Is Sea Urchin Delicious? A Full Guide to Its Fattest Season and Best Ways to Eat It

Although sea urchins look like hedgehogs, with hard spines on the outside, they are one of the seafoods many people love eating most in summer, and eating them regularly can strengthen bones, boost yang, and benefit the heart. So is sea urchin delicious? When is it fattest? How do you eat it so it tastes good?

Is it delicious?

Whether sea urchin is delicious depends on personal taste, but most people think it is.

Sea urchin can be eaten raw. Rinse the prepared roe clean with water, take half a lemon, squeeze the juice over the sea urchin roe, and eat it dipped in green mustard and soy sauce. To make delicious sea urchin sashimi dishes, sushi and fish roe rice are both good pairings, and salmon roe, scallops or sweet shrimp, as long as they come from Hokkaido, can likewise be paired with sea urchin; their relationship is as in tune as that of brothers. Sea urchin could be called the creature with the most “inner beauty”, hiding deep in the ocean, with layer upon layer of spines on its shell, looking like the food least like food. Who would have known that after cutting open that ugly spiny shell, it hides unparalleled deliciousness inside? If you had not tasted it yourself, it would truly be hard to believe. The plump, rich roe melts in the mouth, leaving a delicate, smooth, fresh, fragrant texture with a long-lasting aftertaste.

Of course, no matter which kind of sea urchin sashimi you eat, it must be fresh, paired with suitable seasonings, and after the mustard and soy sauce dressing has fully soaked into all sides of the sea urchin, put it carefully into your mouth, and you will immediately find it incomparably delicious. If you are not comfortable eating it raw, you can choose steamed egg and the like. If you are in the mood, you should still go to Hokkaido, Japan, not for romance, but simply for that rich and splendid sea urchin sashimi cuisine.

When is it fattest?

The sea urchins commonly seen on the market fall into three types: purple sea urchin, horse dung urchin and yellow sea urchin. Different varieties of sea urchin have obvious seasonality. Purple sea urchin rules in summer, and June to September is its most delicious period; horse dung urchin dominates in April and May; while yellow sea urchin favors winter, with December to April of the following year being the best time to taste it.

In appearance, the purple sea urchin is the largest, about the size of an adult's fist, averaging seven to eight liang in weight, and its spines are long, black and extremely hard, while the color of its roe is a little lighter, a yellowish brown. By comparison, the horse dung sea urchin has shorter spines, is light brown, and is flat in shape, at most no more than 3 liang each.

When eating sea urchin, the most important thing is the texture. Some people like the fresh, light taste of horse dung sea urchin, while others prefer the mellow richness of purple sea urchin; it is a matter of individual judgment. The texture of sea urchin is closely related to the waters in which it grows, which need little pollution, deep water and plenty of seaweed.

How do you eat it?

After washing the selected sea urchin clean, use scissors to pry open the black soft shell with radiating spines. The spines are not only the sea urchin's self-protective “bulletproof vest”, but also its breathing tool; a sea urchin that has absorbed enough water through its spines will sink to the bottom, and otherwise it floats to the surface.

Then use a spoon to dig out the yellow sea urchin roe inside the shell, which looks like orange segments, and remove the innards. This process requires careful, practiced movements. The sea urchin roe is arranged inside the sea urchin's body in a five-pointed star shape, with distinct grains, orange-yellow like small millet; no wonder sea urchin roe is also commonly called sea urchin yellow. Put the sea urchin into ice water with lemon and salt and soak for 10 minutes, then blot the water dry, and a refreshing, ready-to-eat sea urchin sashimi is freshly made.

Sea urchin sashimi has no bones and no sinews, and melts in the mouth. Put the sea urchin sashimi back into the black soft shell, then place the soft shell in a glass dish; because there is so little, it feels doubly precious. When eating, you need to pair it with suitable seasonings, and after the mustard and soy sauce dressing has fully soaked into all sides of the sea urchin sashimi, put it carefully into your mouth, and you will immediately find it incomparably delicious.