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Sea UrchinsEasy
Fresh Sea Urchin (Uni) — How to Open & Eat
Prep: 10 minCook: 0 minServes: 2-4
Sea urchin — uni in Japanese — is one of the ocean's most prized delicacies. The bright orange-yellow roe has a sweet, briny, custard-like flavor that melts on your tongue. If you dive or snorkel the Florida coast, you've probably seen them clinging to rocks and reefs. Here's how to safely handle, open, and enjoy fresh sea urchin at its absolute best — raw, fresh, and uncomplicated.
Put on thick gloves or use a towel — sea urchin spines are sharp and brittle. Rinse urchins under cold water to remove sand and debris.
Place urchin upside down (the mouth side, where the small opening is, faces down). The top is the dome.
Insert kitchen shears into the mouth opening (the soft membrane on the bottom/flat side). Cut a circle around the mouth, about 1 inch diameter.
Pour out the dark liquid inside. Rinse gently with cold water to remove the dark innards.
Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the bright orange-yellow roe (uni). The roe comes in 5 petal-shaped strips attached to the inner shell.
Gently rinse roe in a bowl of ice-cold salt water (don't use fresh water — it ruins the texture). Pat very gently with a paper towel.
Serve uni immediately on a bed of crushed ice. Arrange roe lobes on a plate with lemon wedges, wasabi, and soy sauce.
Eat fresh — place a piece on your tongue, press against the roof of your mouth, and let it melt. The flavor is sweet, briny, and creamy.
Only eat the orange-yellow roe — everything else inside is discard. Fresh uni should smell like the ocean, not fishy. If it smells strong or has any dark discoloration, toss it. Eat within 2 hours of opening for peak flavor. Purple urchins (most common in Florida) yield smaller but sweeter roe than larger Pacific varieties. You can also serve uni on sushi rice as nigiri, or on toasted nori sheets. A squeeze of lemon is all it needs, but quality soy sauce and wasabi elevate it. Handle spines carefully — they break off in skin and are painful to remove. Sea urchin season in Florida is year-round but best in cooler months.
