Have you
ever tried Mentaiko Pasta?
Mentaiko
Pasta 明太子パスタ is my favourite ‘Wafu’ (Japanese Style) cod roe pasta loaded
with rich flavour. It’s a classic household stable in Japan and also a very popular
Wafu pasta dish in Taiwan. You might have seen some premade Mentaiko sauce
packets from Japanese grocery stores, but if you can get fresh, high quality Mentaiko
fish roe from fishmonger, you would be surprised how easy to handle this
ingredient. The cooking method is simple as well, just need to whip it up and
you would get a savoury, soul-satisfying pasta dish in 15 minutes. This is a Must-try
recipe if you haven’t had it before!
INGREDIENTS
-120g spaghetti.
-3 tbsp vegetable oil.
-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.
-50g salted cod roe
-20g unsalted butter
-Spring onion curls and nori seaweed to garnish.
(Use shiso leaves if you have)
METHOD
1. Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan, fried chopped garlic until crispy,
drain and set aside. (keep garlic oil)
2. Boil spaghetti in salted water until al dente.
3. Meanwhile use spoon to remove mentaiko/cod roe from skins. (leave some
to garnish.)
4. Mix drained spaghetti with mentaiko and butter, add 2 tbsp spaghetti water
and give it a good stir.
5. Sprinkle with fried garlic, spring onion curls and nori seaweed.
6. Drizzle with some garlic oil to give it additional aromatic flavour.
