Skip expensive caviar for sushi-style tobiko in this festive New Year’s Eve recipe from Eric Kim.
Eric Kim cooked (and ate!) pounds of spaghetti over multiple midnights to perfect this holiday recipe.
Torpedo-shaped with large pectoral fins that look like wings, the majestic flying fish can propel itself out of the water and into the air, gliding across short distances to avoid predators.
You may be familiar with this fish’s eggs: tobiko. Delightfully briny and slightly sweet, the small, crunchy orange roe can be found coating a California roll or seasoning a mixture of spicy tuna. Typically preserved with salt, tobiko also comes in other hues and flavors depending on how it’s cured: red from beetroot, yellow from yuzu, black from squid ink or green from wasabi.
Recipe: Tobiko Pasta
At Mr. Tuna, a sushi restaurant in Portland, Maine, the most popular menu item is a seafood roll topped with tempura flakes, scallions and a bed of shiny red tobiko. The chef Jordan Rubin said he likes the subtlety of red tobiko, not to mention the way it delivers “a nice clean fish flavor.” He piles it generously on top of the roll, so it’s “in your face,” rather than a decorative afterthought.
This is tobiko’s dilemma — and that of most sparkly, pretty things in the world: Its beauty often eclipses its function. Unless you’re ordering tobiko nigiri from a sushi menu, it can be easy to take for granted. Until you try cooking with it yourself.
Even better, tobiko is a fraction of the price of caviar, so you can have your roe at home and eat it, too. Many cooks, particularly in Japanese and Korean households, use flying fish roe in all kinds of creative ways that highlight its vibrant salinity: on top of a bowl of rice, stirred into mayonnaise and baked onto mussels, bejeweling a plate of creamy pasta.
When you’re craving the dynamic taste of the seaside, this speedy wafu, or Japanese-style, tobiko pasta hits the spot. In just 20 minutes, you can line your guests’ stomachs and ring out the old with a festive meal, glass of Champagne in hand. As with most pasta, this tastes especially great at midnight.
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