Classic Mentaiko Spaghetti
Updated Aug. 6, 2025
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2whole sacs mentaiko or tarako (about 4 ounces, see Tip)
- 4tablespoons crème fraîche, or a mixture of 2 tablespoons each heavy cream and full-fat sour cream
- 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1large egg yolk
- 1tablespoon yellow or brown miso paste
- Zest and juice from ½ lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1pound spaghetti, bucatini or other long skinny pasta
- A small handful of chopped fresh shiso leaves (or another herb, such as mint, parsley, basil or chives)
Preparation
- Step 1
With the tip of a sharp knife, split open the mentaiko sacs and lay them flat against a cutting board with the membrane on the bottom. Using a spoon or the back of a knife, scrape the eggs from the membrane and discard the membrane.
- Step 2
In a bowl at least large enough to hold 1 pound cooked pasta, create the sauce by whisking together the mentaiko, crème fraîche, olive oil, egg yolk, miso, lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Step 3
Heat a couple inches of lightly salted water in a straight-sided sauté pan or saucepan over high until boiling. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is as done as you like it. (Start tasting about a minute before the package directions suggest.)
- Step 4
Using a ladle, scoop about ½ cup pasta water from the pan. Whisking constantly, add it to the bowl with the sauce. Set aside another ladle of pasta water in a cup or bowl nearby, then drain the pasta and immediately add it to the bowl of sauce. Toss the sauce and pasta thoroughly and constantly until the sauce thickens and coats the spaghetti with a glossy sheen. If it starts to get too thick, thin it out with some of the reserved pasta water.
- Step 5
Stir in the fresh herbs, adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
- Mentaiko is a spicy form of tarako. Either will work in this recipe. If you can’t find mentaiko but would like your pasta a little spicy, a pinch of Korean chile flakes or red-pepper flakes, or a dash of your favorite hot sauce whisked into the sauce in Step 1 would all work instead. Mentaiko and tarako are typically sold fresh or frozen in well-stocked Japanese or Korean markets and come in their original membrane sacs, either intact or split in half.
- For a carbonara-style recipe, mix together the mentaiko or tarako with 2 whole eggs, 4 egg yolks, 1 tablespoon yellow or brown miso paste and 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (more or less to taste). Proceed with Step 2 and 3, but return the pasta to the now-empty sauté pan. Leave it off heat. Stirring the pasta vigorously with a wooden spoon in one hand, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, stirring and tossing until the sauce coats the pasta in a velvety sheen. Thin it out with some of the reserved pasta water.) To make it extra rich, give each diner an extra raw egg yolk and extra raw mentaiko to stir into their pasta.
Private Notes
Comments
Let the mentaiko speak for itself - this recipe contains a lot of strong additional flavours in my opinion - mentaiko has it's own particular special and lovely flavour - olive oil, lemon zest and especially the lemon juice cloud the flavour palette unnecessarily - as does the crème fraiche - I would use a nice normal heavy cream instead - the shiso leaves are of course a wonderful addition - keeping it simple here makes a huge difference :)
To clarify the tip's incomplete clarification, tarako and mentaiko turn out to be forms of roe from Alaskan pollock, a type of cod. So where these are unavaible, other fish roes could perhaps serve as substitutes.
Despite being in a Japanese American family, no one is familiar with Mentaiko. A google search reveals it to be very expensive. Anyone know affordable quality options?
Hmm. I've never had mentaiko spaghetti, but I think the ladle of pasta water diluted the sauce too much. It took about 30 minutes for the pasta to absorb all the liquid, at which point we'd been eating it for 25 minutes. As the water got absorbed, the dish became more flavorful. It was still very subtle and mild (my mentaiko from Sunrise Mart wasn't spicy at all but very delicious nonetheless). If I try it again, I'll reserve some pasta water but only add it if the sauce needs moistening.
I finally located mentaiko somewhat locally and got to try this and I’m so glad I did! I understand those who want to the mentaiko speak for itself, as it’s an interesting flavor on its own, but I loved the fresh, bright flavor contrast with the crème fraiche and lemon. We had it with a salad with sesame dressing and carrots roasted in a maple-miso glaze. I also liked how quickly it came together. This will make it into the regular rotation.
Would tobiko (flying fish roe) work for this?