About Myeongnan (Pollock Roe)

It usually refers to salted pollock roe (myeongnan-jeot).

In Japanese it is called mentaiko; in Chinese characters it is written as (明太子) .
'Ko' means children and 'mentai' means pollock.

Japan is known to make up about 90% of the pollock roe market, and Korea less than about 10%.
So many people think pollock roe originated in Japan, but it actually originated in Korea.
It has mostly been introduced under its Japanese name, and we hope the Korean name will be introduced too.

That is why Japan is also a major customer in the Alaska pollock roe market.

Every March, a pollock roe auction is held in Seattle.
Most of the buyers who come are Korean and Japanese.

Each seafood company displays samples in containers so buyers can see and touch them directly.

Buyers weigh them and check the color, freshness and more with their own eyes.

At the 2016 auction this sign was posted. When I went in 2023, the sign was no longer there.

They may look alike at a glance, but pollock roe is divided into grades.

Premium Deokhwa pollock roe is made from roe purchased from the top 10% grade.

We use good raw materials to make fresh, delicious products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOkSqw8ZvBQ

Looking at Deokhwa's production process, you can see it is made cleanly and with care.

Deokhwa is the only pollock roe maker in Korea producing with MSC certification, which makes it trustworthy.

MSC stands for Marine Stewardship Council; its certificate works like a traceability record for seafood and lets you trust the product.

Deokhwa puts MSC certification on all its products.