Sea Urchin Roe on the Menu

Sea Urchin fresh from the sea

Our various sea side ramblings as detailed in my Seaside Harvest blog  also brought the plump and spiny Sea Urchin to our attention. The gonads, or sex organs, of this creature are what is eaten and in many cultures it is eaten with great gusto for supposed aphrodisiac qualities.

Removing the roe from the hard shell can be a challenge and we sought the assistance of You Tube for our tutorial.

Nutrition

Sea urchin roe

Sea urchin roe (uni) is a good source of energy, omega 3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, protein, minerals (such as zinc) and vitamins.
Calories                              172kcal/100g
Protein - total                         13.27/100g
Polyunsaturated fatty acids        1.75/100g
Omega 3 fatty acids                  1.07/100g
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)    0.79/100g
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)   0.04/100g
Zinc                                         17.00 ppm

       

Sea Urchin Sushi

Sushi assembly

Ingredients
1 large sea urchin (you only use the orange roe)
2 toasted nori sheets
1 cup sushi rice cooked to instructions

1 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tbs mirin
4 snow peas finely sliced long ways
handful of mustard greens (I used cress and mizuma)
slices of pickled sushi ginger
japanese soy
wasabi to taste
small daikon radish finely grated


 Method:

Lay your hot cooked sushi rice in a large tray and sprinkle the vinegar and mirin and allow to cool.

Remove the roe from the ocean fresh sea urchin (you can find videos on You Tube) rinse well and keep whole.

Assemble your other ingredients and place your nori sheets on a bamboo mat for rolling.

leaving the closest edge of the nori sheet for about an inch cover a third of the nori with sushi rice mix to approx 5mm of rice.
top the rice with slivers of snow peas
Mix together the wasabi and grated daikon. Place pieces of roe in a line across the rice and lay a line of the wasabi  mix on top

Place some greens on top and then a row of pickled ginger.

Time to roll your sushi. A small painting of ginger pickle juice on the far end of the nori will help seal the roll. Use the mat to roll up the sushi tightly and lie on the sealed edge to ensure a good seal. Slice each roll in half and each half into thirds.
Uni Sushi!

Use Japanese soy for dipping
Makes 2 rolls

Variation:

Uni Qushi
Sushi with quinoa

1 cup of cooked quinoa
1 teaspoon chia
1 teaspoons warm water
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
soak the chia in the warm water until a gel forms then strain
add the rice wine vinegar to the chia gel and blend then mix into the cooled quinoa to allow the quinoa to have the tackiness of sushi rice and use instead of sushi rice for a high protein variation and a delightful nutty flavour.

Pasta Riccio di Mare

Ingredients:
the roe of 2 sea urchins - uni
3 cloves garlic finely diced and mashed with a dash of course salt
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup cream
250gm porcine fetteccini (any pasta you like this is what we had handy)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp capers
1 tsp lumpfish caviar to serve

Method:
cook the pasta according to packet instructions and drain.
saute the garlic lightly in the butter, remove from the heat and add the uni and cream and whisk gently until a creamy sauce is achieved return pasta to the pot and combine.
serve with the capers and cavier as garnish and season.

Uni Butter

Ingredients:
the roe of 2 sea urchins - uni
125 gm butter

Method:
Allow the butter to soften at room temperature
Blend the uni into the butter and form into a roll with plastic wrap and place into te fridge until firm
unwrap and slice into coins.
Place onto a steak to dress surf and turf, onto a crayfish for a buttery finish, stir through pasta or let your imagination lead the way.

Preserving:
To preserve your harvest for future use then uni butter in plastic wrap in the freezer will keep for a month. Keep some handy for that dinner party to impress your guests.

Traditional and Magickal Sea Urchin Aspects

Sea Urchin teaches discernment and the art of understanding underlying circumstances. Her slow and methodical movements shows how to maneuver with tenacity and patience. Nothing is impossible when Urchin is guiding you. Monitor defense mechanisms. Do you have tough exterior and soft inside? Urchin will teach this balance of rough and tender. Evolution, metamorphosis and new developments are highlighted with Sea Urchin medicine. She teaches ways of extracting information out of the rubble of the mind and of day to day activities. Care of your feet, physical movement and grounding properties hallmark Urchin's meaning. Pay heed to the color of the Sea Urchin for this will aid in understanding.

bread of the fairies

Fossilised micraster coranguinum found in the UK made of chalk was once called "bread of the fairies" and was endowed with the capacity to te house wic has it never to miss out on bread.

In the south of England, fossil sea urchins are placed on the racks of the dairies to prevent milk from turning.

Sea urchins laid out rings some around a tomb were discovered in the area of London.


The druids thought that the sea urchins were eggs of snakes.
They could be stolen the day before of the middle of the summer but were to be preserved on a fabric to preserve their magic power. They protected their owner against the poisons and other vapors

Sea Urchin fossil

Local tribes of India name them "Khada of punchu" which means "the stone of the five".

In Jamaica a sea urchin "Eurhodia", found in abundance, is called " lucky stone ".

In Algeria also, sea urchins were found in a Neolithic site.

Seaside Harvests

Exploring our environment and finding forage bounty at every turn is a significant joy. I never fail to feel blessed by the coastal and rural offerings that can be found, feasts for the eyes, bursts of activity, tranquil moments, skillful pursuits and sheer delight in our surroundings.

Foraging and finding wild foods is an integral part of how we chose to live as Locavores. So far we have availed ourselves of some pretty amazing ingredients freely available allowing for regulations and lawful procurement of course. Always ensure you have the right advice and the full knowledge of licensing requirements, sanctuaries, bag limits, size limits and protected species before you start out and if in doubt ... don't take it.

Our Foraged and Fished Species to date

Dusky flatead

Flathead

Our first seafood harvest was a dusky flathead that was a complete and utter shock and awe moment for us all. I don't think you can go fishing expecting to catch anything and then when something this amount of awesome comes your way it always excites the fisherman. Fisheries NSW have limits on flathead such that minimum length is 36cm, with only 1 over 70cm allowed in a bag limit of 10. This one was 75cm and we only caught the one. Filleted, battered and deep fried a tasty treat for the family.

Sea Urchin

A favourite occupation and source of exercise and fun is scampering over the twisted and overturned rock strata that forms so much of our local coastline and spying the creatures that call it home. One such foray lead us straight to the crevasses that housed plump and spiny sea urchin. Returning home with all the thoughts of harvesting them lead us on a merry internet chase of what to do with a sea urchin.

Sea urchin

sea urchin roe

You Tube furnished us with many amusing How To's for opening and cleaning these gourmet creatures where the roe is the prized bounty from within a tough shell.
There is no size limit for sea urchin with a bag limit of 10 creatures each fisher.

We have included our sea urchin roe, or uni, in many a culinary adventure such as sushi, creamy pasta sauces and uni butter.

Abalone

 

Abalone

Snorkeling extended our forage range into the pristine waters around us and opened up a world of visual delight. This healthful pursuit with full body resistance workout included allowed us access to abalone as well as glimpses of crayfish and schools of trevally to encourage greater forays into our watery neighbourhood. With Fisheries NSW limits of minimum size 11.7cm with a bag limit of 2 each it still became a substantial meal component to sashimi, fried rice, BBQs or simply fried in garlic butter.

Cockles

Our beautiful shallow draft bay is full of oft neglected seafoods and with reference to our Mediterranean culinary experiences we were delighted to find cockles in vast numbers. These baby clams, or vongole, are plump and very tasty and easily found their way onto our menu.

Cockles

 

Cockle meats

We have never managed to take the whole Fisheries NSW bag limit of 50 clams each and only take as many as the night's menu requires.

Pasta fillings, potted clams, meaty sauces and smoked in salads are all ways we have served these wonderful seafood.

Potato cod

Some of the creatures we have caught or foraged for are not pretty, but awesome food is out there for the looking. Less known species that don't fulfil commercial needs and market quantity are none the less truly tasty and worth considering for our plates. Taking the initiative to make use of less commercial species takes the pressure off the fish stocks of these species and as long as we fish responsibly and within limits set out by our legislated bodies and only take what we need we can be a part of a thriving ecology and economy.