Saturday, January 19, 2008

Cooking Mentaiko Pasta

This was what I wanted to buy from Meidi-Ya was mentaiko.Mentaiko is walleye pollack roe pickled with salt and chili powder, and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. While walking around in the fresh fish section, I found that the supermarket also stocked raw fugu and all kinds of raw fish. I ended up with the mentaiko, sakura ebi and box of green tea leaves with brown rice.
To prepare the pasta, I had to open up the egg sacks and extract the eggs. What I was left with was a mass of pickled fish eggs.I then combined Japanese mayo, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, ground sesame seed and mentaiko to create the pasta sauce.Recipe
Mentaiko, set some aside for garnish
150 g Angel Hair Pasta
1/4 cup Japanese mayonnaise
1 tbsp Rice vinegar
1 tbsp Sesame seeds, roasted and ground
1 tsp Light soy sauce
1 tsp Mirin
Spring onions thinly sliced

Directions:
Slit open the mentaiko sac. Using a spoon, gently scrap out all the roe and discard the sac.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook pasta as directed to al dente.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, using a whisk, combine Japanese mayonnaise, rice vinegar, ground sesame, soy sauce and mirin. Use a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula and gentle stir in the mentaiko.
Drain pasta and toss with the prepared sauce. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with spring onions and top off with mentaiko. Eat immediately.

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