Mentaiko (or Ming Tai Zi) is essentially marinated roe of pollock, a kind of marine fish. What I have here is spicy roe, a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. You may have eaten it without even realising it's there. The name derives from Mentai, which means pollock in Korean. It can be eaten on its own with sake, and is in fact, nominated as the best side dish by one of the Japanese magazines.
My husband got this for me from the airport in Tokyo, 1000 Japanese Yen (about US$10) for 100g, about half the price of what you get in Singapore.
To use as an ingredient or to serve, simply cut the sacs and scrap the roe off with a teaspoon.
Scrap gently and you are left with the membrane as shown here.
The packet I got yielded this much Mentaiko.
Look out for my Mentaiko Pasta in the next post!
Oooooo...what a delicacy. I remember as a child, my Grandma used to order fish roe from the fish seller. She would season it with salt and fry it. It was really yummy.
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never seen or even heard of that before! Your grandma had exquisite taste!
Deleteit looks very original, I have not tried it yet!
ReplyDeleteBlog about life and travelling
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Ola, can you get this in your part of the world?
Deletelife's just full of coincidences right? to think that we posted on the same topic on the same day at the same time! totally uncanny!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet of your hubby to get you the mentaiko! Must be really premium stuff! 100 grand is a lot to pay for 3 roe sacs! Can't wait to see what you are gonna prepare out of these...
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DeleteAlan, it costs about US$10. Maybe I thought the Yen was Vietnamese Dong!
DeleteI'm like Phong Hong. But somehow with all the cholesterol scares etc, have not had these for yonks. Just saw this on another blog (he made pasta with it too). Can't wait to see your version!
ReplyDeleteHi Ping, yes, Alan and I posted on same subject at the same time - he said, Great minds think alike, and I can't argue with that!
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