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It’s full moon and I’m eating the genitals of a spiny beast. Not a hedgehog or a porcupine, but a sea urchin.
They have been winking at me for months now and at it’s $7.50 a kilo it is time to try them and bliss out on the anandamines contained within.
First I cut out their mouths. I should work my clumsy fingers around inside of the shells to free the roe. But as I said they are clumsy and also too fat to squeeze in the narrow hole left. Instead I use the blunt narrow end of a teaspoon.
Turning the pincushions upside down I shake the leaf shaped roe free and wash off the guts and gore.
Tonight I fry them in butter for a few minutes and serve them on slices of fresh cornbread with a squeeze of lemon and some cracked pepper.
The roe smells strong, not too fishy and also of rich rotting organic matter. The texture is gelatinous and too much for Jak. But the flavour is excellent although difficult to describe.
Eating these you can see what the Japanese are doing making a custard with it. Call it an oriental spin on Taramasalata. But that recipe will have to wait a moon or two.
Sea urchin roe or genitals
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Oral sex at the dinner table? No, no, no!!!
Wow Ed - pretty exotic stuff. I thought both ends of the teaspoon were blunt.
Neil, Yes, yes yes
DrReb, narrow and blunt all in one teaspoon.
yum yum yum. we love our sea urchin raw, though, placed lovingly on top of pillows of sushi rice and enveloped in nori (battleship sushi-style).
never tried it cooked. i think i lump them with oysters: best served raw
Helen, the first of many sea urchin experiments.I’ll try raw but really want to try the custard too. I think the strong flavour lends itself to that. jak is still complaining about the smell.
I love Uni
I search all over melbourne looing for them. lol
they look so delicious.
Do u mind to tell me where you bought the sea urchin?
Jenny, it’s at Prahran market and it is quite common to find it there – not just full moon. I bought mine at Theos which is in the meat and fish hall near the café on the side that all the meat stalls are. Prahran seafoods. opposite Theos, has them regulalrly. $7.50 a kilo which seems a bargain.