Mentaiko is the salted, chilli-marinated roe of Alaska pollock — a soft, coral-to-crimson sac packed with countless tiny eggs, a cornerstone of Japanese and Korean cooking. Its plainer, un-spiced sibling is tarako, the same pollock roe cured in salt alone; add the chilli marinade and it becomes mentaiko (in Korean, myeongnan-jeot). Where cured roe like bottarga is pressed hard and dry, mentaiko stays soft and creamy: the fine granular eggs burst in a wave of salty, deeply umami, gently spicy brine, faintly sweet and marine. It is scraped from its membrane and tossed through hot spaghetti (mentaiko pasta), stuffed into grilled or raw onigiri rice balls, spread on toast, or served in a whole lobe alongside rice and pickles — a little going a long way as a rich, savoury seasoning. Sold as soft pink sacs, usually in matching pairs, it is one of the defining flavours of the Hakata region of Fukuoka, where spicy mentaiko is a signature local speciality and souvenir.