Hamanatto Bolognese — Japan's "Anchovy" of Umami

There's a small jar in old Japanese kitchens that works just like anchovy or bottarga: chopped fine and melted into warm oil, it turns an ordinary sauce deep, dark, and savory. It's hamanatto — soybeans soaked in salt water and fermented for about half a year in Toyohashi, made the same patient way since 1884. No fish, no anchovy — just soybeans, salt, and time. Here it does quiet, delicious work in a weeknight bolognese the whole family will finish.

Serves 2 · about 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 200 g spaghetti (plus 2 tsp salt for the pasta water)
• 2 Tbsp hamanatto, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 200 g ground beef & pork (or all beef)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 can (about 200 g) whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 large fresh tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp salt (to taste)
• black pepper
• Optional: 1 bay leaf, a splash of soy sauce, a few basil leaves (chopped), grated cheese and chopped parsley to finish — and about 2 tsp extra hamanatto, finely chopped, for topping

How to make it

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook the spaghetti to package time.
2. In a wide pan, warm the olive oil and gently cook the garlic and chopped hamanatto until fragrant. This is the anchovy moment — the hamanatto melts into the oil and perfumes everything.
3. Add the ground meat and onion; cook until the meat is just done. Add the canned tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, and the bay leaf if using, and simmer about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the fresh tomato and basil if using, return to a simmer, taste, and adjust salt. A small splash of soy sauce here rounds things out, if you like. Finish with black pepper.
5. Toss with the drained pasta, loosening with a splash of pasta water.
6. Just before serving, sprinkle the extra hamanatto over the top, along with grated cheese and parsley if using.

Cook's note: Hamanatto is salty and full of umami, so go easy on added salt and taste as you go. Its presence isn't loud — you won't taste it sitting on the surface. It works from underneath, the way a good stock does: no trace of miso, just a quiet weight of umami holding the sauce together.

From our Pantry

Hamanatto from Toyohashi

Soybeans fermented in salt water for about half a year — the anchovy of Japanese pantries, made in Toyohashi since 1884.

View product →

Continue

A Journey to Mikawa

the fermented heart of Japan this jar comes from.