Clem's Spaghetti Carbonara
In Italian,
carbonara means "in the style of coal miners", after the
word "carbonaro" which means "charcoal" burner" or "coal
miner". It is thought that this is allusion to black specs
(black pepper) found in the sauce of this dish which resemble
flecks of coal dust. Culinary historians think Spaghetti
Carbonara originated in Rome post World War 2.
I have never made this dish before and I think also never had it
(can't remember ever ordering it). But, my research shows that
it is a relatively easy dish to make. I chose to make my dish
tonight as close to authentic as possible.
Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara calls for the use of guanciale which is salted, dry cured pork cheek. This is a very fatty cut of pork. Its relative, the pancetta may be used instead (belly pork) although it is not an authentic ingredient. Many home chefs use streaky bacon as a budget-conscious choice (the guanciale which I bought today was AUD52 per kg).
The other essential ingredient is pecorino romano cheese. This is a hard, salty Italian cheese made from sheep's milk. As such, in a salt-conscious diet world, even Italian chefs these days, cut the pecorino with another cheese e.g. parmigiano reggiano or grana romano.
And remember, authentic Spaghetti Carbonara does not have dairy cream in it!
Here's how to make authentic Spaghetti Carbonara in a jiffy:
INGREDIENTS (for one serve)
- 60 g
guanciale
- 30 g
pecorino romano
- 10 g parmigiano
reggiano
- 100 g
thick spaghetti
- 2 egg
yolks
- Black peppercorns (to taste)
METHOD
Review the method below and then plan out your work flow so that you move from one step to the next without time gaps.
- Cut the
guanciale into small strips (remove the rind).
Guanciale cut into strips across the fat/meat bands after removing the rind
- Boil 100 g
of spaghetti to al dente (or your favoured degree of
doneness) in salted water.
- In a
saucepan big enough to mix and toss all the spaghetti (a
saucier is designed for this very purpose), gently fry
the cut guanciale from a cold start to brown it and
render its fat into oil.
When done, remove 2/3 of the guanciale and set aside.
Take out half the oil left in the pan and stir it into the the cheese.
-
Microplane 30 g of pecorino romano and 10 g of
parmigiano reggiano.
- When the
spaghetti is nearly ready, add two egg yolks to the cheese,
and a good helping of freshly cracked black pepper and mix
all in. You can loosen the mix by adding a little starchy
water from the spaghetti being cooked.
- Remove the
spaghetti from the water and immediately add the pasta to the pan with
the guanciale.
Mix and toss to begin the emulsification of the fats/oils with starch from the spaghetti (and the water which was used to cook it in).
- After some
mixing and tossing, add in the cheese/egg mix and further
agitate the pasta mix to bring the sauce to a good degree of
creaminess (emulsification).
The mixing pan should be warm (but not so hot as to scramble the egg in the cheese mix) in order that the cheeses can melt. If the pan is too cool, place it over the pan that was used to cook the spaghetti so that the residual heat/steam can warm up the cheese).
A good carbonara will look creamy without any use of dairy cream.
- Add water
from cooking the spaghetti to bring the sauce to the degree
of thickness/thiness to your liking.
- Plate out
the sauced pasta, and then garnish the assembly with the
reserved guanciale, more cracked black pepper and
shavings of pecorino romano.
- Serve and
dine while the dish is still hot/warm.
When it cools down, the cheese will set and be less pleasant to eat.
Clem's Spaghetti Carbonara
ENJOY!!
07 September
2026
Cooking by Clem:
https://clemkuek.com/photoalbum/photo696.html
Video presentations can be found here:
Earlier Days: https://youtu.be/BWyHY1h9Y5s
Recent Past: https://youtu.be/PL9wWSI_Dfw
More Recently: https://youtu.be/nk6O2tGJ5pk
Created by Clem Kuek
