Directions

1. Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Heat a skillet on medium low. Add the butter. After the butter melts and bubbles, add the garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned (this should take only a minute or two).
   
2. Add dashi granules, water, sake, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring the sauce a simmer and lower the heat to maintain the simmer until it has reduced to about 1/4 cup, or to what looks appropriate to coat the pasta (err on the side of too much sauce since the pasta will absorb some). Keep the sauce warm on very low heat if the pasta will cook quickly, otherwise turn off heat and rewarm the sauce a couple of minutes before the pasta will be done. Don’t let the sauce completely dry out.
   
3. Cook the pasta for slightly less time then specified on the package directions. It should be slightly undercooked (more raw than “al dente”) when you drain it because it will cook more when it absorbs the sauce and also from residual heat even after it is plated.
   
4. Turn up the heat on the sauce to medium. Immediately after draining, mix the pasta with the warm sauce and a tablespoon or two of the starchy pasta water. There should be enough sauce to help prevent the noodles from sticking together but the noodles shouldn’t be swimming in sauce.
   
5. Turn off the heat. Quickly mix in the tobiko and lemon juice. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt if necessary. The lemon juice should give just a little bit of brightness to the pasta but it shouldn’t be enough to make a lemon flavor noticeable. The tobiko is best if it is not cooked much, so once it is mixed in, the pasta should be in the hot pan for as brief a time as possible.
   
6. Quickly swirl each portion of the pasta into a pretty spiral arrangement in the pan and transfer to warmed plate. Place a cluster of green onions on top of the finished pasta. Serve immediately. Diners should mix the green onions into their pasta as they eat.