Salmon Mentai-don is a delicious, savoury, creamy rice dish topped with aburi (flame seared) salmon and a creamy mayonnaise mixed with fish roe (tobiko) or shrimp roe (ebiko). It’s a cheat version of a mentaiko don made with just handful ingredients.

Mentaiko is cod roe that’s that’s brined whole. It’s often salty but packed with umami flavour. However, it is not that easily accessed to. This particular mentai-don, is a popular dish in cheaper Japanese restaurants here in KL and you’d find this style in rice bowls and on sushi rolls. It’s a mixture of mayonnaise and tobiko / ebiko, then burnt using the blow torch. If you don’t have a blowtorch, a toaster oven will work too. It isn’t necessarily an authentic Japanese Dish, but a rather popular one in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

For this Salmon Mentai Don, it’s made by blow torching marinated salmon pieces, then topped with a creamy mentai mix that consist of mayonnaise, tobiko, ketchup and chili sauce, then blow torched again. It’s quick to put together and it can be done on any protein, including tamagoyaki (Japanese Rolled Omelette) or even sushi rolls.
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE SALMON MENTAI DON
- Salmon, or Trout. Either fish is fine. If you can get salmon belly that’s pre-cut to slices, it would make the dish more creamy. It does not have to be Sashimi grade as they would still be blow torched on both sides, but if you feel more comfortable eating it, sashimi grade would give a better texture. You can also choose to remove the skin to make crispy salmon skin by the side as eating it just torched, doesn’t give it the best experience.
- Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise. They key to making mentai is Japanese mayonnaise as it is made from egg yolk and is sweeter and slighly more tangy than regular mayonnaise.
- Tobiko. Tobiko is fish roe and it’s usually very small and you can purchase it in the Japanese frozen section. Thaw and use it together with the mayonnaise to mimic mentaiko.
- Chili Sauce and Ketchup. This will make the colour of this mentai sauce. You can use ketchup, chili sauce, sriracha or any hot sauce you prefer to make it spicy.
- Fish Marinade. To make the fish more flavourful, it can be marinated in soy sauce and mirin.
TOOLS TO MAKE “ABURI”
- Aburi means to flame sear using direct fire. It toasts up the top surface giving it a charred flavour while leaving the inner part of the fish semi-cooked. You will need a blow torch for this. If you do not have, you can put it very quickly in a hot oven to char it.




Salmon Mentai Don
Equipment
- Blow Torch
Ingredients
- 300-350 g salmon or trout fillet
- 1 tbsp kikkoman soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp mirin
- pinch of salt
- 2 bowls cooked rice
Crispy Salmon Skin
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp oil for frying
Mentai Sauce
- 2 tbsp tobiko (fish roe)
- 3-4 tbsp kewpie mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp hot or chili sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
Instructions
- First, remove the fish skin. Set fish skin aside. Slice salmon thinly about 0.5-1 cm thick. Place them in a bowl and add in soy sauce and mirin to marinade while you prepare the rest.
- To make the Mentai Sauce, mix everything together, if you want spicy, just add more hot sauce, or none.
- With the fish skin, coat both sides with rice flour, salt and pepper mix. Lightly fry skin side down first and then the other side till it's crispy. Let its excess oil drain on a paper towel.
- To make aburi salmon, lay salmon on a flat surface that is flame-proof. Using the blow torch, sear until the colour changes to opaque. Then flip to the other side, repeat. IF using sashimi grade salmon, you can skip this step if you wish to.
- Divide and place aburi salmon on top of rice. Pour half of the mentai sauce for each bowl. Cover the top of aburi salmon. Using the blow torch again, sear the surface of the mentai sauce. You will hear crackling from the tobiko. Sear till it looks charred.
- Break crispy salmon skin and sprinkle over the top of the rice and top with extra tobiko
Did you try this dish?
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