Salted pollock roe is a popular culinary ingredient in Korean, Japanese, and Russian cuisines.

[1][2][3] As aforementioned, Alaska pollock in Korean is myeongtae (Korean: 명태; Hanja: 明太), hence pollock roe is myeongnan (명란; 明卵), a contracted form of the compound with +ran or +nan (란,卵) meaning "egg (roe)".

[8] [9] [10][11][12][13][14] Toshio Kawahara (川原 俊夫, Kawahara Toshio), who was born in the city of Busan, Korea during the Japanese occupation, founded the oldest mentaiko company in Japan called "Aji no Mentaiko Fukuya" (ja:ふくや) after World War II.

Myeongnan-jeot, whether raw, dried, and/or cooked, is a common banchan (side dish) and anju (food served with alcoholic beverages).

Milder version is called tarako (鱈子), Recently in Japan, mentaiko pasta has become common.

Mentaiko was nominated as Japan's number one side dish in the Japanese weekly magazine, Shūkan Bunshun.

[15] Tarako is served in a number of ways: plain (usually for breakfast),[16] as a filling for onigiri, and as a pasta sauce (usually with nori).

Traditionally, tarako was dyed bright red, but recent concerns about the safety of food coloring have all but eliminated that custom.

The product, resembling liquid paste due to the small size of eggs and oil added, is sold as canned food.