How to Prepare Live Sea Urchin

I scored a live sea urchin at HMart the other day and decided that it was time for me to rise up to the challenge of preparing live sea urchin.  I have seen the guy at the farmer's market do it, it seemed doable.  Turns out, it's very doable.

Step 1: Pick out a live sea urchin.

Step 2: Don a pair of gloves and find a pair of sturdy kitchen shears with a sharp point.

Step 3: Flip the sea urchin so that the closed opening side is up. That is the mouth.

Step 4: Carefully make a small crack near the mouth.  The shell will be hard, but is just about twice the thickness of an eggshell.  It won't take much to crack.  Cut a circle around the mouth to remove it.  

Step 5: Cut a slit in between each of the sections of golden uni tongues.

Step 6: Carefully peel off/cut away what if left of the top of the shell without nicking the uni tongues.

Step 7: Drain away the liquid inside.

Step 8: Carefully remove as much of the slimy black membrane as you could without nicking the uni tongues.  I tried using chopsticks for this, but it was too slippery.  Bare fingers work better.  Though it stains your fingers, a good scrubbing with some dish soap got most of it off.

Step 9: Use a spoon to carefully remove the uni tongues from the shell and peel away any remaining black membrane still stuck on the tongues. rinse under a gentle stream of cold water.

Step 10: Enjoy immediately.

Stuff this good is best treated with simplicity.

I opted for draping two tongues over sushi rice with strips of nori, a small Uni Don as my appetizer.  

The rest of the tongues, I made a simple Uni Pasta as my main course.

Uni Don

Uni Don

1/4 cup cooked sushi rice, slightly cooled

1 tbsp rice vinegar

pinch of sugar

2 tongues of uni

4 strips of nori

Mix the rice vinegar with the sugar in a bowl until dissolved.  Mix in sushi rice.  Top with uni and nori strips.

Uni Pasta

Uni Pasta

3 tongues of uni

1 tbsp olive oil

1 serving of hot, cooked linguine, fettuccine or spaghetti

1 tbsp of flat leaf parsley

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

sea salt, to taste

Whisk uni and olive oil together in a bowl until liquified and blended.  Toss in pasta, parsley, lemon juice and sea salt.

Steamed Pork with Tianjin Preserved Vegetables

Steamed Pork with Tianjin Preserved Vegetables

I was feeling nostalgic for some steamed pork with Tianjin preserved veggies and rice the other day.  Just a bit of Tianjin preserved veggies goes a long way.  The steps and most of the ingredients for this dish is the same as Steamed Pork Patty with Shrimp Paste, except for the shrimp paste.  Last time I spoke with my mom, she let me in on the secret.  Slamming the pork into a bowl for about a dozen times gives the finished product a nice "bounce" when you bite into it.

Steamed Pork with Tianjin Preserved Vegetables
1 lb ground pork
1/2 tbsp Tianjin preserved vegetables, fine chopped
1 stalk green onions/scallions, minced (green parts only)
Mix the pork and Tianjin preserved vegetables together and form into a ball.  Hold a metal bowl steady on the counter.  
As hard as you could, slam the mixture into the bowl. Repeat a dozen times.
Form the pork into a ball.  Flatten it into the bowl.  Set bowl in a pot of water that just reaches the bowl's half way point. Sprinkle the green onions over the top.  Cover and steam for about 30 minutes after the water starts boiling or until the meat is no longer pink. Serve over rice.