Carbonara: How To Make Filipino-Style Carbonara

Carbonara consists of eggs (usually the yolks), hard cheese, guanciale (or pancetta), and black pepper. It is an Italian pasta dish from Rome. The recipe appeared in the middle of the 20th century in its modern form, with its current name.

Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a combination of the two are typically the cheeses used in this dish. The most common pasta used is spaghetti. However, you can also use fettuccine, rigatoni, linguine, or bucatini.

Several Filipino carbonara recipes are available, but most do not use ground beef. To make the dish more meaty and flavorful, it is best to make sure to add ground beef to this recipe. Due to the fast cooking of the creamy sauce, there will not be enough time to make the ground beef tender and extract flavors from it. So, it is suggested to cook it separately and add it in.

Filipino-Style Carbonara

  • Author: Romae Chanice Marquez
  • Recipe Category: Main Dish
  • Cuisine: Filipino

Carbonara Filipino-style will always be a crowd favorite in the Philippines. The whole preparation and cooking time is 50 minutes. This recipe is suitable for at least four servings. 

You can top your Carbonara with pork slices and cubes. Photo credit: @carbogang / Instagram.com.

Filipino-Style Carbonara Ingredients

  • 1 lb. spaghetti, cooked
  • 1 lb. bacon chopped
  • ½ lb. ground beef
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • ¾ cup sliced button mushrooms
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 small yellow onions, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Filipino-Style Carbonara Instructions

Step 1: Cook the spaghetti as instructed by the box. Put it aside.

Step 2: Heat a pot for cooking. Sear the bacon. Continue cooking until the bacon is crispy, and the fat comes out.

Step 3: Remove the bacon, including half the bacon fat, from the pot. Put aside the bacon. We’re going to add that later. As for the rest of the bacon fat, you can hold it for later use in a sealed container, or you can discard it.

Step 4: In the pot, heat the rest of the bacon fat. Add the ground beef  and cook until browned. Then, Add the garlic and onion. Stir and cook until the onion is tender.

Step 5: Pour the beef broth over the beef and bring it to a boil.

Step 6: Continue cooking until the liquid is completely evaporated. Add the mushrooms and stir.

Step 7: Slide in the butter and cook until it melts.

Step 8: Pour in 2 and 1/4 cups of the heavy whipping cream. Stir and let it boil. Set the pot to cook over medium heat. Add black pepper with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

Step 9: Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and then add other 1/4  cup whipping cream. Keep beating until all the ingredients are mixed well.

Step 10: Pour the egg yolk mixture in the pot. Stir constantly until the white sauce texture is as desired.

Step 11: Arrange the spaghetti in a bowl and pour the carbonara sauce on top of it. Mix them well with each other. Use a fork to twist the spaghetti carbonara and then move the portions to serving bowls. Top with parmesan cheese and chopped bacon.

Filipino-Style Carbonara Additional Information

  • Per serving, this recipe has 765 calories, 31.2g of fat, and 229.6mg of cholesterol.
  • This dish will take 50 minutes to prepare. 
  • This recipe will make enough to feed four people.
  • Many recipes have more sauce and use tubular pasta like penne, which is better suited for keeping sauce on the noodles. While there are variations, the cream is not used in most Italian recipes.

Image source: panlasangpinoy.com

About Filipino-Style Carbonara

Carbonara sauce is often sold at grocery stores in many countries as ready-to-eat convenience food. In comparison to the original recipe, which is inseparable from its dish as it produces its creamy texture on the pasta itself, the commercial forms of carbonara are prepared sauces to be spread on separately cooked pasta.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoy making this twist on the traditional Italian carbonara for your family and friends! For more international recipes, click here.

Featured Image: @yo_ho_akys / Instagram.com, @marina.624_ / Instagram.com