If you’ve been on my Patreon, you might remember these Animal Crossing-inspired recipes for Carrot Potage, Spaghetti Napolitan, and Coconut Pancakes, which were released mmhm-let’s-not-actually-look-up-dates ago. It’s been a while since Animal Crossing: New Horizons premiered its cooking section. But it’s Springtime, and what better time to start Spring Cleaning my recipe backlog?
Speaking of my Patreon, the recipes are just ahead, but I also have printable PDFs available to my supporters. The cards are available for $3 each on my Patreon store.
-OR-
If you join my Patreon community at “The Archivist” ($5/month) tier, you will get access to my recipe PDF archive, even the ones not yet published on the blog. You’ll also get a welcome gift of some of my Lord of the Rings recipe cards and playlists.
Let’s get cooking, then!
- Click here to skip to the recipe for Carrot Potage.
- Click here to skip to the recipe for Spaghetti Napolitan.
- Click here to skip to the recipe for Coconut Pancakes.
Carrot Potage
So I remember when the cooking update in Animal Crossing went live, this Carrot Potage was one of the first recipes you could do the frantic stove dance over. It featured two ingredients — carrot and flour — resulting in a creamy orange soup topped with chives. However, I wanted something a little more interesting while using island ingredients. And I’m not going to lie. It feels weird to ask any of my animal neighbors for a cup of milk.
So first, I roasted the carrots with brown sugar to intensify their flavor. I then simmered them in orange juice and zest, coconut milk, garlic, chives, fish sauce, and spices to enhance them with pan-Asian aromatics. Serve with some thick slices of wheat bread for dipping!
Carrot Potage
Equipment: Oven, mixing bowl, large baking sheet, stovetop, dutch oven or pot with lid, aluminum foil, and immersion blender.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs carrots, cut into 1/2″ batons
- 2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- zest and juice of one orange
- 15.5 oz can of coconut milk
- 3 Tb coconut oil or unsalted butter
- 2 Tb all-purpose flour
- 4 cups water
- 1 bunch fresh chives, chopped
- 1 Tb brown sugar
- kosher salt
- fish sauce
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Melt two tablespoons of the coconut oil in the mixing bowl and toss in the carrots with the brown sugar and a few pinches of kosher salt.
- Spread the carrots in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast for 20-35 minutes until caramelized around the edges. While waiting, prepare your remaining ingredients. Once roasted, cover the carrots with foil to keep them warm.
- Heat the dutch over a medium flame for 2 minutes, then add the remaining coconut oil. Once melted, add the garlic, spices, orange zest, and half of the chives. Saute for 30-60 seconds until fragrant.
- Stir in the flour for 30 seconds, then deglaze the pot with the orange juice and water. Scrape up the browned bits, then add the carrots and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and wait a few minutes before blending smooth with an immersion blender. Add more brown sugar and fish sauce to taste. Serve garnished with chopped chives.
Spaghetti Napolitan
We’ve had our soup—erhm, I mean “potage” course—and now it’s time for an entree. Spaghetti Napolitan is a Japanese dish that emerged with the introduction of tomato sauce and ketchup after World War 2. Allegedly created by chef Shigetada Irie of Yokohama’s Hotel New Grand, it was inspired by pasta and tomato sauce served to the American military. He called it Spaghetti Napolitan (or Naporitan since the katakana letter encompasses both the L and R sounds) after Naples, Italy.
The dish typically consists of soft-cooked spaghetti, ketchup, green bell pepper, button mushrooms, onion, and ham and/or bacon. You could make a vegetarian version by leaving out the meat, but the cooked version in Animal Crossing does show those telltale pork strips. Now, BEFORE you drag Lucy or Chops out of their homes in the name of ritual snackrifice, look for some “ham” fishcake at your local or online Korean supermarket.
Beyond the apparent fishcake substitution, I punched up the traditional recipe with some poblano pepper and red miso. Poblanos have a complex balance of earthiness and fruitiness (and more of a kick) that puts bitter green bell peppers to shame. As for the miso? Combined with unsalted butter, it emulsifies this sauce into a creamy umami heaven.
Spaghetti Napolitan
Equipment: Stovetop, large skillet or frying pan, pot, ladle, timer, and tongs.
Ingredients:
- 4-5 slices “ham” fishcake, cut into strips
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 small poblano pepper, sliced into rings
- 4-5 button mushrooms, sliced
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- 1 Tb red miso
- 2 Tb unsalted butter
- 2 servings of dried spaghetti
- grated parmesan
Instructions:
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil on the stovetop. Add the noodles and set a timer for 9-10 minutes.
- Preheat the skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fishcake, then cook until most of them start to brown.
- Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan. Once melted, add the onion. Stir-cook until softened, then add the peppers.
- When the pasta timer has 1-2 minutes left, stir in the ketchup and a ladleful of pasta water into the frying pan.
- Reduce the heat on the pan to medium-low, then blend in the red miso and remaining butter until smooth.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat with the tongs. Cook until thickened.
- Transfer the spaghetti to pasta bowls and top with parmesan before serving.
Coconut Pancakes
Finally, let’s round out this post with some breakfast-for-dessert. Before the update, Animal Crossing had birthday cupcakes. Now, there is a plethora of fruit and coconut-laden sweets. When I saw these Coconut Pancakes, I immediately thought of Japanese souffle pancakes.
For those unfamiliar with these treats, they are made by whipping egg whites into stiff peaks before folding them into the rest of the pancake batter. The batter is then added to metal molds in a hot pan and covered to steam the top. In theory, the middle seals in all those air bubbles while cooking, creating a light and fluffy texture.
The batter and sauce are both coconut milk-based and include cardamom, coriander, and lime zest to cut and balance through all that sweet cream. As you can see, the execution is a little tricky. I didn’t quite get it. That said, the flavor makes it worth the practice.
Coconut Pancakes
Equipment: Stovetop, tall-sided skillet with a lid, 2-3 mixing bowls, wire whisk, four 4-inch pancake rings, hand mixer with a whisk attachment, flat spatula, cooking spray, and small saucepan with a lid.
Ingredients
Pancakes:
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 egg whites
- 1/4 cup sugar
- zest of one lime
- 1/2 tsp black cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 Tb vegetable or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- kosher salt
Sauce:
- 1 and 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 and 1/4 tsp tapioca flour
- 1 drop vanilla extract
- 2 Tb sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Garnish:
- 2 Tb sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions:
Make the sauce:
- Blend the coconut milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of kosher salt in the saucepan. Set over medium-low heat on the stovetop.
- Dissolve the tapioca starch in a bowl of water, then blend into the saucepan once the mixture starts steaming.
- Reduce heat to low and occasionally stir for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, then cook another 2-3 minutes until thickened.
- Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Let sit at room temperature while making the pancakes.
Make the pancakes:
- Whisk the flour, cardamom, coriander, lime zest, baking powder, and a pinch of kosher salt in one of the mixing bowls.
- In the other bowl, beat the egg yolks, coconut milk, and oil, then gradually blend them into the dry mix. Clean the empty bowl.
- Add the egg whites to the clean bowl and beat with the electric mixer until frothy, then gradually blend in the sugar.
- Leave the mixer on and add the cream of tartar. Slowly raise the speed to medium-high and beat the mixture to stiff but glossy peaks.
- Stir a third of the egg whites into the batter, then fold the remainder in a third at a time.
- Add the rings to the skillet and coat with cooking spray. Turn the heat on low and preheat for 5 minutes.
- Pour 1/2 cup of batter into each ring and cover with the lid. Set a timer for 4 minutes.
- Once the pancake’s outer edge is cooked through, carefully remove the ring and flip it. Replace the lid and set a timer for 3 minutes. Once a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the pancakes are done.
- Serve pancakes smothered with sauce and topped with shredded coconut.
