Cold Tobiko Pasta

You are gonna see a lot of photos in this post because I just can't help photographing those beautiful, translucent orange pearls! 




It is like playing with glass marbles, only so fragile, tiny and...clumpy!  But boy, they make beautiful photos! I had a lot of fun editing these shots.  Ok, enough about photography talk, this is a cooking blog!

I have heard so much about Mentaiko Pasta.  This fusion japanese-italian dish was apparently all the rage in Singapore a few years ago in the fine dining scene.  I am not sure whether it has now arrived in Malaysia or had in fact came and gone..:P.  I have tried mentaiko cheese scallops before, but have never tried this, nor have I actually seen it in menus of any of the japanese restaurants I've been to.

So for the past whole week I have been really eager to make it, but just couldn't find these little guys in any of the supermarkets I went to.

Sigh!

So I had to settle for tobiko.

But it turned out to be a real discovery.  So goood!  I gave some to my neighbour and told her to keep it in the fridge until dinner time.  She sms-ed me 10 minutes later and said she walloped it all already - so refreshing and light.   




Beautiful orange marbles!

There are many variations to how you want to play with the flavours and seasonings, so feel free to experiment.  This is my favourite combination.


Cold Tobiko Pasta
Adapted from Extra Virgin Chef, and Just One Cookbook
Serves 2

• 100g angel hair pasta
• 30g tobiko
• 1 1/2 tbspn Japanese mayo
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chinese cooking wine or sake
• Rock/sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper
• Lots of shredded nori

1.  Put some water to boil and cook the pasta until al-dente.  Drain and rinse pasta under cold running water.

2.  Pour the cooled pasta into a deep bowl and add in all the seasonings and tobiko (except nori).  Toss everything to mix well.  Add extra olive oil if the pasta is too dry.  Adjust the taste with salt and black pepper. 

3.  Cover and chill in the fridge for at least half hour.  Put some serving plates into the fridge to chill as well. 

4.  Once chilled, serve the pasta on those chilled plates and top with extra tobiko and shredded nori for an extra umami richness. 

From left : Kewpie japanese mayo, Golden Dragon gourmet chinese cooking wine, Basso extra virgin olive oil, Ghee Hiang sesame oil, Himalaya rock salt and black pepper

A "dreamy" shot

And finally the unplated version...

Time to dig in!