My trip to Singapore can only be described as a ceaseless series of surprises. I was surprised when I found out that Singapore has very cool shops at Haji lane that sell awesome souvenirs and collectibles such as Mario figurines, M&M themed mugs and lighters shaped like guns or the vending machines that squeeze fresh orange juice for its customers. Yet none of these surprises compared to what I encountered on the 3rd day of my trip.
I never could imagine eating fish roe and I have always felt an intense aversion to it especially when I would come across it while debonening my favorite char grilled Denise fish at any fish restaurant in Egypt. Yet, my exposure to Mentaiko led to a shift in my perspective. The first time I encountered this Japanese fish roe sauce was when my local friend took me to Japanese Curry Express, a small shop inside Fortune center, a shopping center. The restaurant only had four tables and they were all full but its known to be a quick dine in so we did not wait for a long time. My friend and I looked at the picture menu and then we used the available checklist to tick off the menu items we wanted and gave the checklist to the waitress. We ordered chicken curry katsu, prawn wontons and salmon mentaiko. I have had both katsu and wontons before so I was accustomed to their taste, yet I was not expecting the flavors of the Salmon Mentaiko.
The dish consisted of seared salmon, hence it is was not fully cooked, one side was crunchy and light pink while the other side was raw, soft, translucent and of a darker color. The salmon was atop sticky rice covered in delicious spices and atop the salmon and rice was the Mentaiko sauce made from the roe of a cod mixed with Japanese mayonnaise and ketchup. The sauce was the star of the dish, it was very creamy. I was very surprised when I discovered that it was fish roe and from that day on I had a new appreciation for fish roe as an ingredient.
Based on my experience with Mentaiko, I realized that Singapore thrives in its ability to transform any initially off-putting item of food into something inviting and appetizing. I had a discussion about this characteristic of Singapore with my local friend’s boyfriend. He highlighted how Singaporean locals excel at cooking certain food items in alternative ways to make them more inviting. For example, I told him how I cannot stand oysters as eating them feels like a having a live, jiggly piece of jelly covering the entirety of my tongue. He told me that there is a way I can have oysters without having to go through that experience because in Singapore, some shops fry oysters. I told him that I would genuinely try fried oysters because, to me, the texture of fried food and its dryness starkly contrasts with the slimy nature of oysters.
I believe Egypt can try to incorporate this technique of altering the original nature of its dishes to make them more appetizing especially to foreigners who may not be accustomed to certain ingredients or combinations of flavors. I believe they are already doing so. For example, Egypt is known to make fried brain sandwiches which I believe are more appealing than a boiled or steamed version. Small changes can truly make a big difference.
Egyptian Gastronome 