Eat raw or cooked, mentaiko is the sac membrane of Alaskan/walleye pollock cured with salt and marinated in red chili peppers and various seasonings. It has a characteristic salty and spicy flavor.
Mentaiko (明太子) is whole roe sacs of Alaskan/walleye pollack (a member of the cod family), cured with salt and marinated in red chili peppers. Another name is karashi mentaiko (辛子明太子), which means spicy pollack/cod roe. It’s a specialty food from the southern island of Kyushu and a popular souvenir. The Japanese eat it with rice or in Japanese-style pasta dish.
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What Is Karashi Mentaiko
Mentaiko is the spicy cousin of tarako (たらこ), salted cod, or pollock roe. It’s also eaten in South Korea and Russia. It’s made by marinating the roe in a mixture of ground red pepper sauce, dashi, and other ingredients.
Tarako was imported from the Korean peninsula to northern Kyushu and Yamaguchi in the 17th century. In Japanese, it was called mentai (明太), meaning “cod,” a loan word from the Korean language. Combined with ko (子), meaning “child/children,” mentaiko referred to cod roe.
It is a specialty of Hakata of Fukuoka City, with over 300 mentaiko producers in the city alone. Kanefuku is one of the most famous brands of mentaiko. You can also find it in supermarkets nationwide, although the quality is much lower.
It’s known as myeongnan-jeot in Korean.
What Does It Taste Like
It has a salty umami taste with soft eggs that don’t pop like tobiko and with a spicy kick.
How To Use
The Japanese eat mentaiko as a side dish to accompany steamed rice like tsukemono, a topping for Ochazuke, or a filling inside Onigiri rice balls. You can eat it either raw, cooked, or grilled.
Another wildly popular mentaiko dish in Japan is Mentaiko Pasta, a type of wafu pasta with spaghetti noodles tossed in melted butter or cream, mayonnaise, and soy sauce infused with the salty and flavorful spicy cod roe.
In Japan, you can also find mentaiko mayo, which is excellent over boiled or fried potatoes, pizza, or used as a garnish.
Recipes Using Mentaiko
Where To Buy
You can find it in the refrigerator and freezer sections at Asian, Korean, and Japanese grocery stores. It is often sold whole in its natural membrane or cut into pieces or jars with the membrane removed. It can be expensive outside of Japan as it’s a raw and imported food product, but a little goes a long way.
You may find commercial mentaiko pasta packets, which are premade sauces you pour over pasta or udon noodles.
How To Store
Use quickly within the expiration date as it is a raw food product. You can freeze mentaiko by wrapping it in plastic wrap and then in a plastic bag with the air pressed out. Consume within two weeks.
Substitutions
You can substitute it with tarako, cured pollock roe.
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