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Monday, June 25, 2007
One of my favourite foods in the world is mentaiko pasta. It’s a dish I’ve written about previously on more than one occasion. When I first tasted the dish quite a few years ago, at the house of a Japanese friend of mine, finding mentaiko pasta on a restaurant menu was a rarity. There was, back then, only one place in Singapore that I knew of (which was introduced to me not so coincidentally by the same Japanese friend) that made it… and made it really well. In fact, it was my repeated mentaiko pasta indulgences at Kandagawa, the wonderful and relatively unknown restaurant in the rather daggy Hotel Royal, that motivated me to learn how to make it for myself. Finding a recipe, however, was a bit of a challenge. None of the many Japanese cookbooks my wife S and I owned had one. When I trawled the Internet, I did find a few, but most of them were quite distinct. Eventually, I took a few of the better sounding ones and experimented, coming up with what I believed was my own delicious variation. Friends liked it too, which as you can imagine, pleased me to no end. But, as you might expect from this fat fella, the recipe that I had developed was a tad on the unhealthy side. These days, mentaiko pasta is slightly in vogue (in Singapore). I see it on menus all the time. And, of course, I order it almost as often as I spy it. Sadly, however, most of the time I have been left disappointed. The only two versions, in fact, that I find exceptional are the ones at Kandagawa and at Macaron. The mentaiko pasta at Macaron is as particularly interesting as it is delicious. Chef Pang makes his with reduced white wine and cream.
Because I had enjoyed Chef Pang’s mentaiko pasta so much, I decided to try making my own version using white wine and cream. And because I enjoy being overly-indulgent, I topped it with a softboiled (mollet) egg. It was a rich and sumptuous dish. And one I’m definitely going to be using for future dinner parties. Kandagawa Macaron An updated Mentaiko pasta 150g angelhair pasta Softboil 4 eggs (directions below) so that the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Peel them and set them aside. Carefully cut open the mentaiko sacs and scrape the roe into a large mixing bowl. In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, stirring, for a few minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the white wine. Cook until the wine is reduced by half. Then add the chicken jus (which you can create by reducing some chicken stock until it is thick and a tad syrupy). Cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then turn the heat off. Add the cream and stir it into the onion sauce vigorously. Then add this to the mentaiko and mix everything together. Add a small handful of shredded nori into the mentaiko sauce. Cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain it and add it to the mentaiko sauce, mixing well to ensure that all of the pasta is coated evenly in the sauce. Plate the pasta. Place a softboiled egg on top of each portion and sprinkle a bit of nori over it. Serve. Mollet Eggs Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with tap water and set over a medium flame. Remove them 3 minutes after the water starts to simmer (if the water starts to boil, reduce the heat). Once they are done, remove the eggs and place them in a bowl filled with ice and water. Stand for 10 minutes before peeling them.        Posted by Chubby Hubby 
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Mentaiko Pasta is my favorite too! I think I use a lot more butter ;-P I also top it with home made Matcha Finishing Salt to add a vibrant green color and wonderful flavor.
Posted by: Steamy Kitchen | 25 June 2007 @ 11:51 am
Wow, I was just thinking of Mentaiko Pasta! Got a pleasant surprise when I come to your blog seeing this post.
I’ve yet to tried your recipe as I am still a novice cook, I might just ruined the mentaiko.
Posted by: didally | 25 June 2007 @ 1:54 pm
I sadly have never tried mentaiko pasta, but I need to remedy that now–and who cares if it’s not super-duper healthy. It sounds so rich and divine! A real taste of the sea!
Posted by: Lisa (Homesick Texan) | 26 June 2007 @ 2:15 am
Mentaiko is roe, right? I never did get into that stuff, but your pics make it look REALLY good…if I’m new to roe, would this be a good dish to start with?
Posted by: Jim | 26 June 2007 @ 5:42 am
Jim: It’s spicy cod roe. It has a really light spiciness and is very savory. Also good mixed with a bit of Japanese mayo, spread on seafood and grilled.
Posted by: Chubby Hubby | 26 June 2007 @ 9:54 am
Hi A, S,
Help? You wouldn’t know where in Spore I could get Biscuits Roses de Reims would you? Thanks,
W/
Posted by: Weylin | 26 June 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Chubby Hubby- How did the Japanese come up with this dish? Every time I’ve had it, its been made with Italian-style spaghetti, not the traditional soba or other Japanese noodles… was this a dish created more recently. Curious about its origins.
Posted by: Steamy Kitchen | 26 June 2007 @ 8:33 pm
This is the first time I come across Mentaiko pasta…It sounds fantastic! I am going to be saving this recipe, thank you! I live by a number of Japanese groceries so I’m sure I can find that roe
Was also wondering the same thing as Steamy Kitchen above…
Posted by: joey | 27 June 2007 @ 10:11 am
Hey! Shi here
sitting here in a long meeting in helsinki and this post just made me lose my appetite at all the herring and salmon around me. i want to eat mentaiko pasta 
Posted by: shidababe | 27 June 2007 @ 10:03 pm
Weylin,
you can get biscuit roses de reim here:
http://www.cybercucina.com/ccdocs/products/FO635B.html
Posted by: Anna | 28 June 2007 @ 5:43 am
i had no idea what mentaiko pasta was but after looking it up, mentaiko is pollock roe! koreans love pollock roe. the pasta sounds great!
Posted by: susan | 28 June 2007 @ 12:13 pm
hey there! had a urge to try to make spaghetti and i found your blog. =)
it really looks delicious!!!! =D
anyway, where do you get mentaiko from? and angelhair pasta. sorry! it’s my first time trying to make it. heh.
would like to have your opinion to which recipee i should try. ur older mentaiko recipee or this one.
thanks so much!!
Posted by: kathlyn | 19 July 2007 @ 2:55 am
In Singapore, I buy mentaiko at Meidiya, a Japanese supermarket. If you can find a Japanese market near you, you should be able to find it. It’s usually sold with the sushi/fresh fish. I like both recipes but am currently more partial to the second one.
Posted by: Chubby Hubby | 19 July 2007 @ 5:51 am
Got myself some mentaiko from the Hokkaido fair downstairs. Hard to find those kind of ingredients here in KL, unlike in Singapore where I was spoiled. I used to live in Tokyo for a while and my first intro to this fusion (don’t think it’s qualified as washoku) cuisine is at the restaurant beside my apartment ~ uni pasta. I found a recipe for it after that and made tried it out on my own. It was bloody good.
Will test out this recipe with some variation later tonight. Wish me luck.. ^^
Posted by: Andy | 22 August 2007 @ 4:06 pm
Omg i love Mentaiko so much!! Thank you for this, gonna cook some now.
Posted by: Cheesie | 27 May 2009 @ 3:24 pm
Hi! Thanks for the fantastic post! I was wondering if this is the wafuu cream pasta recipe that I’ve been searching for ages and if i can substitute mentaiko with other ingredients that are more easily available cos I’m currently on an overseas posting right now but I really really love the wafuu pasta I ate at marina square (this place that sells jap pasta. sighs, but dunno if its still there now..)! Anyway! If its alright with you, would you mind replying me via email please? Thank you!!!
Posted by: carine | 22 November 2009 @ 10:04 pm
Hi! I tried this recipe but I substituted some stuff as its difficult to get certain ingredients despite my best efforts due to the area where I’m staying. Instead of mentaiko, I used 1 tsp fish stock and for the chicken jus, what I did was use about 1 tsp of concentrated chicken stock. In addition, thickened cream was substituted with milk of the same volume. The taste wasn’t up to standards at all and I was wondering if you might know what adjustments I should make.
Please, let me know! Thank you very very much!!
Posted by: carine | 25 November 2009 @ 8:41 pm