Mullet Roe Recipe

Salty Mullet Roe Recipe

Today I’m going to show you how to make a simple Italian dish that uses a Korean ingredient.

I’m always a fan of delicious food which blends cultures, and this pasta dish does just that. Because this dish has crossed so many cultures, you may recognize it by another name. But I’ll stop teasing you now. 

Today I’m going to show you how to make Karadumi with spaghetti. Karasumi is also known as bottarga, izakaya, eoran, avgotaraho, poutarge and butarge. Most commonly, in the United States, Karadumi is known as mullet roe. 

With so many names and so many cultures, I wouldn’t be surprised if you disagree when I say this is a Korean ingredient. So many cultures use fish roe that maybe saying one country did it first would be incorrect.

So to make this dish seem more Korean, I suggest we wash it down with some Anji or Soju to really feel the Korean flavors.

What Is Karasumi?

Karasumi is a roe sac of a fish. If you’re squeamish, don’t read the following sentence. A roe sac is where the fish eggs are held, so karasumi is the whole sac of fish eggs that have been salted and compressed or massaged to eliminate any air pockets.

The lack of air pockets creates the mullet shape, which makes the fish roe fill with flavor, and it also makes the roe easier to cook with.

The best karasumi is thinly sliced and drizzled with either soy sauce or lemon juice. I’m going to be drizzling with lemon juice to create a light and summer flavor, but soy sauce would work just as well!

There is no time to waste! Let’s get cooking!

Karasumi Spaghetti With Salted Lemon – Recipe

Serving SizeServes 4
Cooking Time30 Minutes

Ingredients:

  • Karasumi (Mullet Roe) – 2 oz – Thinly sliced
  • Spaghetti – 13 oz
  • Shallot – 1 – Minced
  • Lemons – 2
  • Unsalted Butter – 1 ⅓ Stick – Kept at room temperature
  • Dry White Wine – ⅔  Cups
  • Chives – To serve – Chopped
  • Salt – To taste

Method:

  1. Peel the lemons and keep the rinds to one side.
  2. Juice the lemons into a small saucepan.
  3. Heat the lemons and let them boil.
  4. Add a pinch of salt.
  5. Add the rinds.
  6. Cook for 10 minutes.
  7. Strain the rinds and let them cool. Do not discard the rinds or the lemon juice.
  8. Keep the lemon juice to one side.
  9. When the rinds are cool enough, cut them into small strips.
  10. Boil the wine.
  11. Add 1 Tbsp of the reserved lemon juice and the shallots.
  12. Mix together.
  13. Let them boil together for 1 minute.
  14. Remove from the heat.
  15. Add the butter and stir until it melts.
  16. Taste the sauce and add more salt if it is needed.
  17. Let the sauce cool.
  18. Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water.
  19. Strain the spaghetti when cooked.
  20. Add in the sauce, karasumi and mix them together.
  21. Serve with the chives sprinkled on top.
  22. Offer the reserved juice for extra acidity.

It might seem strange not to cook the karasumi, but remember that it has already been pickled or cured, so it’s safe to eat as it is. For the best flavor, I recommend that this dish is served lukewarm. 

A Brief History of Karasumi

So many cultures have their own version of Karasumi, and it is thought that the dish was transferred along the Silk Road. The Silk Road is a passage of trade from the far east to the west, traveling from China to Korea to Japan and eventually to the west.

How to Store Karasumi

For food to last so long on the travels through the Silk Road, the sailors would have to have chosen ingredients that wouldn’t decay for a long time. That’s one reason why Karasumi was such a prized choice. It basically can keep for months and months on end.

Once the packaging has been opened and you’ve used some mullet roe to slice over your pasta dish, the rest of the Karasumi can be placed in the refrigerator. It will last for months more.

How To Prepare Karasumi

There is a membrane that coats the mullet roe, which is called the pellicle. You will recognize it from the papery texture.

You don’t need to remove this membrane, and it is entirely edible, but some people like their Karasumi without the pellicle because it can get stuck in their teeth.

Some people like to grate the pellicle over the meal which has the karasumi in it. I would highly recommend doing this because it can add a bit more flavor to your overall meal. 

What Does Mullet Roe Taste Like?

Bottarga, mullet roe, karasumi, or whatever name you prefer to use has a fishy taste, like caviar or uni. The fishy taste is subtle, but the salty flavor is the star of the show.

If you want the dish you are making to taste more fishy, you can always slice or grate more of the roe onto your plate. I recommended keeping some grated roe on the side just for this reason.

What Is The Difference Between Roe And Caviar?

Technically, all fish eggs are considered to be “Roe,” but only fish eggs that come from the family Acipenseridae can be called “caviar.” Acipenseridae are sturgeon fish like Belugar, Bester and Kaluga. 

Caviar is basically a type of roe, which are often farmed to be loose and not packed like a mullet. They are salt-cured and served as a side dish rather than an ingredient to a main.

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