Yield: Serves 1-2

How to Eat Uni Sea Urchin

Have you wondered, "What does uni taste like? or how to eat live sea urchin? Here's how to eat uni sea urchins a few different ways. Uni is a delicacy enjoyed in Japanese cuisine and Mediterranean, in different ways. Santa Barbara Sea Urchin is very popular in my hometown and all along the Pacific coast.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 large live purple sea urchin (Uni)
  • fresh lemon or lime wedge
  • hot sauce

Instructions

  1. 1. You may want to use gloves to protect your hands from the sea urchin's spines. Turn your live sea urchin upside down so that its mouth is facing up. Use kitchen shears to cut around and remove the mouth. A purple sea urchin is cracked in half and mouth removed on a wooden skewer.
  2. Use your shears to cut the sea urchin in half. Alternatively, you can use two spoons back-to-back to crack it right open.
  3. Let the water pour out of the urchin. You will notice a black goop inside, which is partially digested sea urchin food. Use a wooden skewer or chopstick to clean this out so that just the orange "meat" remains in the shell. A woman's hands separate live sea urchin halves.
  4. Use a spoon to carefully lift the uni from the shell. Add a squeeze of lemon and/or hot sauce to enjoy fresh and raw uni right out of the shell. Three sea urchin uni halves served in Santa Barbara.
  5. Alternatively, add pieces of raw fresh uni to small pieces of sushi rice to make uni sushi and serve right away with soy sauce. See notes for more serving suggestions for eating sea urchin. A sushi chef places a piece of uni sushi onto a slate board.

Notes

If you don't want to deal with opening and cleaning a sea urchin, you can buy trays of cleaned uni at fishmarkets.

What does Uni Taste Like?


Fresh uni should have a salty ocean water aroma, creamy custard-like texture, and sweet butterfly flavor.

Uni Recipes


Uni goes well with Japanese cuisine, or other seafood, especially Mediterranean pasta dishes and caviar.


1. Uni Sushi: Add fresh uni meat onto small pieces of rice to make nigiri sushi.

2. Sea Urchin Pasta: Add into seafood pasta or spread onto crostini for a Mediterranean take.

3. Uni Shooters: Place a piece of fresh uni meat into a glass and top with a little tequila and lime.

4. Uni Crostini: Place a piece of uni meat on a slice of toasted baguette and garnish with sliced chives.

5. Uni Don: Make a sea urchin rice bowl. Fill a bowl with one serving of rice and place the uni on top. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce, and any other toppings you'd like.

Thank you to Stephanie and Harry for educating me on Santa Barbara Uni at the Fishermen's Market!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 88Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 60mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 6g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your favorite calculator.

 

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