Masago substitute

Best substitute

Tobiko (flying fish roe)

Use the same amount by volume as the masago you are replacing

Best for spicy tuna

Different texture

Tobiko is the best substitute for masago and goes in measure for measure, with a bigger, crunchier bead and slightly less salt. Rinsed lumpfish caviar also works 1:1 and is cheaper and easier to find in a regular supermarket. If you need a pantry answer with no roe at all, use toasted sesame seeds one for one by volume plus a pinch of salt, which gives you crunch and colour but none of the brine.

Other masago substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Lumpfish caviar, rinsed
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume
The supermarket answer, sold in small jars next to the tinned fish rather than in the freezer.
What changes
Best for
sushi bake, canapes, deviled eggs, creamy dips, blini
Same tiny bead and a similar firm pop, but noticeably saltier, so taste your mix before adding soy or salt. It is dyed black or red and the dye bleeds, so rinse it in a fine sieve and drain it on kitchen paper or it will streak grey through mayonnaise and rice.
3Bleak roe or trout roe
Close match
Use the same amount by volume
Nordic bleak roe (lojrom) matches the size, and trout roe matches the colour and the sushi-counter look.
What changes
Best for
sushi bake, canapes, rice bowls, smoked fish plates
Bleak roe is very close in size and cleaner-tasting than masago, with less added sweetness. Trout roe is several times bigger, so it looks like small salmon roe rather than masago and bursts with oil instead of crunching. Both are more expensive.
4Salmon roe (ikura)
Taste and texture differ
Use about half the volume
The wrong scale but the right family, for when it is what the shop has.
What changes
Best for
sushi bake, poke bowls, rice bowls, canapes
Each bead is ten times the size of a masago egg and bursts into a mouthful of salty oil, so it dominates rather than seasoning the background. Halve the quantity, add it on top at the end rather than stirring it through, and do not chop it, which just makes a mess.
5Toasted sesame seeds plus a pinch of salt
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume, plus ¼ tsp soy sauce per tablespoon
The no-roe option, honest about what it does and does not do.
What changes
Best for
sushi bake, spicy tuna, rice bowls, vegetarian and vegan versions
It gives you the crunch and the flecked look, and the soy sauce covers the salt, but there is no brine and no marine flavour, and sesame is distinctly nutty and toasty. A sushi bake finished this way is genuinely good and genuinely different. Use black and white seeds together if colour matters.
6Furikake or finely crumbled toasted nori
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume
Salt, seaweed savouriness and speckled colour from a shaker in the cupboard.
What changes
Best for
sushi bake, rice bowls, onigiri, cold noodles
This covers the salinity and the sea flavour and none of the texture, since it softens the moment it hits anything wet. It is the right call when masago was there for background savouriness and the wrong call when the pop was the point. Many furikake blends contain bonito, so check the label if the dish must be fish-free.

What is Masago?

Masago is Masago is capelin roe, the tiny brine-cured eggs of a small smelt-family fish, usually seasoned and dyed bright orange and used as the fine-grained roe folded into spicy tuna and scattered over sushi bakes and rolls.

Cooking tips

Masago is already cured and salted, so treat it as a seasoning as much as a garnish. When you fold it into a spicy tuna or sushi bake mix, taste before you add soy sauce or salt, because the roe usually covers it.
Never heat it. Baked on top of a sushi bake for more than a couple of minutes, the eggs go chalky and dull and lose the pop entirely. Bake the base, then scatter the masago over the finished dish while it is still hot.
Drain the liquid that pools in the container before measuring, or your mayonnaise-based mix will loosen and slide off the rice.
It comes frozen and it does not survive a second freeze. Thaw the tub in the fridge overnight, keep it cold, and use it within a few days once it is open, after which it starts to taste tinny.
A tablespoon per serving is plenty. Masago works as punctuation, and piling it on flattens the tuna, the rice and the sauce underneath into one salty note.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between masago and tobiko?

They are different fish. Masago is capelin roe, smaller, softer, a little sweeter from the seasoning it is cured in, and cheaper. Tobiko is flying fish roe, bigger, firmer and genuinely crunchy, and it comes in orange, black, red and wasabi green. They substitute for each other one for one, and the only real difference in the finished dish is how much crunch you get.

Can I just leave masago out of a sushi bake?

Yes, and the dish still works, because masago is a garnish rather than a structural ingredient. What you lose is the salty pop and the orange colour, which means the bake tastes softer and slightly flatter. Add a splash more soy sauce or a light shake of furikake to put the salt back, and a scatter of toasted sesame for the texture.

Is masago vegetarian, and is there a plant-based version?

No, masago is fish roe. For a vegetarian or vegan version, toasted sesame seeds plus a little soy sauce give you the crunch and the salt, and finely chopped nori gives the sea flavour. Some shops sell seaweed-based vegan roe pearls made with agar, which nail the look and the pop but taste mild and slightly sweet rather than briny.

Can I use caviar instead of masago?

Inexpensive jarred roe like lumpfish or bleak roe is close enough to use one for one, as long as you rinse the dye off lumpfish first. Actual sturgeon caviar would work but it is a waste of money in a mayonnaise-based sushi bake, where its delicacy disappears completely.

Where do I buy masago?

The freezer section of any Japanese or Korean grocery, usually near the tobiko and the sushi supplies, and increasingly at large supermarkets with a sushi counter. If you cannot find it, ask at the sushi counter itself; many will sell you a small container.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Masago substitute

Other masago substitutes

2Lumpfish caviar, rinsed

3Bleak roe or trout roe

4Salmon roe (ikura)

5Toasted sesame seeds plus a pinch of salt

6Furikake or finely crumbled toasted nori