This Salted Egg Pasta tastes like the love child of carbonara and salted egg yolks. It is creamy, delicious, and you can make it very quickly. The longest part is steaming the egg yolks but you can boil the pasta at the same time and the whole dish will be ready in under 20 minutes.
Can't get enough of Salted Egg? Try my Salted Egg Chicken Wings next!
๐ณ About This Recipe
This Salted Egg Pasta is ultra-creamy and super tasty. It combines one of my favorite Chinese seasonings with one of my favorite foods. I LOVE salted egg-anything. But when combined with this creamy sauce, it becomes absolutely divine.
The most important part of this recipe is to cook the spaghetti to the perfect doneness. You want to aim to cook the spaghetti to about 80% doneness and then finish it in the pasta sauce. This usually means cooking it 2-3 minutes less than the specified time on the package.
I hate overcooked spaghetti. Even if your sauce is amazing, overcooked spaghetti will ruin it. Pay super close attention to your pasta while it is cooking!
๐ฅ Salted Egg Yolks
You can buy these at many Asian markets. They're available as whole eggs or just the yolks. For this recipe, we only need the yolks. You can usually find them in vacuum-sealed packages in the grocery store's refrigerated section.
Salted egg yolks have to be steamed for at least 15 minutes before using them.
๐ง Ingredients
- Pasta: I am using spaghetti, but you can use whatever pasta you want. You will need to salt the cooking water so that it seasons the pasta. Be careful not to overseason it because we will need some of the pasta water for thickening the sauce. I generally do about a tablespoon of salt per gallon of water.
- Salted Egg Sauce: The sauce is made with butter, garlic, salted egg yolks, evaporated milk, and sugar. We also use some leftover pasta and cooking water to make it creamy.
- Shrimp: I am using 21/30 size shrimp, which means there are 21 to 30 pieces of shrimp per pound. The size does not matter too much, so you can just use whatever you have or end up buying.
๐ช Instructions
STEP 1: Place the salted egg yolks in a steaming dish and steam for 15 minutes or microwave for 2 minutes. In the meantime, you can follow STEP 2 for boiling the pasta. Once the egg yolks are cooked, mash them with a fork and set them aside.
STEP 2: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Dissolve the salt and then add the pasta. Cook for 2-3 minutes less than the package instructions so that the pasta is about 80% cooked. Remove from the water, and reserve ยฝ cup of the pasta water.
STEP 3: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Cook the garlic for 15 seconds, then add the shrimp and stir-fry until they just start to change color.
STEP 4: Add the salted egg and stir briefly to mix it into the sauce. Add the evaporated milk and sugar, and bring to a simmer.
STEP 5: Finally, add the cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is creamy and coats the spaghetti well. If the sauce is too thick, add extra evaporated milk (or water) as needed. Serve immediately.
You can eat this dish as is, but I love to drizzle on a few slices of lemon to brighten everything up. Enjoy!
๐ Recipe
Creamy Salted Egg Pasta
Ingredients
- 5 salted egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
- 225 g (8 oz) spaghetti
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 cup shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- โ cup evaporated milk
- ยฝ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Place the salted egg yolks in a steaming dish and steam for 15 minutes or microwave for 2 minutes. In the meantime, you can follow STEP 2 for boiling the pasta. Once the egg yolks are cooked, mash them with a fork and set them aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Dissolve the salt and then add the pasta. Cook for 2-3 minutes less than the package instructions so that the pasta is about 80% cooked. Remove from the water, and reserve ยฝ cup of the pasta water.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Cook the garlic for 15 seconds, then add the shrimp and stir-fry until they just start to change color.
- Add the salted egg and stir briefly to mix it into the sauce. Add the evaporated milk and sugar, and bring to a simmer.
- Finally, add the cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is creamy and coats the spaghetti well. If the sauce is too thick, add extra evaporated milk (or water) as needed. Serve immediately.
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