I lift the udon with chopsticks, and soft egg comes up with the silky dashi. I slurp, and the aroma of the dashi comes first. A little later, the salt and heat of the mentaiko arrive.
Mentaiko is spicy, but here the heat never hits hard. The thick dashi and the soft egg cushion it before it reaches you.
Mentaiko udon
Recipe Snapshot
- What is it? Pour an ankake with mentaiko stirred through it over hot udon, and you have Japan’s mentaiko udon. Ankake is dashi broth thickened with potato starch, and beaten egg often goes in.
- Flavor profile: First comes egg falling softly apart on your tongue and sauce clinging to the noodles. The hot sauce smells of dashi, then salty roe pops and the chili heat builds.
- Why this recipe works: Roe mixed into egg lets dashi and egg alone round off its salt and heat. Starch makes it cling to the noodles rather than sink.
- How to make it: One saucepan makes the sauce. Thicken it, and once it bubbles, stream in the egg and roe. The udon heats separately and meets the sauce only in the bowl.
- What to expect: The bowl takes about 15 minutes, 10 at the stove. The one catch is the starch slurry, which lumps in boiling dashi, so kill the heat before it goes in.
What Is Mentaiko Udon?
Mentaiko ankake udon is a Japanese hot udon with a thickened broth that stays warm to the last bite. Potato starch thickens the dashi, egg is streamed in, mentaiko is broken up into it, and you pour it over the noodles. Unlike clear-broth kake udon, the thickness holds the heat.
It sits on udon shop menus in Japan, and at home it is a weekday-night bowl made with leftover mentaiko in the fridge and frozen udon. Search mentaiko udon and you will find noodles tossed with butter or cream. This is a different dish.
Mentaiko began as myeongnanjeot (명란젓, 明卵漬), a chili-seasoned fish-roe pickle from the Korean peninsula. Japanese mentaiko was born in Hakata, Fukuoka, close to that peninsula. Fukuya in Hakata began selling karashi mentaiko on January 10, 1949. The founder spent about 10 years adjusting it to Japanese tastes, with care over the quality of the roe and the balance of the chili. In 1975 the Sanyo Shinkansen extended to Hakata, and mentaiko spread across Japan as a Hakata souvenir. Even now, when people in Japan say mentaiko, Hakata is the first name that comes up.
In Japan, there are 3 main kinds of dish called mentaiko udon. The first is mentaiko kamatama udon, boiled udon tossed with raw egg and mentaiko. The second is boiled udon tossed with mentaiko, butter, and shirodashi (white dashi). Sometimes fresh cream is added, and the sauce comes close to mentaiko pasta. The third is this mentaiko ankake udon, mentaiko brought together with hot thickened dashi and poured over the noodles. The mentaiko and udon are the same in all 3, and tossing versus pouring is what makes them different dishes.
The idea comes from Tsurutontan’s mentaiko udon. Tsurutontan is an udon shop that also has locations in America. The way I add the egg comes from my kakitama jiru (egg-drop soup), which I finish fluffy. I stream the egg in thinly, in 3 additions, and each time I wait until the dashi boils again. The pot stays uncovered. Japanese home recipes often dissolve half the mentaiko into the sauce and set the rest on top still raw. I mix the mentaiko into the beaten egg, set aside only a raw portion for garnish, and add that at the end. I want the fluffy egg to mellow the mentaiko’s heat and salt.
Pollock Roe Udon Ingredients
- Mentaiko (spicy pollock roe): This is what brings the heat, the salt and those tiny grains that pop in your mouth. The label often says spicy cod roe, but what is inside is pollock roe cured in salt and chili. Whole sacs and tubes of loose roe (barako) both work. The roe gets scattered through the sauce anyway, so the loose kind actually saves you a step. With whole sacs, peel off the membrane and use only the roe inside, because the membrane never melts into the sauce and turns up as stringy bits.
- Potato starch (katakuriko): This is what thickens the sauce. Once it cooks, it turns clear and glossy and clings to every strand of udon. It is simply potato starch, so a bag labeled potato starch from a regular supermarket does exactly the same job.
- Frozen udon: Of all the udon you can buy, frozen is my favorite. It is flash-frozen right after boiling, so its texture comes closest to freshly made, and it heats through in no time. Look for frozen udon or Sanuki udon on the bag.
Substitutions & How to Customize
If you are missing mentaiko or potato starch, start with the first swaps below, then try a few ways to add to the bowl and change up the finish.
Substitutions:
- Mentaiko → Tarako: This is the closest swap, and the one I suggest if heat is not your thing. Tarako is the same pollock roe, cured in salt alone. The grains stay and only the heat goes, so a pinch of ichimi togarashi (Japanese chili powder) or gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) brings it back close to mentaiko.
- Mentaiko → Myeongnan-jeot (명란젓): The next best option after tarako. Korean grocers stock it under that name, and it usually runs saltier than mentaiko, with a stronger fermented smell. If you use it, go easier on the salt in the sauce.
- Potato starch → Cornstarch: The easiest swap to find. Use 1.2 times the amount of potato starch. The sauce turns a little cloudy and never gets quite as glossy, but it holds its thickness better as it cools.
- Potato starch → Tapioca starch: Your other choice after cornstarch, starting at about 80% of the potato starch amount. It still gives you a clear sauce, but it turns a little stringy and sets firm as it cools.
- Light soy sauce (usukuchi) → Standard Japanese soy sauce: The sauce takes on a brown tint, and in Japan it still passes as the same dish.
- Shiso → Korean perilla leaves (kkaennip): Shiso is only a garnish, so you can skip it if you have none. If you want a leaf on top, Korean perilla leaves from a Korean grocer come closest, with a gentler aroma than shiso.
Substitutions that I don’t recommend:
- Kalles Kaviar or taramosalata instead of mentaiko: A paste has none of the grains and does not taste like mentaiko either. Mentaiko spreads made with cream cheese also bring dairy into a sauce that has no use for it.
- Tobiko or lumpfish roe instead of mentaiko: The grains pop, but the flavor is nothing like mentaiko. The bowl tends to end up mild and fishy.
- Wheat flour instead of potato starch: The sauce turns cloudy and loses its gloss.
- Potato flour instead of potato starch: The names sound alike, but this is a different product, made from whole potatoes dried and ground. It turns the sauce heavy, gluey and cloudy, and it tastes of potato.
How to Customize:
- Add ginger: Grate fresh ginger into the dashi. It cuts through the oiliness of the roe, and the sauce smells the way a winter ankake should.
- Finish with sesame oil or butter: Right before you turn off the heat, add a few drops of sesame oil or a small knob of butter. You get a little more richness, and the bowl still tastes of dashi first.
- Change how thick the sauce is: A thicker sauce holds on to more of the roe, but the noodles start sticking together if you take your time eating. A looser sauce lets the udon slip down more smoothly.
- Add more garnishes: Alongside the shiso or in place of it, scatter shredded nori, mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley) or sliced green onion on top.
How to Make My Mentaiko Udon
Before you start (Mise en place):
- Slit the mentaiko membrane lengthwise, open it up, and scrape the roe out with a spoon.
- From that roe, set aside a little raw roe for the top, 1 portion per bowl.
- Crack the eggs into a container with a spout and beat them until the whites break up. Add the rest of the roe and mix until it is evenly blended. The spout makes it easier to pour the egg in a thin stream later.
- Cut the shiso into thin strips.
To develop this recipe, I used a 20cm yukihira saucepan.
i. While the dashi comes up to a boil, heat the udon in a separate pot following the package directions.
ii. Fill the serving bowls with hot water to warm them.
i. Stir the potato starch and cold water together in a small bowl.
Potato starch sinks to the bottom fast, so stir it again right before you pour it in.
ii. Once the dashi boils, turn off the heat. Stir the pot with a ladle as you pour in the slurry in a thin stream. Put it back over medium heat and keep stirring as it warms. It is thick enough when the white streaks are gone, the sauce is clear and the surface is glossy.
Lift some with the ladle and let it fall back. A smooth, unbroken stream is all you want. The sauce firms up a little more once the egg goes in and as it sits in the bowl.
Pour slurry into boiling dashi and it sets the instant it touches the liquid, which is where lumps come from. With the heat off, it spreads through the whole pot before it has a chance to set. Turn the heat back on, keep stirring, and the sauce thickens evenly.
i. When the sauce is bubbling once more, sweep the ladle around the pot in big circles in one direction to set up a slow whirlpool.
ii. Add the egg and roe mixture in 3 pours. Drizzle the first third over the whirlpool in a thin thread.
iii. The egg drops the temperature and the bubbles die down. When the sauce bubbles again, pour the next third the same way, and then the last.
iv. After the last pour, wait a few seconds, give it 1 or 2 big stirs up from the bottom of the pot, and turn off the heat. Leave the lid off.
Stop while the egg sits in soft ribbons and still has its gloss. The thick sauce keeps cooking the egg with its own heat, and roe that simmers too long turns dry and crumbly.
Pour all the beaten egg in at once and the temperature of the sauce plunges. In a sauce that has stopped bubbling the egg is slow to set, and it breaks up and disappears into the sauce. Pour it in 3 parts and wait for the bubbles each time, and the egg sets within seconds of hitting the sauce, into fluffy ribbons.
i. Pour the hot water out of the bowls. Give the udon a quick rinse under hot water to wash off the slippery film on the surface, drain it well, and divide it among the bowls.
Water left on the noodles thins the sauce the moment it lands.
ii. Pour the sauce over in equal portions.
iii. Top with the shiso and the raw roe you set aside.
The raw roe on top keeps all of its pop and its chili aroma.
If you follow the default recipe, it will yield 3 servings.
Tips for the Best Ankake Udon
- Use frozen mentaiko when it is only half-thawed. It just has to soften enough for you to slit the membrane and squeeze the roe out. Roe that has thawed all the way and gone warm turns mushy and makes the sauce too salty.
- Aim for a sauce the color of light amber. If it comes out brown like curry udon broth, the soy sauce was too dark or there was too much of it. Light soy sauce is there to keep the broth pale, so the pink of the roe and the yellow of the egg can show.
- Spoon the leftover sauce over hot rice once the noodles are gone. In Japan, that second bowl after ankake udon is a perfectly ordinary way to finish.
The rice gets all of it too, from the clean egg ribbons to the light amber color and the gentle salt.
What to Serve With Mentaiko Udon
- Cucumber Sunomono
- Easy Hiyayakko (Chilled Tofu)
- Dashi-Soaked Spinach Ohitashi
- Kinpira Gobo (Braised Burdock Root)
Egg Ankake Udon Troubleshooting
The slurry went into dashi that was still boiling, all in one spot, or the starch had sunk to the bottom of its bowl and went in without a fresh stir. Turn off the heat right away and stir the whole pot in big sweeps with a whisk or cooking chopsticks to break up the clumps. Lift out any bits that refuse to break apart with a fine-mesh skimmer, or pour the sauce through a sieve. Set it back over low heat and warm it until the sauce turns clear and glossy.
Too much potato starch went in, or the bowls sat for a while after the sauce was poured. For sauce still in the pot, stir in warm dashi a little at a time until it falls off the ladle in a thin, steady ribbon. Thinning it with water leaves the flavor flat. If the noodles in a bowl have already clumped, pour a little warm dashi over them and tease them apart with chopsticks.
The sauce was not bubbling when the egg went in, the egg went in all at once, or the pot got stirred right after the pour. If you still have egg left, wait until the sauce comes back to a gentle bubble before you stream in the next portion in a thin thread.
More Japanese Noodle Recipes
- Thick Japanese Curry Udon
- Chicken and Leek Tori Nanban Udon
- Tsukimi Egg Udon Soup
- Nabeyaki Udon Hot Pot
The same dashi bowl also takes curry, or chicken and egg, in place of the mentaiko, and those udon sit beside soba and ramen in my Japanese Noodle Recipes.
Did You Try This Recipe?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
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Mentaiko Udon (Cod Roe Ankake Udon)
Ingredients
Mentaiko and Egg
- 100 g spicy cod roe (mentaiko) whole sacs or tubes of loose roe, half-thawed if frozen, or tarako
- 2 eggs
Ankake Sauce
- 500 ml dashi stock
- 2 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Japanese light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu) or the same amount of standard Japanese soy sauce
- ½ tsp salt
Slurry
- 1 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko) or cornstarch at 1.2 times the amount
- 1 tbsp cold water
To Serve
- 3 portions udon noodles frozen udon, or fresh udon
- 2 perilla leaves (shiso) per portion, optional, or Korean perilla leaves
The ingredient brands and tools I trust are in my Japanese pantry guide and my cooking tools guide.
Can’t find certain Japanese ingredients? See my substitution guide here.
Instructions
- Slit the membrane of 100 g spicy cod roe (mentaiko) lengthwise, open it and scrape the roe free with a spoon. Reserve 1 tbsp of raw roe per portion onto a small plate for topping at the end.
- Crack 2 eggs into a jug with a spout and beat until the whites are broken up. Add the remaining roe and stir until evenly combined. Cut 2 perilla leaves (shiso) per portion into thin strips.
- Pour 500 ml dashi stock, 2 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp Japanese light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu) and ½ tsp salt into a saucepan. Heat over medium until it boils.
- While you wait, cook 3 portions udon noodles as the package directs. If cooking on the stove top, boil in a separate pot.
- As soon as the dashi boils, switch off the heat. Mix 1 tbsp potato starch (katakuriko) with 1 tbsp cold water in a small bowl until smooth, then pour it into the pot in a thin stream, stirring with a ladle the whole time.Set the pot back over medium heat and keep the ladle moving. The sauce is ready once the white streaks vanish and it turns clear with a glossy surface.
- When the sauce bubbles gently, stir it hard with the ladle in one direction to get it spinning. Pour a third of the egg and roe over the spinning sauce in a thin stream.Once the foam settles and the pot is bubbling again, add the second third the same way. Add the last third, wait a few seconds, fold once or twice from the bottom, and turn off the heat. Do not cover.
- Wash the cooked noodles with hot water. Pour hot water into serving bowls to warm them, then discard before dividing the noodles between them. Ladle the broth evenly over the noodles and scatter the shiso strips on top. Finish with the reserved mentaiko, and serve hot. Enjoy!
I went to buy Mentaiko intending to make the spaghetti but could not resist to try this first. It was lovely. Since smoked paprika was used to amp up the spaghetti sauce, I used a tiny pinch here, too, mixed into the egg-Mentaiko mixture. Can recommend this!
Hi Peti,
Love that you couldn’t wait to try this one! The smoked paprika twist is brilliant! I’m happy that you enjoyed it! 🙂
Yuto