Name: Mentaiko Spaghetti with Clams & Parmesan
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 50 g (1¾ oz/¼ cup) Japanese-style mayoneizu or ready-made Japanese mayonnaise; 2 tbsp grated Parmesan; 1 tsp shichimi pepper, plus extra to garnish; a little kizami nori, to garnish; 4 tbsp finely chopped chives; 1 egg yolk; 2 tbsp mirin; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, to garnish; 300 g (10½ oz) clams; 340 g (11¾ oz) dried spaghetti; 35 g (1¼ oz/2¼ tbsp) butter; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 125 g (4¼ oz) mentaiko (chilli-marinated cod or pollock roe)

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Nikkei Cuisine

By Luiz Hara

Published 2015

About

Mentaiko is chilli cod roe and, like yuzu kosho, is one of the main food products of the island of Kyushu in Japan. It can be eaten in many ways – as a topping on white rice, dried and grated on savoury dishes or as a flavouring for spaghetti sauce, the latter being probably the most popular usage in Japan. Not strictly a Nikkei dish, I have included it here as an example of a strong European influence on Japanese cooking, popular throughout the country. I love mentaiko spaghetti, and in th