Autumn #16: Spaghetti Tacos?!?!? / 秋＃１６：アメリカ料理の波に乗る

Trendspotter The New York Times alerted the over-thirteen demographic to a new trend in October of this year: Spaghetti tacos. You may wonder about the wisdom of heeding both the Times and the whims of 'tweens. But it kind of sounds like fun. Right? Riiiight?
最近ニューヨークタイムズまで注目されたトレンドで、タコスにパスタ。子供のテレビ番組で冗談作られたス パゲッテイ入りタコスがアメリカの子たちに大人気！えええええっ？


The news reached me just as I was becoming fascinated with another child-geared food trend. After researching Kewpie mayonnaise for this experiment, I was haunted by Kewpie's advertisements for tarako pasta sauce. When it comes to advertising, I'm as impressionable as any child.
こ のニュースを読んだ時に、もう一つの子ども向き食トレンドに夢中だった。たらこパスタ！ 


It is probably a sign of my advancing age that I'm so fascinated by these childish whims. In any case, that is the outline of the backstory of what brought me to try my hand at tarako spaghetti tacos.
今晩のメニューの背景はこれで、チェル的なスパゲッテイ入りタコスを試してみよう！


Tarako is one of the many kinds of fish roe that greets the casual consumer at Japanese supermarkets. It is the roe of salted walleye pollack, to be specific (who named this fish?!?!??!). Once I was perusing my local market's roe selection, however, I was drawn instead to tobikko. Tobikko is the roe of flying fish, and it sure did look spry!
スーパーにいったら、たらこよりとびっこの方はおいしそうだった。それで、とびっこパスタタコス！

Lovely little bubbles of fishy saltiness.

おいしそうなとびっこ泡。

I set about making this cream sauce to pair with the tobikko, and drench my spaghetti in. I substituted hakusai for celery, sake for white wine, and shiso for dill, to make it a little more local.
とびっこに合わせるクリームソースを作り始まった。

A little less local is my undying devotion to avocados. I decided to crisp some up with batter usually used for making Japanese fried chicken. To the batter, I added some julienned shiso leaf.
アボカドから揚げも入れたらおいしーかなーと思って、しそと準備した。

These crisped up to look like this:

揚げたら：

The sauce started to simmer:

ソースは沸けば

And simmered:

沸くほど

And it was finally ready to be blended up and run through the sieve.

濃くておいしくなる！

In the meantime, pasta's boiling, and I'm rolling out fresh tortillas with a shochu bottle.

それで、タコスに使トルティーヤを作っている。

Rotating two pans and one pot of boiling water, watching that my toaster oven avocado don't burn... Childish as the inspiration may have been, this meal's preparation is certainly not for kids.
子ども向きの食べ物だが、パスタ、トルティーヤ、アボカド。。。今の台所に子どもは禁止！

Okay: Add tobikko to the cream. Sear some scallops, and get prepared to assemble the tacos.

クリームにといっこ。ホタテを焼いて、準備ができた。

 First: the tortilla.

まずはトルティーヤ。

Then, crispy avocado.

それで、アボカド唐揚げ。

Tobikko cream linguine.

With a garnish of sliced cucumber, topped with seared scallops...

キュウリ、ホタテ. . .

And, what the heck: more tobikko!

. . . ともっともっととびっこ！

And then, finally...

やっと、子どものように手でタコスをつかんで . . .

I let my inner child destroy the taco.

食う！

I read about it, but had to try it for myself. Happily, I report that my idiosyncratic and fishy version was a success.
成功！

Even without tortillas, the pasta with tobikko cream sauce stands up very well on its own.

トルティーヤがなっくても、とびっこクリームパスタでもおいしいね。

Ah, the joys of indulging in a little culinary innocence. The cream and carbs may shave years off of my life, but the taste sensations just added that much more wisdom to my tongue.

子どもに聞く必要あるね。ごちそうさま！