When I first heard of mentaiko, I brushed it off as just another Japanese fad. There were so many names in Japanese cuisine that most of us would prefer to recognize by sight rather than memorize the names of cooking styles of each dish? Mentaiko is marinated pollock roe also known as spicy cod roe and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine which actually originated from Korea.
Today, Fukuoka is the mentaiko capital of Japan. The city has over 300 mentaiko producers itself. Mentaiko is made by marinating the pollock eggs in chili, sake, konbu and yuzu citrus before being left to ferment for several hours. While they visually look like palm sized sockets of eggs (well, technically that’s what it is), they are simply, heaven in your mouth.
While the locals in Japan have them with onigiri or on its own with sake, they now come prepared in a variety of ways such as the most popular being mentaiko pasta, spread on bread or with a bowl of steaming hot rice. So, the next time you’re flying back from Japan, don’t forget to sneak home a box or two of mentaiko. Why? Well why not try making yourself mentaiko pasta, it’s so simple yet addictively delicious. Here’s a simple recipe from thejanechannel:
Ingredients:
1/2 box of spaghetti
2 sacks of spicy cod roe
1 onion, diced
1 Tablespoon of butter
1/4 sheet of Nori (dried seaweed), cut into thin strips
Directions:
1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until al dente. Drain well.
2. Cook and stir onion in saucepan until cooked through
3. Using a spoon, scrap out the roe.
4. Heat butter in microwave until melted and let it cool down.
5. In a bowl, mix butter with spicy roe and onions.
6. Add the spagetti to the bowl and mix with roe.
7. Sprinkle nori and add onsen egg on top!
Despite the delectability of this ingredient , it’s rare to find them in the menus of local Japanese eateries in Malaysia. A quick search on Google indicate that one can get a taste of some yummy roe goodness from Yoko’s (Changkat Bukit Bintang), Jyu Raku (SS15 Subang Jaya), Ploy@Clearwater (Damansara Heights) and also surprise, surprise, Pasta Zanmai.
If you know of any other eatery in the Klang Valley that serves up a mean mentaiko dish, drop us a comment and share the mentaiko love!
