Fresh out of the pod sea urchin roe
Fresh from Maine. Also got a masterclass in sea urchin cracking from Mike of Monahan’s Seafood. Apparently, most of the sea urchins harvested here and around the world are sold to sushi shop suppliers in Japan. So what we ate today is possibly the same sea urchin roe we’ve been eating at sushi places – before they were flown to Japan and back.
Oh man what a revelation to eat fresh fresh fresh sea urchin roe! It was rich deliciously rich, with a slight oceany flavor and a very intense sweetness. Never had it remotely close to this, not even at Tsukiji market.
We scarfed down half of our purchase for lunch – garnished the Japanese way w/ soy sauce and wasabi and/or with lá chua (sorrel) and rau răm (Vietnamese coriander).
Sea urchin with sorrel and Vietnamese coriander
We treated a friend to some fresh sea urchin roe for dinner that same day. He’s never had it before – what an introduction! Six hours later the sea urchins were still amazing, but already also noticeably different and more similar to what we’re used to getting from sushi shops. The intense sweetness was more subdued, while the scent of the sea was more prominent.
Lastly, my working translation for sea urchin into Vietnamese was bụi đời biển, but alas that’s not the real term for these things.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by C, Monahan's Seafood. Monahan's Seafood said: We often get fresh sea urchin roe from Maine (before it's all shipped off to Japan). Nice blog post on Rau om http://www.rauom.com/2010/12/06/fresh-sea-urchin/ #recipe [...]