[class Echinoidea many orders, genera and species]
Sea urchins are a favorite food of sea otters and California spiny lobsters. Their reproductive organs are eaten by people, sometimes lightly cooked but most often raw, mostly in Japan, Korea, Chili and California sushi bars.
Sea urchins are highly destructive to our economically important kelp beds so it would be better if more people ate them. Perhaps they would be more popular if it were widely known that sea urchin reproductive organs contain cannabinoids. In Japan these organs are called "Uni" and in Chili they are called "erizo". Go to your local sushi bar and order Uni, the lobsters and sea otters can't handle them all without your help (yes, I like uni and order it often).
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Sea urchin is also served in Sicily under the name Ricci di mare. |
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©Andrew Grygus
- ajg@aaxnet.com - Linking and non-commercial use permitted
This is the form in which Uni is most often served in sushi bars: a lump of
rice with toasted seaweed (nori) wrapped around and the uni plunked on top.
It also often embelished with a raw quail egg broken over it. Yum!