Mentaiko (spicy cod roe) spaghetti and Taramo dip

Mentaiko is a Japanese food made of raw cod roe with chili seasoning.

They love it  by topping on the rice. Adding to spaghetti is also one of the popular ways to enjoy it.

They have some lines of ready made mentaiko spaghetti sauce

It is a very popular souvenir from Japan and even can be found in Narita Airpot.

We got a pack brought by my parents from Japan as I requested.

Ingredients of Mentaiko Spaghetti for two people:

• 50-70g of Mentaiko (one large sack of roe)
• 1/6 round onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 50cc of Olive oil
• 200g of Spaghetti
• salt and black pepper 
• 1-2 spring onion
• 20cmx10cm of seaweed black paper

 Direction

1. Remove the mentaiko roe from the sack,

2. Chop garlic, onion, and spring onion as small as possible,

3. Shred black paper thinly,

4. Start to boil a plenty of water in a large deep pan for cooking spaghetti,

 5. Fry the garlic and the onion until they get translucent with olive oil in a large flying pan then turn the heat off,

6. Boil spaghetti for 1 min as just before getting al dente,
7. Add mentaiko, spaghetti and 50cc of pasta water left in the deep pan into the frying pan and dress all well. Add some pinches of salt and black pepper if necessary,

8. Put each portion of spaghtti on a dish and top with black paper and spring onion to serve.

Taramo dip: 

Some remained mentaiko was mixed with mash potato and topped over sliced bread. 

Total time to prepare: 20mins

Total cost for Mentaiko spaghetti and taramo dip: 1.04 pounds+ 

(0.54 for spaghetti, 0.1 for spring onion, 0.1 for round onion, 0.3 for bread from Balthazar, some tiny pence for garlic and dill, mentaiko and black paper were gift).

Spaghetti Japonese (Sunday brunch)

This spaghetti is invented in Japan. This is to fry mushrooms with onion and garlic and season with soy sauce to dress with spaghetti. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 round onion 
• 1 clove of garlic
• mushrooms (shimeji and enoki) 
• 200g spaghetti
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt and some black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of white wine
• 1 teaspoon of truffle oil

Directions

1. Boil plenty of water in a big deep pan for spaghetti
2. Chop garlic and onion into small pieces, heat a large frying pan and fry them with olive oil for 3-4 mins
3. When onion became translucent, add mushrooms for 3-4 mins
4. Add salt, white wine, soy sauce and black pepper. Allow it to boil till the mushrooms became glazed

5. Boil spaghetti for 1.5 mins then put into the pan to mix with mushrooms. Add truffle oil 

6. Serve with chopped chive or shiso leave or dill with grated cheddar cheese on the top.

Japanese people love noodles. That's why spaghetti is very popular among any other types of pasta there.

The cool film Tampopo depicts very well that how much Japanese people love noodles and spaghetti.

Sorry for there is no subtitle. The lady is teaching how to eat spaghetti to these young ladies. She stresses "do not make any noise!! It's not allowed in the western society" while a western foreigner is powerfully making noise in having his spaghetti dish. And then....

This is another good scene. Can observe Japanese people's noodle culture and their way of eating.

Total time to prepare: 30 mins

Total cost: 3.34 pounds (1.89 for Shimeji, 0.8 for Enoki, 0.65 for spaghetti)