A Japanese-invented pasta, Mentaiko Pasta is a spaghetti coated with marinated spicy cod roe with Japanese seasonings and butter. It is a very quick and simple pasta, and so tasty. Mentaiko Pasta is a must-try yōshoku (Japanese-style Western food)!
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 80g/2.8oz dried spaghetti
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 30g/1oz mentaiko (1 small sack, note 1)
- 1 tsp unsalted butter , melted (note 2)
- ½ tsp shiro dashi (note 3)
- Julienned nori (roasted seaweed sheet, note 4)
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Boil water in a pot and cook spaghetti to al-dente. I cook for a slightly shorter duration than recommended on the pack of the spaghetti as I like firm textured pasta.
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In the meantime, remove the roe out of the sack (note 5) and place it in a small bowl.
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Add the rest of the Mentaiko Mixture ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
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When the pasta is done, drain it through a sieve, then return it to the pot.
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Add the mentaiko mixture and olive oil to the spaghetti and toss to coat the pasta evenly. You can leave a little bit of small chunky mentaiko, if you prefer.
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Transfer the pasta to a serving plate, piling up like a tall mound, then top with shredded nori. Serve immediately.
1. Mentiako is a spicy brined cod roe. Non-spicy salted cod roe is called ‘tarako’ and you can substitute mentaiko with tarako. See the post for more details.
2. I used unsalted butter as mentaiko is salty. But you can get away with salted butter.
3. Shiro dashi is a condensed seasoning mixture. You can make it at home or buy a pack from Japanese/some Asian grocery stores. Please visit my post Stir-fried Choy Sum with Deep Fried Thick Tofu for more details about shiro dashi including the homemade shiro dashi recipe.
Instead of shiro dashi, you can add ½ teaspoon each of soy sauce and mirin.
4. You only need a small nori sheet of about 3cm x 5cm/1¼" x 2". I use scissors to cut it into thin strips.
5. If the sack is thick and strong, you can cut one end of the sack and squeeze the roe out of the sack, just like you squeeze the tooth paste from the tube. My sack was very fragile so I cut the sack open lengthwise and scraped off the roe. See the step-by-step photo in the post.
6. Nutrition per serving.
serving: 120g calories: 372kcal fat: 5.4g (8%) saturated fat: 1g (5%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 1.5g monounsaturated fat: 2.3g cholesterol: 113mg (38%) sodium: 79mg (3%) potassium: 253mg (7%) carbohydrates: 62g (21%) dietary fibre: 2.6g (10%) sugar: 3.2g protein: 17g vitamin a: 2.2% vitamin c: 8.3% calcium: 1.9% iron: 16%