is the marinated roe

Roe

Roe or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins...

 of pollock

Pollock

Pollock is the common name used for either of the two species of marine fish in the Pollachius genus. Both P. pollachius and P. virens are commonly referred to as pollock. Other names for P...

, and is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine

Japanese cuisine

Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...

. Mentaiko originated from myeongran

Myeongran

In Korean cuisine Myeongran or Myeongran jeot is a jeotgal made with the roe of flathead mullet or pollock and seasoned with chili pepper powder. It is commonly served as a banchan, or small dish accompanying rice or as an ingredient for altang , a kind of jjigae...

 jeot (명란젓) of Korean cuisine and was introduced to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

. , a Busan

Busan

Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...

-born Japanese, adapted Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n mentaiko to Japanese tastes in Fukuoka in the 1950s. The name is derived from the Korean

Korean language

Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

 word for and the Japanese word for . The typical seasoning and flavor is slightly different in Japan.

Mentaiko is made in a variety of flavors and colors and is available at airports and main train stations.