Hong Kong Spaghetti Bolognese 焗肉醬意粉

We call Hong Kong Spaghetti Bolognese 焗肉醬意粉 “goke yoke jeurng yi fun” in Cantonese.  This is an all-time classic Hong Kong café dish.  Zesty, sweet, savory and saucy meat sauce on spaghetti and then baked with melted cheese on top!  Who wouldn’t love this dish?!  Well, actually ….my mom doesn’t eat anything that is deep red or deep yellow in colour.  It’s always been a bit puzzling but I suppose it’s a phobia of some sort.  I’ve tried making this dish with no tomato paste or ketchup, but it’s just not the same!  Sorry Mom!

It’s hard to say exactly how this dish came to being, but we know that it definitely has to do with the western restaurants that opened in Hong Kong during the British occupancy.  It’s possible that it started with a restaurant called Tai Ping Koon Restaurant 太平館.  They're probably the oldest known Western-Chinese Fusion restaurant in China.  Their first restaurant opened in 1860 in Guangzhou and then they opened in Hong Kong in 1937.  This iconic restaurant chain still has 4 locations in Hong Kong today. 

Tai Ping Koon started making a Bolognese sauce with less tomatoes, added soy sauce and more sugar to cater to the Chinese palette.  Did you know that this dish was inspired by the lasagne?.  So, very simplistically, Hong Kong Spaghetti Bolognese 焗肉醬意粉 is basically a lasagna with a spaghetti substitute and less tang, more sweet and some soy.  Chinese people were not accustomed to eating tomatoes, so the sauce was more brown than red at the time.  Not to mention the tomato was a western fruit and was quite expensive then.

Tomatoes, in the 70's and 80's were more abundant and economical. Canned tomatoes, tomato paste and ketchup became a big hit and cheap too! Ketchup was used in many Asian developing countries to make tomato-based dishes and consequently, it made these dishes sweeter than their western counterparts. Popular fast food Chinese chain restaurants in Hong Kong emerged, like Café de Coral 大家樂 (Dai Ga Lok). They were one of the first to add tomato paste and ketchup to Hong Kong Spaghetti Bolognese 焗肉醬意粉, making it red in colour.

Today, it’s impossible not to find this dish at a Hong Kong café anywhere in the world!  (I know, double-negative…oh well)  If you’re like most people (unlike my mom), you’ll love this dish!  Although the ingredients’ list is a bit longer, it’s very easy to make.  It’s so hard not to take a second helping with this dish, but I’m sure an Iced Lemon Tea will help you digest it all! Or for another Hong Kong café classic, try my Hong Kong Milk Tea 港式奶茶.

Hong Kong Spaghetti Bolognese 焗肉醬意粉

You can try out this Spaghetti Bolognese recipe with any ground meat. As a matter of fact, many Hong Kong café-style restaurants now use ground pork instead of ground beef.

Some chefs add lemon juice or ½ of a lemon while braising. I find it a bit too tart but some may find it refreshing.

Although fresh tomatoes are always best, canned tomatoes are convenient and they give the dish a nice deep red colour. You can also try combining fresh and canned tomatoes.

5 from 3 votes

Approximate cost (CAD) $15

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Add to Collection Go to Collections

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese

Servings 4 servings

Calories 1013 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Ingredients for beef marinade:

• 1 tsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 ½ tsp Light soy sauce
• 1 ½ tsp Corn starch
• 1 tsp Oil

Other ingredients:

• 600 g Ground beef
• 150 g Onion (approx. 1 medium onion), minced
• 150 g Carrot (approx. 1 small carrot), minced
• 3 Large tomatoes (or one large can), diced
• 4 cloves Garlic minced
• 454 g Spaghetti
• 4 tbsp Tomato paste
• 4 tbsp Ketchup
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tsp Dried oregano
• 6 Dried bay leaves
• 2 tsp Corn starch for slurry
• 125 ml Water for slurry
• 3 tbsp Parmesan powder grated or shredded
• 1 tbsp Oil for frying
• 250 ml Braising liquid (can be water, tomato water or broth)
• 1 tsp Oil for adding to pasta
• 2 tsp Salt for adding to pasta water

Instructions

 

• Marinate the beef with 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt. 1 ½ tsp light soy sauce and cornstarch. Mix well. Add 1 tsp of oil and mix well again. Set aside
  
• Mince onion, carrot and garlic. Set aside
• Cut an “X” on the bottom of the tomatoes. Blanche the tomatoes for 5 seconds, remove from water, let cool and peel off the skin
• Dice the tomatoes and strain. Keep the water from the tomatoes and use as part of the braising liquid. You’ll need to measure how much there is so that you can make up the rest in water or broth. Set aside
• Heat a pan to medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp oil, add ground beef and fry until the beef is 50% cooked. Remove the beef from heat and set side
  
• Fry the minced onions, carrots and garlic together until aromatic. Make a space in the centre of the pan and add 4 tbsp tomato paste and 4 tbsp ketchup into this space. Mix the sauces together and combine with the onions, carrots and garlic
  
• Add the tomatoes and beef into the pan and mix well
  
• Add 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper and mix well.
  
• Add 6 bay leaves and 1 ½ tsp of oregano into the pan
• Add 250 ml of braising liquid into the pan, mix well and turn the heat down to low and let it cook for 60 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes (For steps 11-16, some of the steps might be done simultaneously so that the pasta can go into the oven asap to prevent it from drying and getting cold).
• After 20-30 minutes of braising the sauce, start making the spaghetti by boiling a pot of water (follow instructions on the package to al dente, unless you like the spaghetti soft)
• Taste test the Bolognese sauce. Make any adjustments to the taste, if necessary
• After braising the sauce for 45 minutes, combine 2 tsp of cornstarch with 125 ml water. Mix well and pour into the sauce and mix well again
• The sauce should be slightly thick in texture because you want the sauce to adhere to the spaghetti. If it’s too runny, add more slurry but with less water. If it’s too dry, add a slurry with more water
  
• When the spaghetti is done, put it into a mixing bowl and add 1 tsp of oil and mix well This will prevent the spaghetti from sticking together when you put it into the oven. Do not rinse pasta with water
• Put the spaghetti into a casserole dish that is oven-safe
  
• Use a ladle to pour the sauce over the spaghetti
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top
• Put it into the oven and broil for 3-5 minutes until the cheese melts and turns golden in colour
  
• Serve

Nutrition

Calories: 1013kcalCarbohydrates: 119gProtein: 45gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 3057mgPotassium: 1357mgFiber: 8gSugar: 26gVitamin A: 7543IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 158mgIron: 6mg

Keyword Bolognese, Ground Beef, Spaghetti

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!