Cincinnati 5-Way Chili Pt 2: Construction
Submitted by kellymadera
Cincinnati 5-way chili construction: how to stack thick spaghetti, chili, kidney beans, chopped onions, and a mountain of fine-grated cheddar like Skyline. The Ohio assembly bible.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minThis is the assembly guide every Cincinnati chili recipe needs but rarely includes. Knowing how to make the chili is only half the battle. The construction, the way it gets stacked on the plate, is what separates authentic Cincinnati 5-way from “chili over spaghetti."
The spaghetti goes first, broken into 4-inch pieces and boiled until soft enough to cut with a fork but firm enough to support four more layers. The traditional Cincinnati chili joints use thick spaghetti or perciatelli (the long, hollow Italian pasta), which holds up to the chili and cheese without collapsing.
Buttering the spaghetti before plating is the optional move that takes this to chili-parlor quality. A pat of butter melted into hot noodles adds richness that elevates the whole dish. Most home cooks skip this. Don’t.
The cheese layer is where home cooks routinely under-deliver. Authentic Cincinnati 5-way uses an entire mound of finely grated cheddar, enough to completely blanket the plate so you can pat it into a neat dome. The cheese isn’t a garnish, it’s the whole top half of the dish.
The “5-way” name refers to the five layers: spaghetti, chili, beans, onions, cheese. Order matters. 3-way (no beans or onions) and 4-way (one or the other) are common menu variations, but the full 5-way is the traditional assembly.
Pro Tips
- Use the thinnest, longest pasta you can find, perciatelli is traditional and authentic, regular spaghetti works too
- Grate the cheddar yourself on the fine side of a box grater, the fine shred is what creates that fluffy snow-like topping
- Add the cheese while the chili is hot enough to melt it slightly, the partial melt is what makes the cheese cling to the dome shape
- Serve immediately, Cincinnati chili is meant to be eaten the moment the cheese hits the plate
Variations
- 4-way bean omits beans, 4-way onion omits onions, 3-way has just spaghetti, chili, and cheese
- Add oyster crackers on the side for the full Cincinnati experience
- Serve with hot sauce on the table, tradition calls for Tabasco or Frank’s RedHot
Ingredients
Directions
The bottom layer is always spaghetti, the thickest you can find.
If you have trouble, try using long, thin macaroni like perciatelli.
Break into 4 inch pieces, boil in salted water to which oil has been added.
For a touch o swank, melt a stick of sweet butter into the just- cooked noodles before you dish them out.
You will need about 2-3oz per serving.
You want them soft enough to cut easily with a fork, but not so soft they lose their oomph.
Remember, they are the support layer for four other ingredients.
Spread them out to cover the bottom of a small oval plate.
Ladle on the chili, enough to cover the noodles.
Wash kidney beans and heat with 2c water, then drain.
Spoon a sparce layer atop the chili.
Spread onions over beans. Quickly (so it melts) spread cheese to cover everything.
Don’t skimp.
Cheese should completely blanket the plate, enough so that you can pat it into a neat mound with your hands, just the way they do in Cincinnati.
Variations: 3-Way or 4-Way: Omit either beans or onions, or both.
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