This is my favourite pasta of all time! Mentaiko means spicy cod roe, and unfortunately Japanese cod roe can be somewhat difficult to get hold of in some countries. I always buy mine at the airport in Tokyo before coming back to Australia! Please make sure you don’t use Korean mentaiko which tastes totally different.
My mum used to make a simplified version of this dish using only butter and the mentaiko, but since Japanese butter tastes different to western butter, I have chosen to add a few more ingredients to try and recreate the taste.
Ingredients
2-3 cod roes
30g good quality butter
1tbs Japanese mayonnaise
150ml cream
1tsp soy sauce
Salt
Optional
Selection of wild Japanese mushrooms
Step 1
This is Kanefuku mentaiko which is a famous brand of mentaiko in Japan. If you can’t find it, just try and buy the best quality mentaiko you can find. First, cut the mentaiko egg sack and spread.
Step 2
Mix the butter with the mentaiko in a bowl, then add the Japanese mayonnaise and the cream and stir well.
Step 3
Cook your pasta as per the packet’s instructions. I like to use thin pasta for this (Barilla no.3). I also fried some enoki, shimeji and eringi in a little oil but this was just because I had some leftover in the fridge – feel free to leave them out of this recipe if you wish. When the pasta is cooked, add it to the mentaiko mix and add a little soy sauce. Taste a little of the sauce, and add salt as necessary. If you have it, sprinkle some dried sea weed on top. My mum always used to sprinkle a Japanese leaf called Shiso on top, which suits this dish perfectly. However, I’ve never seen this on sale in Sydney so have had to go without! If anyone knows where I can get hold of it, please let me know 
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you can plant shiso easily!
like basil. ask ur mom to send u some seeds, u can grow it in a pot!
i am making mentai pasta tonight so i am just checking up different variations of the recipe. yours sounds nice!
vivian (my blog is food, etc…related)
Unfortunately Australia is very strict about seeds being sent in the post
Well, I’m going back to live in Tokyo soon so I’ll be surrounded by shiso! Thanks for your comment Vivian
I’ve been silently reading your blog for quite some time now, and I’ve had the joy of trying some of them. I can’t seem to find mentaiko. Could I substitute ebiko instead?
Cheers,
Edge
The flavour would be somewhat different unfortunately. I’ve never used ebiko though, so give it a go- I’m sure it wouldn’t be unpleasant, but just not so similar to mentaiko. Let us know how you go!
I always look to you for Japanese recipes, and I only realized now that you replied!
It did taste quite different, having only eaten mentaiko as the center of an onigiri, but I still loved it!
I also added a bit more Japanese mayo, which I really love (and I hate Western mayo).
I don’t think I ended up with your recipe, are there any other Japanese mayo based pastas?
Yes, I try and reply to every message! There are some other Japanese mayo based pastas – I’ll post some more recipes soon
where did you get the mentaiko from? i’m in perth and i can’t seem to find it in the asian grocery stores
Yes it’s a little hard to find Claire. We’re fortunate to have it in the local Japanese grocery, although it is very overpriced