February 2006
Shida
by Celia Cheng
MULLET ROE
served on sliced
white radish
Mullet roe is a must-have dish in the Taiwanese celebration of Chinese New Year. It is believed that eating mullet roe on New Year’s Eve is propitious and will bring good fortune for the coming year. The southern coastline of Taiwan is famous for its production of mullet roe — a Japanese favorite since it is extremely expensive in Japan and the Taiwanese productions are tastier. Mullet roe is processed by sun drying and then curing before reshaping and packaging. Since it is rather salty, it is an ideal dish to have as a snack with alcohol. At Shida’s, he seared the mullet roe just enough so that the outside tasted a little smoky, then arranged the mullet roe pieces on slices of white radish. The white radish acts as a cooling and refreshing agent to balance the saltiness of the mullet roe. This was the perfect start to dinner paired with Japanese sake. What a nice way to ease into a new year!
