How do you extract roe from sea urchin?

Ahh, urchin roe otherwise known as uni, is a delicacy that most people have a tough time with. Some people love it and others gag with the mention of it. Most of my friend concure that uni is an acquired taste. If you've had bad experience with uni, I say that you have had bad experience with uni that is not fresh.

Fresh uni should have a grainy texture to it. If I can't see the texture of uni or looks melted, I don't eat the uni because I too have gagged over foul uni.

To extract the roe from urchins, I typically use kitchen scissors and cut around the mouth of the urchin. I then use a small spoon to carefully remove the roe. You can flip the urchin over and tap gently but I prefer the spoon or if you're handy with chopsticks, you can pick them out. Don't worry about all the black or brown parts that comes with the roe. I collect all the roe into a bowl. Once I have removed all the roe, I GENTLY wash the roe under running water.

What you do after that is magic. Here are some of my favorite ways of serving or eating uni.

If I have guests over after my dives, I'll serve the roe right back in the urchin shell while it is still moving around, letting my guest know exactly how fresh the uni is.

Another one of my favorites is to serve uni over rice in a small bowl and drizzle couple of drops of sesame oil and soy sauce. Just heaven!

My favorite is just by itself. I enjoy the salty sweet flavor of the uni.

I hope this has been helpful for those who are interseted in this delicacy.

Enjoy!!