Ingredients
For the sauce:
Please feel free to halve the ingredients as this is a large recipe. Half should still feed four people.
1.5 lbs. spaghetti (you can use regular, whole wheat, gluten-free, it doesn’t matter)
2 lbs. ground lean turkey (93% fat free works best here)
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. hoison sauce
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp soy sauce (use tamari if gluten-free)
3 Tbsp. mirin
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 Tbsp. water
1/8 cup sesame oil
1 inch ginger root, grated (best to freeze and then grate into the sauce)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
Corn starch for thickening (mix 1 Tbsp. with 1 Tbsp. water)
Salt and pepper
2 tsp. Chinese Five Spice
1 tsp. mustard powder
For the pasta:
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
8 oz. snow peas
1 yellow onion, diced
4 garlic coves, minced
Olive or sesame oil
Scallions, sliced for garnish
Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
Directions
In a large pan or Dutch oven, sauté onions, celery, garlic and red pepper in olive oil or sesame oil. Season with salt, pepper, Chinese Five Spice and mustard powder. Cook until vegetables soften and are very fragrant. Add ground turkey and cook until browned and thoroughly cooked through.
While turkey is cooking, whisk together the hoison sauce, soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce, water, sesame oil, ginger and brown sugar.
Once turkey is thoroughly browned, add sauce to the pan and allow to boil/bubble. Sauce will thicken on its own, but this is a good time to add in the cornstarch. To do so, mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl, then add to sauce. Continue mixing as sauce bubbles and lower the heat a bit.
Boil spaghetti according to package instructions, but remove from water about 2 minutes earlier than instructed. Reserve a cup of pasta water. When pasta is done, add to sauce, along with the snow peas, and stir until thoroughly coated and everything is nicely combined. I always add a splash of pasta water no matter what in order to combine the sauce with the pasta, but this is your choice.
Serve in bowls topped with sliced scallions and sesame seeds if desired.