真砂 · マサゴ · masago
Masago
Masago is capelin (smelt) roe — smaller, softer and cheaper than tobiko, and the roe most often substituted for it. Mild, faintly bitter, usually dyed orange.
- Also known as
- capelin roe, smelt roe
- Species
- Mallotus villosus (Capelin (smelt) roe)
- Category
- Roe & uni (gunkanmaki)
- Texture
- fine, soft — mild, faintly bitter
- Peak season
- —
- Sustainability
- varies — Capelin stocks are fished heavily for roe; status varies by fishery and year.
- Mercury
- Not in the FDA consumer table
- Pregnancy
- Eat in moderation
- Price tier
- $
What masago is
Masago is capelin roe — capelin being a small smelt of the cold North Atlantic and Pacific. The eggs are tiny and soft, mild with a faint bitterness, and almost always dyed (orange, green, black) to look the part.
The tobiko stand-in
Masago’s main role on a sushi menu is as the cheaper substitute for tobiko. It’s softer, finer and less crunchy. Many “tobiko” rolls are actually masago — not malicious so much as economical, but worth knowing. See ikura vs masago vs tobiko.
A sourcing note
Capelin is fished hard specifically for its roe, so sustainability varies year to year — one reason to care which roe you’re actually being served.
Related neta
Tobiko
Tobiko is flying-fish roe — the tiny, crunchy orange beads on the outside of rolls. Mild and smoky-sweet, and often tinted: wasabi green, squid-ink black, yuzu gold.
ikuraIkura
Ikura is salmon roe — large, glossy orange pearls that burst with briny richness, served as gunkanmaki. The name is borrowed from the Russian word for roe.