do to enhance the overall taste, but the pasta might be too dry in the end even with the help of pasta water. From there, I started searching for an ideal ingredient that can fulfill the missing part. Tomatoes! It's juicy, sweet, and with a touch of acidity, sounds like a perfect combo with any curry-oriented dish.

Therefore, this tomato curry and chorizo spaghettini recipe is born. 

Tomato curry and chorizo spaghettini 番茄咖哩義大利麵 -

Ingredients (about 5 to 6 portions)?

• 400 grams spaghettini
• 600 grams chorizo
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic clove
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 can whole peeled tomato
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• Some salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some grated Parmigiano Reggiano

How?

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and season with few pinches of salt. Add in the pasta and cook till almost al dente. Save some pasta water and drain the rest. Try to time it right so the pasta is ready when the sauce is ready at the same time.

Peel and slice the garlic cloves. Peel and slice the onion. Destem and pitted both bell peppers, slice to strips. Remove the chorizo from its casing.

Bring a big pan or a big pot, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and switch to medium heat. Add in onion along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Sear till the onion turns translucent.

Add in chorizo and cook for about one minute. Break the chorizo to smaller pieces, kind of like ground meat during the process. Add in garlic and cook till slightly golden.

Transfer all the bell pepper strips over and give it a quick stir-fry, cook for two minutes. 

Pour in everything from canned tomato, including the juice. Also add 1 teaspoon of tomato paste to enhance the flavor. Break the whole peeled tomatoes with a spatula, cook for couple more minutes. 

Add 2 tablespoons of curry powder and mix till evenly blended in the sauce. Taste and adjust. I actually added some more salt here. Also check on the consistency, add some pasta water if the sauce appears too dry. I didn't need to add any extra water here.

Transfer drained pasta over, mix and let it cook for one more minute. Plate and grate some aged Parmigiano Reggiano all over right before serving. 

It's a nice feeling to see something you put up in your head comes to life, and a delicious one too. It's also been proven and agreed by Mister at home, that tomato curry totally works with pasta. 

I'm also glad that I chose spaghettini over other types of pasta. It's thinner compared to spaghetti, turns out that all the minced meat was well-trapped in between the strands, not mentioning the seasonings clinging on. 

If for cream-based sauce, I would think that it might be too heavy with spaghettini, but not the case for tomato curry sauce. However, please do not substitute with angel hair pasta. Delicate angel hair pasta can get overtaken by the stronger profile of tomato curry sauce. 

Other pasta recipes:

• Takanazuke and bacon spaghetti 高菜培根義大利麵
• Eggplant and minced pork spaghetti 魚香茄子義大利麵
• Spaghettini con la bottarga (to be exact, Asian karasumi)

Steak Stir-fry with Colorful Bell Peppers 黑胡椒風味彩椒骰子牛

Language can be confusing sometimes. I was trying to come up with a title for this recipe using quality steak. Since I slice the steak to big cubes prior cooking, I was about to put the title as "cubed steak." Glad that I Googled first and found out cubed steak actually means something else!

Cubed steak or minute steak, is actually a less expensive cut of beef that has been tenderized first, and at a glance, cubed steak might actually look like ground beef instead of actual steak as a whole or square-cut chunky beef. Isn't that confusing to you as well?

Steak stir-fry with colorful bell peppers 黑胡椒風味彩椒骰子牛 - 

Ingredients?

• 500 grams steak-grade beef (prefer thicker cut)
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 onion
• 4 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Tiny pinch salt
• Some corn starch and water mixture

Sauce - 

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Cut the steak to large cubes, but do trim-off excess fat first if any.

Peel and dice the onion. Destem and pitted all the bell peppers, cut into larger cube-shape pieces. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.

Mix together all the ingredients under the "sauce" section.

Take a non-stick pan, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and turn to medium high heat. Once warmed up, transfer beef over and sear till the sides colored. The meat doesn't have to be fully cooked through, just want to give the surface a nice sear first. Once ready, scoop out and set aside for later use.

Still using the same pan, use a paper towel to wipe out excess fat, only leave enough to coat the bottom.

Add in onion along with tiny pinch of salt. Give it a quick mix and continue to cook till slightly golden brown on some edges.

Add in garlic and continue to cook for 30 more seconds.

Transfer all the bell pepper over and give it a quick mix. Cook for a minute or so. Pour in the sauce mixture. Mix till blended and cook for one more minute.

Switch to low heat and wait a little bit till the temperature drops. Prep some corn starch and water mixture. Pour some corn starch and water mixture while stirring the ingredients at the same time to prevent clumping. We are aiming for slightly thickened texture but not gooey at all.

Once achieved the right consistency, put the beef back to the pan. Toss till evenly blended, also make sure the beef is about fully cooked through. Taste and adjust if needed. Plate and serve as it is.

I insist on using chunky steak-grade beef here. The flavor and texture are hard to replace with other cuts of meat. Sirloin would be my top choice, but it doesn't come cheap. Fingers crossed that the steak is on sale when we go grocery shopping. 

Which reminds me that I used to stock up steaks when it's on sale. Usually I'll store unused ones in the freezer for future use. Even though frozen ones might not be as good as fresh meat, but it's not bad at all when cooked and seasoned right, and for sure my wallet is happier that way.