2h 25mSpy x Family
Yor's Mother's Stew
Comfort Food Mains · Medium
Yor's Macaroni Gratin
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 20m
- Total
- 40m
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
In Season 1 Episode 2, Camilla's office party turns dangerous when a colleague stumbles with a blistering macaroni gratin — and Yor catches the tray with her foot. The dish on screen is creamy elbow pasta in white sauce, shrimp and broccoli on top, ham strips peeking through: classic yoshoku, not American mac and cheese.
Yor's own cooking is famously lethal in canon; this recipe is a tribute to the gratin she saves, built the way Japanese home cooks do — butter–flour roux (4 tbsp each), milk, a splash of dashi, macaroni boiled while the sauce comes together.
About 20 minutes prep and 20 at the stove and oven: bake at 200°C until the center bubbles, then a short broil for color. Wrap hot handles in a towel when serving.
Ingredients
Recipe ingredients
- Raw ShrimpKey12 medium shrimp (~150 g)
- Broccoli FloretsKey1 small head, cut into florets
- 3 tbsp
- Dashi Stock100 ml
mixed into white sauce
- Cooking Sake (Ryorishu)2 tbsp
for shrimp
- Hon-Mirin (True Mirin)1 tbsp
in white sauce
Pantry staples
Salt, oil, butter, and other basics you likely already have — scaled with servings above.
- Neutral oil1 tbsp
- Unsalted butter4 tbsp
- Yellow onion · thinly sliced½ medium
- All-purpose flour4 tbsp
- Whole milk2½ cups
- Heavy cream · optional½ cup
- Elbow macaroni8 oz (225 g)
- Gruyère & Parmesan · grated blend4 oz
- Kosher saltto taste
- Black pepperto taste
- Cooked ham · optional garnish strips2 oz
- Waterfor blanching broccoli
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Instructions
- 1
Prep and start the pasta water
Peel and devein 12 medium shrimp; toss with 1 tbsp cooking sake. Cut 1 small broccoli into florets; blanch 2 minutes in salted water, drain. Thinly slice ½ yellow onion. Optional: cut 2 oz cooked ham into thin strips. Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil — you will cook macaroni while the sauce finishes.
- 2
Sear the shrimp
Heat 1 tbsp neutral oil in an oven-safe pan over medium heat. Lay shrimp in one layer; season lightly. Cook until pink on the first side, flip briefly, then transfer to a plate — they finish in the sauce.
- 3
Sauté onion
In the same pan, melt 4 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook until soft and coated in butter, 4–5 minutes.
- 4
Start the roux in the pan
Reduce heat to medium-low. Sprinkle 4 tbsp flour over the onion; stir constantly 2 minutes until pale and evenly cooked — a 1:1 butter-to-flour roux, no dark toasting.
- 5
Build the white sauce
Add milk ¼ cup at a time, stirring hard after each addition to smooth lumps. When all milk is in (about 2½ cups), add 100 ml dashi, 1 tbsp hon-mirin, and 2–3 tbsp cream if using. Simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with salt and pepper — slightly bold.
- 6
Cook and combine macaroni
When the pasta water boils, cook 8 oz elbow macaroni until just al dente (about 8 minutes); drain well. Fold macaroni and blanched broccoli into the white sauce on gentle heat. Tuck in optional ham strips; return shrimp briefly to coat.
- 7
Assemble like the anime
Level the mixture in the baking dish (~90% full). Arrange whole shrimp and extra broccoli florets on top so they show through — matching the party-gratin presentation before the oven.
- 8
Cheese and panko topping
Scatter about 4 oz grated Gruyère and Parmesan over the surface. Sprinkle 3 tbsp panko evenly.
- 9
Bake, then broil
Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F. Bake 15–20 minutes until the sauce bubbles at the center and the edges sing. Switch to high broiler 1–2 minutes until cheese and panko char in spots — watch constantly. Rest 5 minutes; serve with towel-wrapped handles.
Pro tips
Start a large pot of salted water for macaroni while you prep — the pasta should cook while the white sauce finishes so nothing skins over. Sear shrimp quickly in neutral oil and set aside. Roux is 4 tbsp butter to 4 tbsp flour before the milk. Bake 15–20 minutes at 200°C (400°F) so the sauce heats through, then broil 1–2 minutes with the door cracked — panko burns fast.
Storage & leftovers
Refrigerate up to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat covered at 180°C (350°F) until bubbling; uncover the last 5 minutes to refresh the crust. Freezes up to 1 month — thaw overnight before reheating.
What to serve with
Simple green salad and bread — a Western dinner Yor would serve with complete seriousness. Leftovers pack well for lunch the next day.
Equipment
All kitchen equipment guidesFAQ
No — Japanese macaroni gratin uses béchamel and a modest cheese layer plus panko, not a heavy cheddar sauce. It is closer to a creamy casserole served in yoshoku restaurants.
