Basic Peperoncino, with a Bamboo Shoot and Firefly Squid Variation

Prepare the garlic. Domestic Japanese garlic is mild and differs in flavor from imported garlic such as Spanish. Here, simply crush it and remove the core inside.

Put the olive oil and garlic in a frying pan and heat slowly over low heat. Over high heat, only the surface sets and the aroma inside never comes out, and the olive oil oxidizes as well.

Add salt to the water for boiling the pasta. Salt the water firmly for an oil-based peperoncino and more gently for cream-based sauces, adjusting the salinity to the sauce.

Once the garlic starts to color, turn off the heat and let the residual heat finish cooking it. This puts less strain on the olive oil.

Boil the thin 1.4mm pasta. Do not chop the garlic finely; use it as is, as part of the dish.

Add the chili pepper. Adding a little at the end tightens the flavor without bringing the heat forward. If you like it spicy, add it at the start, or when you turn off the heat and toss.

Combine the boiled pasta with the oil and emulsify, then plate to complete the basic peperoncino.

[Variation] Prepare the bamboo shoots, firefly squid, and fava beans. Also get pink peppercorns and chervil ready for color.

Slice the bamboo shoots thinly, lay them out in the frying pan, and cook them as if drying off their moisture rather than searing them. Season lightly with salt to draw out the umami.

Turn off the heat and deglaze with white wine, dissolving all of the bamboo shoot flavor stuck to the pan, and use it as the sauce.

Add the boiled pasta and toss. Combine the firefly squid and fava beans as well. Rather than mixing everything together, bring out the best in each and combine them at the end.

Plate and scatter pink peppercorns and chervil over the top for color and accent to finish.