Home-made Ikura (Marinated Salmon Roe) is a traditional Japanese recipe for a garnish of salmon eggs with kombu in a seasoned dashi base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Japanese version of: Marinated Salmon Roe (Home-made Ikura).
Open the egg sack of salmon roe by hand (do not use a knife) and place it in a large heatproof bowl. Gently massage to help loosen the roe, and remove what you can from the membrane. (Don't worry about removing all of them at this point.)
Pour 1l water into a pot and add 1 tsp salt. Mix and heat until it reaches 70°C.
Pour the hot water over the salmon roe and separate the roe from the membrane using chopsticks, removing the membrane as you go.
Once you've removed all of the membrane and separated all of the eggs, pour the contents of the bowl through a sieve to drain. Fill the bowl with cold water and gently wash the roe to remove any leftover debris. Drain and repeat until clean.
Drain once more in a sieve, then and set the sieve of roe over an empty bowl. Sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and shake to evenly distribute it through the roe. Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and store in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Whilst you wait, prepare the marinade. Combine 60ml sake and 30ml mirin to a saucepan and boil for 30 seconds to evaporate away the alcohol.
Pour the sake and mirin mixture into a container and add 45ml dashi stock, 30ml Japanese light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu) and 3g dried kelp (kombu). Set aside to cool completely before adding the roe.
Transfer the roe to the marinade, making sure that all the eggs are submerged. Cover with a lid and marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
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