good uni?

[mako1]

I brought up an urchin last night. It's been on ice and then in the fridge till this morning.
Is it still good to eat? If so, how do I get to it, the roe?

[HDRich]

Juan,

If you iced them right away, they should be fine. I've done the same thing.

The urchin is radially symmetrical. That means round. It is 5 sided, as are all Echinoderms (starfish, urchins, brittle stars..). The mouth, 5 toothed, is on the bottom. This is the interesting part. Hold the urchin and force it to break open by putting your thumbs in the mouth and forcing the shell to break. Do this carefully or spines insert, things go flying and you lose roe. It may be necessary to use an iron or knife to carefully crack part of the shell, before pulling it open. It does increase the risk of mush though.

The roe are the 5 light yellow... well... roe.. that go from top to bottom on the inside of the shell. Carefully run the plastic spatula under the roe, along the inside of the shell, to loosen it. Roe is incredibly fragile and so you must try not to break it. If you break it into more than 2 pieces or smash it, toss the piece.

The trick to urchin is dealing with how delicate the roe is.

Get the intact pieces of roe into the plastic bowl. There will be other things with it, such as partly digested seaweed and plumbing for the urchin. This must be carefully removed. I use my fingers, but tweezers work well for this too.

When they are cleaned, it is important to give them a quick rinse in fresh water or they will not taste right. They should be well drained, especially if they are not to be eaten immediately.

[yakuza]

juan, its probably fresher than the uni they serve at Hokkaido!  Crack that sucker open along its diameter with the blunt end of a heavy knife and go to town

[BigJim]

I would think it is still good but aint no expert!!

Just turn it upside down and take your ab iron or hammer and tap out a hole in the bottom where the mouth parts are.

Make the hole big enough to get your fingers in, but tap it out delicately so you dont damage the uni sacks.

Turn upside down and pour out juice...you will see uni sacks along the walls inside and some other black stuff...pour some water in and rinse around to remove black gunk.

Use fingers/ab iron to seperate and get uni sacks out (there are five). Rinse gently off to get any other black goop off.

Get some wasabe and soy and a beer.

Eat.

Smile.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

[PISCEAN]

I don't know how you guys eat that stuff!

 

[Zee]

and you lose roe.

They're actually not roe but gonads.

it is important to give them a quick rinse in fresh water or they will not taste right.

I think this is a preference thing. I personally like 'em right out of the shell.


Z

[Sailfish]

Here you go...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGbwrIUEkgw&NR=1

[Lingless Pig]

good info!, i like how she goes back for that last giblet stuck on the strainer...

Can you get these in the albion bay?

[HDRich]

Zee,

You probably like natto too !!!

Rich

[DrHabanero]

Man I like the way she works. It looks like she has a kegerator right next to her while preparing. Now that is the way to do it...

[Zee]

You probably like natto too !!!

Natto is a little too footy for me. Reminds me of those funky foot cheeses. Uni's just gooooood.

Z

[mako1]

The uni was damn good! Me wants me some more.