Remove the mentaiko from the casing. Slice the onion into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. If using green onion for garnish, slice it thinly.

Cut the bacon into 1/4 inch strips. (You can also use ground meat or sausage instead of bacon if you prefer.)

In a saucepan, add the flour and gradually whisk in the milk until smooth with no lumps. Add the butter and cook over low heat, stirring, until thickened.

The sauce will get quite thick. Add a little more milk as needed to adjust the consistency, then let it cool. (I added about 3 tbsp/50 ml more milk.)

Once the sauce has cooled slightly, add the mentaiko and mix well. Your mentaiko cream sauce is ready! Adjust the amount of mentaiko to taste.

Heat a small amount of oil (not listed in ingredients) in a frying pan. Add the garlic and bacon and sauté, then add the butter and onion and cook until the onion is soft.

Add the rice and season with salt and pepper. Be careful not to over-salt, since you’ll be adding sauce later. (I like to use plenty of pepper!)

Heat oil in the pan over medium heat. Pour in 2 well-beaten eggs and quickly stir 2–3 times, then add the rice on top. Work quickly from here!

Shake or tap the pan to wrap the rice with the egg. You can also use a spatula to flip it over if that’s easier.

Transfer to a plate, pour the mentaiko cream sauce over the top, and garnish with green onion and chopped nori if you like.

For the photo at the top, I simply sprinkled dried parsley on top.