10 Minute Meal – Mentaiko Pasta

1. Gather all the ingredients. I use an electric pot for this recipe and others in the 10-Minute Meal series. You also could use a regular saucepan on the stove.
2. Stack 3 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba), roll, and slice into thin strips. Set aside for garnish.
3. Cut ¼ sheet nori (dried laver seaweed) into thin strips 2 inches (5 cm) long. I used kitchen shears. Set aside for garnish.
4. Make a lengthwise slit in the membrane of 1 sac spicy salted pollock roe or cod roe (karashi mentaiko). Open the sac and scrape out the roe with a spoon. Discard the membrane.

To Cook

1. Add 2 cups water to a saucepan or electric pot and cover with a lid. Bring it to a boil on medium-high heat or Mode II (600W) on the electric pot.
2. When boiling, add ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Break 4 oz spaghetti in half (so that it fits in the pot) and add to the boiling water. Tip: You don't need to break the spaghetti in half if you're using a big enough pot that fits the noodles.
3. Make sure the pasta is submerged completely in the water. Cook, uncovered, for 11 minutes or until it's al dente.
4. After 11 minutes, turn off the heat. Hold back the spaghetti with the lid and drain the pasta cooking water into a sink or the measuring cup (to discard later).
5. Add ½ Tbsp unsalted butter, 1 Tbsp milk, and 1 Tbsp heavy (whipping) cream to the drained pasta in the pot.
6. Add ½ Tbsp soy sauce. Then, add the mentaiko.
7. Toss to combine until the butter is melted and the sauce evenly coats the pasta.

To Serve

1. Serve the mentaiko pasta on an individual plate. Top with the sliced shiso and shredded nori. Enjoy!

To Store

1. Unfortunately, this dish doesn‘t reheat well from leftovers since the mentaiko will overcook if reheated.