MASAKO: Today, I'm cooking my signature dish called, "Udon Carbonara."

So in Japan, like, people love Italian food.

We even have a word, it's says itameshi, which is like Italian food, kind of like migrated to Japanese cuisine.

SETH: And so Japanese food, Italian food put together.

MASAKO: Yeah.

SETH: I know that's going to be good.

So how do you get started on this dish?

MASAKO: Yeah, so for the sauce, first I have this heavy cream and this is grated Parmesan cheese.

I add a little bit of salt, and this is actually pretty unique.

This is kombu tea powder.

This is powdered tea that we drink in Japan.

Make it a little bit funky, but a lot of umami.

This is another key ingredient.

It's called Jidori egg.

We get this egg every week from California.

They raise the hen as the same way we do in Japan.

SETH: Whenever I crack open an egg, if I ever see a color like that, I know I'm going to be happy.

MASAKO: Yeah, so, we put everything in here and we just mix it up.

Now, we move on to actual cooking.

I'm going to drop butter and grated garlic, and then now I'm going to drop this udon noodle into the hot water.

Cook it for a minute or two.

The noodle we use is specific.

It's called Sanuki-style udon.

Sanuki is the name of the region.

They are known for making really, really textured, like chewy, thick noodles.

And then just, like, toss the noodle with the butter and a little garlic and then I'm going to drop this, uh, sauce.

SETH: And this is where you got to be really careful you're not overcooking the sauce.

MASAKO: Yes, yes.

Well, we'll do really low heat mix in very, very quick.

The noodle is almost like a color of egg yolk, like a very, very bright yellow-y like orange color.

And that's it.

Now, we're going to plate it.

Okay, and then we're gonna garnish.

This is crispy prosciutto.

And then this is also the same egg yolk we use for the sauce.

It's a Jidori egg yolk, but we actually pasteurize it in house.

So this goes in the middle.

SETH: Oh, beautiful.

MASAKO: And then the chives, and then a little bit of black pepper on the top, okay, and then this is the udon carbonara.

SETH: Wow.

That came together so quickly, but it is just a thing of beauty.

MASAKO: Thank you.

SETH: Should we go dig in?

MASAKO: Absolutely.

SETH: All right, chef, my first itameshi dish.

I want to ask what we're drinking, but it's carbonara, so I want to eat it while it's hot.

MASAKO: Yes.

SETH: How do we attack this?

MASAKO: Just kind of, like, break the yolk and mix everything together.

SETH: Oh, and getting that beautiful orange color as well.

(laughter) All right, and maybe chopsticks aren't the way to go for me.

MASAKO: Yeah, but in Japan, like, you have to slurp.

SETH: That's not going to be bad table manners?

MASAKO: Oh yeah, please, please, just slurp hard.

SETH: Slurp away.

(slurping) Oh, Chef, I couldn't match your slurping, but that is phenomenal.

MASAKO: Great.

SETH: So rich, those little bits of prosciutto too... MASAKO: Yeah.

SETH: But the sauce itself is just loaded the flavor.

MASAKO: Yes.

SETH: Let me see if I can give a little better slurp this time.

(slurping) (Masako laughs) Come on, man.

Making a mess on TV, this is what I'm paid to do.

The udon just a perfect noodle for carbonara... MASAKO: Yes.

SETH: Because nice toothy bite there too.

MASAKO: Yep.

SETH: Is this a representative of the type of itameshi food you'd get back in Japan or is this your own spin on it?

MASAKO: Yeah, since everybody really loves Italian food in Japan, everybody probably knows what carbonara is.

But the ingredients I put into the sauce, that's probably very unique.

SETH: Well, it definitely took an already umami-rich dish and really put it over the top.