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Creamy Bucatini With Roasted Seaweed

4.1

(14)

White plate of creamy bucatini on a mustard surface with a blue striped napkin.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca

I present to you what my family calls “gim pasta”: a simple, perfect, little black dress of a pantry dish featuring chewy bucatini, gim (seasoned roasted seaweed), and cream. These noodles really speak for themselves, in large part because they remind me of the seaside flavors of a shrimp Alfredo but without the shellfish. This is, perhaps more than any of the other gim dishes in this book, a blatant concretization of my mantra: Roasted seaweed is more than just snack. It’s a powerhouse ingredient. If you can't find gim, which is already seasoned, you can use toasted nori instead—just add a bit more salt and sesame oil. —Eric Kim

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    2 servings

Ingredients

6

oz. bucatini or spaghetti

Kosher salt

1

cup heavy cream

2

large garlic cloves, finely grated

1

Tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Flaky sea salt

.70-oz. seasoned toasted seaweed snacks or toasted nori sheets, crushed

Gochugaru (for serving; optional)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cook 6 oz. bucatini or spaghetti in a large pot of generously salted boiling water just until pliable, about 5 minutes less than package directions (it’ll finish cooking in the sauce). Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot.

    Step 2

    Add 1 cup heavy cream, 2 large garlic cloves, finely grated, and ½ cup reserved pasta cooking liquid to pot with pasta. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and cook, stirring constantly and adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed if sauce is reducing too fast, until pasta is al dente and sauce is thickened and coats pasta, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil. Taste and add more salt if needed (pasta should be nicely seasoned to bring out the seaweed’s natural salinity).

    Step 3

    Divide pasta between plates and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and flaky sea salt. Top with .70-oz. seasoned toasted seaweed snacks or toasted nori sheets, crushed, dividing evenly, and sprinkle with gochugaru (if using).

Image may contain: Food, Meal, Pizza, Dish, and Meatball
Adapted from Korean American. Copyright 2022 by Eric Kim. Photographs copyright 2022 by Jenny Huang. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.

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Reviews (14)

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  • I was skeptical this was going to work in the middle of this-- took FOREVER to reduce the cream with 1/2 cup water down to something that seemed like sauce, but eventually I more or less got there (NOT 5 minutes lololololololol). I also suddenly realized I might have erred by salting the pasta water-- it is for sure on the edge of too salty with that much of the water reduced in the sauce and none added after, but okay-- I wouldn't live that dangerously again though. Definitely a bit spare, but a workable spare in the end- would be worth trying some of the extra zhuzhing suggested in reviews...

    • ML Character

    • Los Angeles

    • 9/7/2022

  • I was really looking forward to making this pasta because I LOVE gim. In the end, it was a little bit underwhelming. The sesame oil really took over the dish so the seaweed flavor didn't shine as much as I thought it would. I added a dash of soy sauce to bring in a little more of that salty umami flavor that I was missing. It helped, but next time I would skip the sesame oil entirely and maybe replace with butter if it needed more fat.

    • lasagnaqueen

    • Portland, Oregon

    • 8/6/2022

  • Loved this! Probably even better with upon noodles. Fantastic flavor and lovely texture.

    • Brushjl

    • solon, oh

    • 7/6/2022

  • Very good but I modified the quantity of pasta. One cup of cream seemed way too much for just 6oz. of pasta. Used 1 pound of spaghetti and used the other ingredients as listed. For me, 0.7oz of Nori was 8 sheets. Toasted then cut into small bits. Will definitely make it again.

    • johnny

    • ontario

    • 6/27/2022

  • Spot on recipe Mr. Kim! I modified it slightly by browning sesame seeds in a Tbs. of vegetable oil, then added the garlic for 30 seconds before adding the cream and pasta water, also added a Tbs. of julienned basil for added Umami. Incredible Spring dish. I think I'll hit it up with a touch of black vinegar and lemon zest next time some extra lift. Thank you very much for the recipe!!!

    • John Vitale

    • Chicago, IL via Colorado and NYC.

    • 4/15/2022

  • Delicious! We used thin spaghetti and added more water originally. My husband was skeptical every step of the way, but we both loved the outcome.

    • Chelsea

    • Bend, Oregon

    • 4/4/2022