This yuzu mentaiko pasta makes a quick and comforting weeknight dinner. Dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes.
We recently discovered a fun recipe, mentaiko pasta, from the cookbook Umai: Recipes from a Japanese Home Kitchen by Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares. Mentaiko pasta is a “wafu” or Japanese style pasta, combining Japanese and Western ingredients. I added yuzu to the original recipe to add some brightness to the pasta. The combination of mentaiko with heavy cream, spaghetti, yuzu, and nori brings different flavor and texture to this wonderful dish. This yuzu mentaiko pasta is all about maximum flavor with minimal effort.
Ingredient Notes
- Mentaiko: mentaiko is a popular Japanese ingredient made from pollock or cod roe, cured with salt, chili, and spices. Make sure you choose mentaiko and not tarako. Tarako is only cured in salt and not marinated with chili and other ingredients.
- Pasta: spaghetti or bucatini works well for this dish.
- Yuzu: I like using fresh yuzu since both the zest and juice add so much flavor. If you can’t find yuzu, substitute with Meyer lemon or sudachi.
How to Make Pasta
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve ⅓ cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Prepare the sauce. Remove the membrane of the mentaiko sac by gently piercing it and peeling it away to release the roe. In a large bowl, whisk the roe, heavy cream, soy sauce, yuzu juice, yuzu zest, and black pepper. Add in the warm pasta water.
- Bring it together. In a separate large bowl, add the warm pasta and butter. Mix until the butter is melted and the pasta is well coated with butter. Transfer the pasta to the bowl with sauce mixture and toss until well coated and glossy with sauce. If it looks a little dry, add more pasta cooking water, one tablespoon at a time, and toss again.
- Serve immediately. Transfer the yuzu mentaiko pasta to serving plates. Garnish with toasted nori, extra mentaiko, and yuzu zest if desired.
Make Ahead and Storage
Leftover yuzu mentaiko pasta can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Reheat the pasta with a splash of milk or cream.
For more Japanese food inspiration:
Yuzu Mentaiko Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 ounces spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 ounces mentaiko, divided
- ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon fresh yuzu zest and extra for serving
- 1 teaspoon fresh yuzu juice
- ¼ cup pasta water
- 1 sheet of nori, sliced into thin strips
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve ⅓ cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the spaghetti.
- In a large bowl, whisk the 1 ½ ounces roe, heavy cream, soy sauce, yuzu juice, yuzu zest, and black pepper. Add in ¼ cup of warm pasta water.
- In a separate large bowl, add the warm spaghetti and butter. Mix until the butter is melted and the pasta is well coated with butter. Transfer the pasta to the bowl with sauce mixture and toss until well coated and glossy with sauce. If it looks a little dry, add more pasta cooking water, one tablespoon at a time, and toss again.
- Transfer the yuzu mentaiko pasta to serving plates. Garnish with toasted nori, extra mentaiko, and yuzu zest if desired.
Leave a Reply