Howard Johnson wrote:
I did not realize that there were five lobes inside each urchin - I
looked this up because all the uni in the package I bought were at least
connected to one other lobe. Most still have milt or roe in them. I
was wondering if one should remove that and there is also a tendril that
connects the lobes that I have removed from the ones I've made so far
because it is dark colored and ruins the presentation. Do you really
have to rinse the uni before preparing it? That sounds to me like
washing mushrooms - you'll lose a lot of flavor. The way I've fixed
them so far is to cut a thin piece of Japanese cucumber put a tiny dab
of wasabi on it, put one uni lobe on top of that, garnish the top with
some thinly sliced negi, and put a drop of shoyu on top of that.
First the mushrooms, I use a small soft brush to clean mushrooms, be
they store bought or foraged (which I do.) Debunked or not, a dry, clean
mushroom will take a little water into the gills via capillary action.
That bit of water will 'wash' out the flavor and some mushrooms are more
susceptible than others. Think of not spinning the water off the lettuce
and making a salad with that.

Now the uni. All salt water animals contain sea water, duh. So if you
must rinse them at all, do it with sea water. If you can't use sea
water, then mix at least a tablespoon of salt (preferably iodized and/or
sea salt) in a gallon or less of sea water and rinse quickly. If you
still must use fresh water to rinse with, you will draw some 'sea water'
from the animal/vegetable and it will be replaced with the fresh water,
again 'washing' out the flavor.

We have a local channel here in downeast Maine where they have been
highlighting the Green Urchin, Strongylocentrotus drobachiensis,
hatchery that somebody set up. Also, showed an urchin auction. The
auction amounts to a box truck parked down at a convenient spot where
the fishermen meet with the buyers. Prices were noted at $2.25/lb. with
an expected rate of 10 to 25% with gametes/uni. One of the divers just
popped the mouth side of the urchin open and shook the uni into his palm
and sucked it right out of his hand. So, rinsing is optional.
Personally, I would rinse the urchin and never the roe.

And NEVER, EVER rinse with fresh water.

More later in an upcoming book, "But What the *uck Do I Know?"

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XX: Buddy