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Ikura, and lots extra, on the Residence of Mr. Moto.
Picture: Kathryn Sheldon
Final week at Don Udon, a brand new noodle bar in Crown Heights, I slurped on bukkake udon — the dish had the identify first, for the document — that I drowned in chilled, seasoned dashi earlier than consuming. The chilly noodles had been thick and tense, and the broth, into which a finely grated mound of daikon radish dissolved into crunchy flecks, was crisp and salty. The brightest factor within the bowl was a scoop of glistening salmon roe on prime, flanked by sliced scallions and a lemon wedge. After the noodles had been gone, I chased down every remaining slippery orb with my chopsticks till none had been left.
I’ve been seeing plenty of salmon roe in eating places currently. Showy donburis fanned with snow crab and uni — just like the variations at Taberu Nomu in Chelsea and Ozakaya in Prospect Heights — are solely full with a beneficiant part of the orange spheres. It may additionally present up because the shock underneath a lidded cup of chawanmushi as a part of a $99 omakase the place one of many programs entails the chef dropping a scoop of marinated ikura onto items of nori in every visitor’s hand. And I’ve appreciated the roe in smaller parts, like on an $8 onigiri at Conohen in Mattress Stuy. This inclination to “put some eggs on it” goes past Japanese eating places, too. At Mango Bay in Fort Greene, the “ras & pasta” was topped with stracciatella, lobster, and roe, whereas at Pitt’s over in Pink Hook, the roe is swirled into sauce that’s spooned underneath a slab of peppercorn-crusted swordfish.
In a method, salmon roe is the proper ingredient for this second: Oily seafood has been having fun with a reputational glow-up, with new tinned-fish reviewers displaying up on TikTok every single day. On the similar time, margin-tight eating places have change into adept at pushing parts of caviar on all the pieces. Ikura meets these two traits within the center, providing the expertise of fish roe popping like salty gushers at a value somebody can spare for lunch. Or brunch.
At Ma dé in Nolita, chef Cedric Vongerichten reaches for trout roe — an efficient dupe for salmon — because the topping for French toast. Vongerichten says the salty, umami taste is appropriate with the pandan-infused custard’s savory, coconutty notes. He then dredges the soaked bread in cornstarch so it fries to a crisp golden brown on all sides. When Ma dé first began serving the dish, it was completed with correct caviar, however the swap to roe has made it a extra inexpensive choice, at the moment $20, and friends nonetheless have the selection to improve in the event that they’re feeling spendy.
French toast apart, the majority of New York ikura does present up on Japanese meals, however the precise ingredient usually comes from Alaska. “The normal market, in case you look again 40, 50, 60 years, has been export to Japan,” says Jim Erickson, the vice-president of Alaska Residence Pack in Juneau, “however we actually have seen a rising development domestically.” Immediately, the U.S. and Canada make up 70 p.c of his firm’s gross sales, in comparison with simply 20 p.c a decade in the past.
One other statistic that has elevated not too long ago is the variety of American guests to Japan — and other people posting movies of ikura piled onto rice till it overflows. Bowls mounted with uni, tuna, and a cascade of ikura flowing from the height had been the inspiration for the kaisendon at The Residence of Mr. Moto in Williamsburg, a homey offshoot of The Workplace of Mr. Moto. At The Residence, ikura is dished out in hefty 45 gram parts, and identical to at Tsujihan in Tokyo, once you’re practically accomplished along with your order, they prime the bowl off with broth comprised of the butchered fish bones to rework the final bites right into a porridge-like ochazuke, ikura bobbing throughout. Marinated with soy and mirin, the eggs season the seafood beneath with candy and savory pops because the beads scatter throughout the bowl, like sprinkles on a sundae.
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