Linguine Pasta — The Bridge on the Plate

Mid-May. I finished the book draft. Seven chapters written. The agent wants the full manuscript by fall. The remaining five chapters need writing over the summer, which means writing in the mornings before Miya wakes, writing during her school hours, writing in the evenings after her bedtime. The writing schedule is tight and the writing is coming and the coming is both terrifying and inevitable, the way labor is terrifying and inevitable — you cannot stop it, you can only breathe through it, and the breathing is the practice, and the practice holds.

I made Japanese-style cold pasta — spaghetti with shiso, cherry tomatoes, nori, and a wafu (Japanese-style) dressing of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and grated daikon. It is a summer dish that bridges Italy and Japan in the same plate, the same way I bridge Sacramento and Portland in the same kitchen, the same way the book bridges memoir and cookbook in the same manuscript. The bridges are the point. The bridges are what I build. Every recipe is a bridge. Every essay is a bridge. The book is a bridge made of bridges.

Miya told me this week that she wants to be a writer when she grows up. "Like you, mama." The sentence landed in my chest and stayed there, a warm stone that I am carrying and will carry forever. She is five (almost — her birthday is in August) and she wants to be a writer like me. She does not know that "like me" means anxious and divorced and grieving and sitting at a kitchen table at five AM making sentences from feelings. She sees the surface: mama at the laptop, mama typing, mama sending words into the world. The surface is the aspiration. The depth is the cost. I hope she gets the surface without the depth. I hope she writes without the anxiety. I hope she creates without the grief. I hope. The hoping is the most maternal thing I do.

This is the pasta I made the afternoon I finished the seventh chapter — the one I describe above — and it has become the unofficial meal of my writing summers. Linguine holds a cold dressing better than spaghetti, I’ve found; the flat edges catch the sesame oil and the soy and the grated daikon in a way that feels intentional, like the noodle was always meant to travel east. I make it in big batches and eat it across three days of morning drafts and school-hours sessions, the bowl on the desk beside the laptop, the chopsticks resting on the rim. If you are in the middle of something long and hard and necessary, this is the recipe for that.

Linguine Pasta (Cold Wafu-Style)

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 20 min + 20 min chilling | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 12 oz linguine
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup fresh shiso leaves, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
• 2 sheets nori, cut into thin strips with scissors
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil (such as grapeseed or avocado)
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh daikon radish (or 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger)
• 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for finishing
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, for pasta water

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the linguine according to package directions until just al dente. Do not overcook — the noodles will soften slightly as they chill.
2. Rinse and cool. Drain the linguine and rinse thoroughly under cold running water, tossing with your hands until the noodles are completely cool. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Make the wafu dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, neutral oil, grated daikon, and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust — add more vinegar for brightness, more soy for depth.
4. Dress the noodles. Pour the dressing over the cooled linguine and toss well to coat every strand. Add the cherry tomatoes, scallions, and half the shiso, and toss again gently.
5. Chill. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to let the flavors develop. The pasta can be made up to a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
6. Finish and serve. Just before serving, scatter the nori strips, remaining shiso, and toasted sesame seeds over the top. Serve cold, straight from the bowl.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 380 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 680mg