I seem to go through phases where all I want to eat is Japanese food. I go from eating sandwiches and chili to miso soup and rice with pickled plums.
I definitely miss Japan a lot from my time there on exchange, and a way to go back without actually buying a plane ticket is by cooking the foods I love from there.
One of my favourite “comfort food” dishes is made with a type of fish roe called “tarako”. Tarako is salted Alaskan pollock roe, and has a pretty mild taste and texture as far as fish roe goes. It can be found in almost all Japanese stores, although it might be a little less common in other Asian stores.
It’s salty taste goes perfectly with a creamy base, and even though I can’t exactly say this dish is super healthy, it’s pretty darn easy and delicious.
Tarako Cream Spaghetti
makes 2-4 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 package spaghetti noodles
- 2 sacks tarako roe
- 1/2-1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- shredded nori (optional, for garnish)
Directions
- Cook spaghetti until al dente, and set aside.
- Cut open tarako sacks, and remove as many roe as possible.
- Melt butter in a pot and add tarako, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
- Add in heavy cream, and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, until sauce turns a light pink colour and thickens slightly.
- Remove from heat, and stir in mayonnaise.
- Add sauce back to pasta, and stir until evenly coated.
- Garnish with shredded seaweed, and enjoy!
Once you cut into the sacks, you can see they’re filled with a bunch of tiny little roe.
Fish eggs might sound kind of disgusting, but if you give them a chance they’re actually pretty delicious 
Scooping them out of the thin film is the trickiest part, just because they stick to everything and there’s just so goddamn many of them, but once you get them all out you’re golden.
Add your butter to the pan and let it melt.
Then add the tarako, and the heavy cream. You don’t even need any salt because the tarako has a fairly salty flavour to begin with.You only need to let it simmer for a bit, and it makes a really pretty pink sauce.
Don’t forget the secret ingredient, though – Japanese mayonnaise.
You could probably use regular mayonnaise, but I would recommend using Japanese. Japanese mayonnaise is made with egg yolks and apple/malt vinegar rather than whole eggs and distilled vinegar, so it has a slightly different taste. You should be able to find it in any Asian grocery store.
The mixed up pasta looks very similar to alfredo, and is delicious in a much different way.
For anyone wanting to venture outside the regular sushi side of Japanese food – you should definitely try this.
Bonus points if you can eat it with chopsticks 
