It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks since my last post. During that time, I took part in a weekend that included roasting a whole pig at a ranch in Sonoma were there was no cell reception or Internet access (gasp!). I cooked and photographed food for two cookbooks. And I’ve been floating between New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Despite a somewhat chaotic schedule, I managed to find some time to literally toss together this delicious karasumi pasta.
Karasumi is the Japanese equivalent of Bottarga. It’s made by curing the roe sac of mullet in salt over the span of a couple weeks. This dries out the roe, intensifying it’s flavors while preserving it. Back in the day, it was even thought of as poor man’s caviar. Once cured, it’s briny, and full of umami with a waxy texture that clings to your teeth.
Karasumi makes for a terrific canape and is consumed around the world with various accompaniments such as olive oil, garlic, and lemon. My favorite way of having it is sandwiched between two thin slices of daikon radish. The crisp peppery radish makes for the perfect foil to wrap up the salty amber slivers of shaved karasumi. It’s a combo that goes great with a glass of your favorite alcoholic beverage, but I wanted to turn these flavors into more than just a tapa.
Drawing some inspiration from the Sardinian classic, Spaghetti alla Bottarga, I decided to turn my karasumi daikon canape into a pasta. Rather than slicing the daikon, I grated it, which helps it incorporate into the pasta better. Since the daikon was relatively young and came with a beautiful green tuft of greens on top, sauteed them in olive oil and tossed them along with the pasta and karasumi.
It’s a rich decadent pasta that’s balanced out with a peppery sweetness coming from the grated daikon and a just a hint of bitterness from the daikon greens. If you can’t find young daikon with greens still attached, watercress would make a great substitute.
Units
Ingredients
- 220 grams spaghetti
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- daikon leaves (chopped)
- ⅓ cup daikon radish (grated and strained)
- 1 sac karasumi (grated on a microplane)
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in well salted water for slightly less than the package recommends (my pasta said 11 minutes, I cooked it for 10).
- After draining the pasta, put the hot pot back on the stove and add the olive oil.
- Add the grated daikon and leaves and sauté.
- Add the pasta and toss to coat evenly while adding the bottarga a little bit at a time. Plate and serve with some additional grated bottarga on top of the pasta.
Marilia says
What an interesting pasta dish and creative! 🙂 I’m excited to hear about this cookbook but I’m sure it was nice as a breather to be away from technology for a while. x
Jackie says
Mhm, looks gorgeous! And you have been a busy bee, Marc. Very excited to see the fruits of your labours, soon =)
Jax x
Martha says
It sure looks delicious! I also love the healthy ingredients. Very tasty recipe. Thanks!
Amychien says
Amazing! My grandma is always giving me karasumi and I usually just eat it toasted, thinly sliced with some green onions, I never knew you could make stuff with it! I will try this immediately!
Nataliewheeless says
Is this an actual traditional Asian food??
Marc Matsumoto says
It depends on what you consider traditional. Karasumi and daikon are a pairing that have been around for a long time in Japan. Italian pasta is a relatively recent (last 50 years) thing here, but combining roe with pasta (such as mentai spaghetti) is pretty old.
floridaharvest says
Difficult ingredient to come by.
Marc Matsumoto says
I’m guessing by your name that you live in Florida. There’s a guy somewhere in Florida that makes Karasumi and sells it under the Italian name Bottarga. You can also try looking in an Italian specialty foods store.