QQ Mentaiko Udon 明太子うどん (Spicy Cod Roe Udon)

Mentaiko Udon is one of my favourite dishes in Japanese cuisine. Actually I love any dishes with mentaiko but this is definitely my favourite mentaiko dish. I love the combination of the springy udon texture and the salty creamy cod roe with a hint of spiciness from the marinated roe. All toss together and top with shredded cucumber and seaweed. *For non spicy version, you can substitute with Tarako (non spicy version) instead of Mentaiko. But the heat from mentaiko is really not noticeable.

This dish can be whipped up within 10 mins for a quick lunch or busy day dinner.

Mentaiko is available in any Japanese Supermarket at the sashimi section. They are sold mostly in sac which you need to slit open the sac to extract the roe. Alternatively, you can get those which already remove the roe from the sac and sold in packet. The latter is not very commonly found. I got mine from BIG BOX Supermarket in Jurong West.

I used dried udon which you can get it from any Japanese supermarket or the Japanese section of a supermarket. You can always use a fresh or frozen ones. Just follow the instruction on the packaging to cook the udon. I prefer my udon to be on the slightly QQ chewy side, so I only cooked my dried udon for a shorter time.

While the udon is cooking, you can prepare the mentaiko sauce.

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small mixing bowl and set aside for later. 

When the udon is ready, drain and transfer into a larger mixing bowl. Add in the mentaiko sauce, butter and toss until the butter melted and the noodles are well coated with the sauce.

Transfer the udon into a serving dish and top with shredded Japanese cucumber and seaweed.

You can always top with more mentaiko (without mayo) if you are as mentaiko crazy as I do.

いただきます (Itadakimasu) Let’s Eat!!