How to Eat Sea Urchins

Preparing the Urchin

Buy a live sea urchin that smells fresh. Sea urchins are sold live because they decay very quickly after they die. Like with other fish, the best indicator for freshness is smell. If the urchin smells fishy or pungent, then it isn't fresh, so don't buy it. Get one that doesn't have a strong smell, and check to see if the spines are moving slightly. This all means the urchin is alive and fresh. If you're diving for sea urchins, looks for ones that are green, red, or purple. Black sea urchins aren't edible.

Put gloves on so you don’t get stung. Sea urchins are venomous and getting stung by a sea urchin can lead to disastrous consequences. Always put on a pair of thick gloves to protect your hands before handling the urchins. If you don’t have gloves, you can also wrap the urchin in a towel. Some people handle sea urchins without gloves because you have to press down hard to get stung. Still, this could be dangerous.

Cut around the base of the urchin with scissors. First flip the urchin upside down. You’ll be able to tell because there is a small mouth on the bottom. Then take scissors and cut all around the base of the urchin. Lift this part off to expose the edible innards. Some people also just cut around the urchin mouth with a knife. You could also do this, but you’ll need to dig your finger inside to get the edible parts out. The spines on the urchin might fall off while you’re cutting, so do this over a sink or towel.

Drain all of the liquid out of the urchin. The urchin is full of dark liquid and seawater. Hold it over a sink or bowl and flip it upside down to drain all of this out.

Scrape off the orange innards inside the shell. When you open up the urchin, you’ll see 5 orange, tongue-like structures. These are the gonads, or the urchin's sexual organs. They’re the edible parts of the sea urchin. Take a spoon and scrape each one out. The gonads are also called roe, though this isn't technically correct because roe refers to a mass of eggs inside a fish. The gonads are the only edible parts of the urchin, so don't eat anything else inside the shell. If the gonads are brown, then the sea urchin is spoiled, so don’t eat them.

Rinse off the roe in salt water. As you scoop the roe out, transfer them into a bowl of salt water. Rinse them off in the bowl to get rid of any brown residue from inside the urchin. If there are still brown pieces left on the roe, you can wipe or pick them off with tweezers.

Keep the urchins chilled until you’re ready to eat them. If you’re not going to eat the urchins right away, then make sure you keep them cold until you do. Put them on ice or in the refrigerator so they don’t spoil. When storing the urchins on ice, make sure to use a perforated pan, strainer, or rack inside of a standard pan, bowl or another container so that the water runs off as the ice melts. You never want fresh seafood "swimming" in melted ice water. Urchin starts spoiling quickly, so chefs recommend eating them right away instead of leaving them out, even if they’re chilled.

Tasting the Sea Urchins

Snack on the urchin raw right out of the shell. This is the most popular way to eat urchin, and it’s what most chefs recommend. When the roe is all cleaned, then just pop the pieces in your mouth and enjoy the sweet, buttery flavor. Uni is a popular appetizer and is often served raw and plain like this.

Dip it in some soy sauce for more flavor. If you think the uni needs a bit more flavor or you think it’s too fishy, then some soy sauce is a common addition. Pour a bit into a small bowl and dip the uni before eating it. You could also squeeze some lemon juice over it if you prefer that flavor.

Put the uni on a piece of bread with butter. If the idea of eating uni plain doesn’t appeal to you, then this is a good choice. Simply take a roe piece and lay it onto bread or toast. If you want to complement the uni’s buttery flavor, add some butter as well. You could also top a cracker with a piece of uni.

Top rice with some uni for a traditional dish. This is a common way to eat uni in Japan. Simply add some uni pieces to a bowl of rice and enjoy. You could also wrap the uni in rice and seaweed for your very own homemade sushi.

Add the uni to a pasta dish. Uni is a common addition to pasta dishes because of its creamy flavor and texture. The most common way to use it is as a garnish at the end, preferably on pasta with creamy sauces. You can slice it up and sprinkle it on, or place a piece on whole. You can also grind the uni into creamy sauces and top your pasta with this.

Scramble the uni into eggs. This is another common snack with uni. You can either chop the uni up and sprinkle it into your eggs, or garnish your eggs with a whole piece.

Thicken sauces and soups with uni. Uni can also be an emulsifier to thicken sauces and add a unique flavor. Simply grind up the uni in a food processor and mix it in with soups or sauces. You could add the ground uni to barbecue sauces and season meat with it before cooking.

Pair the uni with alcohol to complement the taste. It’s customary to sip on an alcoholic drink while you’re eating uni, especially if it’s raw. Wine or liquor tend to complement the flavor best, so feel free to have a drink with your meal. In Japan, sake is the main drink to have with uni. The Greek drink ouzo, an anise-flavored liquor, is also common.