Mentaiko Udon

Most of my friends know that I have a sister living in Tokyo, which makes it so easy (and cheap) for me to visit Japan. I get a real kick out of going to random hole-in-the-wall eateries that are off-the-beaten-track and discovering yummy food, which is so easy to do in Japan since most of the eating places take pride in serving good stuff.

In October 2006, my sister arranged for an overnight trip to Kyoto via the Nozomi Shinkansen, which is the fastest bullet train in Japan. The rest of my family took a earlier train back to avoid getting home after dark, while I stayed behind in Kyoto to do more sightseeing.

I was alone for dinner, and while waiting for my train back to Tokyo, stumbled upon a small shop within the Kyoto train station near the JR trains that served Mentaiko Udon. It was simply wonderful - tasty, creamy and just what a hungry girl needed. See picture below extracted from my archives.

One day after work last week, I decided I simply had to make it using a really simple recipe that my sister gave me. I managed to find spicy mentaiko (辛子明太子, karashi mentaiko) at Isetan supermarket.

It was not a cheap dinner - 2 pieces of mentaiko set me back $14.80, and since I had to buy Japanese mayonaise ($5), mirin ($3.50), udon and seaweed as well, I decided to forego the negi (leek) and tobiko (flying fish roe).

For udon in Singapore, I've found that the frozen variety is the best quality. You can get a pack of 3 for around $8. Don't go for the cheaper refrigerated stuff, because it's really limp and textureless when cooked. You can also substitute with pasta - I've found spaghetti works quite well.

The spicy mentaiko was simply beautiful.

First, you have to slit the sacs and scrape out the roe bits.

I melted butter in a saucepan, and after adding the roe, I added a tablespoon of mirin and 2 squirts of mayonnaise.

I threw in the cooked udon (I defrosted it, and then cooked it in boiling water for 3-4 mins) into the mixture and tossed it until it even coated all the udon. The seaweed strips were used as a garnish, but also added texture and flavour to the dish.
Japanese chilli flakes help to spice up the dish.

It was so good I nearly cried

If you're feeling poor, or short of time, I've found this packaged alternative is a pretty good quality substitute. I always have this in my kitchen in case of emergencies : )