Free Web NovelChapter 214: Chapter 171: Sea Urchin Buffet, Highly Poisonous Grouper
As he got closer, he noticed that the sea urchins weren’t just black; some were purple, and they varied in size.
He couldn’t tell what species the black ones were, since most sea urchins are that color. However, he could be fairly certain the purple ones were Purple Sea Urchins.
According to his prior research, the Central American sea urchin was the most popular variety in Panama. It was known for its extremely delicious flavor and plump meat, with a black or dark brown shell featuring white, orange, or red spots and stripes, making it a very conspicuous species.
The black ones in front of him were clearly not that.
The cold winter months are when sea urchins are at their most delicious. Although the temperature doesn’t drop in tropical regions, this rule still holds true.
Data showed that Purple Sea Urchins weren’t as popular as the Central American variety, but they still ranked a close second. For someone in his position, he was in no position to be picky.
’The tide hasn’t fully receded yet, anyway. I’ll open a few and try them first.’
He bent down and casually picked up a Purple Sea Urchin, gently chopping off some of the sharp spines on its surface so he could get a grip on it.
He located the urchin’s mouth on the bottom—a circular depression. He poked the tip of his knife in and gave it a gentle pry, and the brittle, cookie-like shell cracked open with ease.
After removing a ring of the hard shell, he could see the five lobes of uni hidden inside, surrounded by a lot of black gunk—the sea urchin’s digestive tract.
"Hey everyone, look. The uni in this Purple Sea Urchin is a pale yellow. Against the purple shell, it almost looks white. It’s not as enticing as the golden-yellow or orange uni you get at Japanese restaurants."
"But that’s okay, Purple Sea Urchins taste great too. Before you eat it, you need to open the shell up a bit more, enough to expose some of the uni to make it easier to work with. That’s because you have to clean out all the extra black membrane inside before it’s edible."
Using the tip of his knife, he carefully cut away the hard shell pressed against the uni, bit by bit, trying his best not to break it.
But the blade was too sharp, and it was easy to accidentally slice through both the shell and the uni.
"There are special metal tweezers for cleaning sea urchins, but all I have is this, so you’ll all have to bear with me."
He gave a helpless smile. After dealing with the hard shell, he scraped off all the black membrane surrounding the five lobes of uni and placed the cleaned urchins on a rock.
After opening five Purple Sea Urchins in a row, he carried his haul over to a small, water-filled hollow, scooped up some seawater, and rinsed the gunk out of the shells.
With the unsightly black membrane gone, only the five tempting lobes of uni remained in the shell. They looked much more appetizing.
Just as the guides had said, the uni this season was plump and full, trembling slightly. It was nothing like the flat, small uni of summer, which didn’t look very appetizing at all.
He piled all five portions of uni into a single shell, which filled it up perfectly.
He tilted his head back and slurped it all down in one go.
The plump uni melted on his tongue, transforming into a rich, sweet, and savory sauce. The slight saltiness of the seawater only made it seem all the more sweet and fragrant.
"Awesome!"
’Sea urchin is high-end stuff at Japanese restaurants, especially the higher quality ones, which are even more expensive.’
’Usually, unless a guy really loves Japanese food like sashimi and has a relatively high income, the only reason he’d be at a Japanese restaurant is on a date with a girl.’
’Of course, there’s also the small chance of a business dinner, but in those cases, you’re not really there to eat. It’s just a waste of good food.’
’This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had an all-you-can-eat sea urchin buffet, freshly opened and ready to eat.’
’If I had to point out a downside, it would be the lack of proper tools for cleaning them.’
’As for the saltiness from the seawater, I can just take them back to the stream to clean them. That would solve the problem easily.’
"I’ve got a quiz for everyone. Does anyone know what part of the sea urchin the uni actually is?"
He asked the camera mysteriously as he bent down again, picking up a black sea urchin to see what was inside.
[What part of the sea urchin is the uni?]
[Good question. How have I never thought of that before?]
[It’s probably the sea urchin’s meat, right?] frёewebηovel.cѳm
[I think it’s the meat too, just like with shellfish. The stuff inside the shell is the meat.]
[It’s probably not that simple. If it were just meat, why would Lin He ask?]
[Hurry up and tell us the answer!]
"A lot of you are guessing that uni is the sea urchin’s meat, right?"
Lin Chen skillfully dug out the sea urchin’s mouth, cutting away a large piece of the hard shell along with it and revealing the yellowish meat inside.
"If you’re thinking of it like shellfish, it certainly seems like meat. But I’m sorry to say, uni is actually the sea urchin’s reproductive glands. Just like with crabs, winter is their breeding season, so their reproductive glands mature, which is why they become so much fuller."
"Oh, right. Since we’re on the topic of crabs, let me clear something up for you all."
"Anyone who’s eaten crab should know that in the winter, you’ll find two things inside the shell: one is large, orange-red chunks, and the other is a white, translucent paste."
"Although their textures and shapes are different, they’re both delicious."
[Yeah, yeah, now that you mention it, I remember. That’s right.]
[I love eating crab in the winter. A client in Great Xia treated me to it once when I was there on a business trip. All you need is some soy sauce and vinegar, and the taste is heavenly!!]
[I’ve never had it, but when you were eating earlier, it looked like there was some orange-red stuff.]
[Don’t tell me you’re going to say that stuff is the crab’s reproductive glands too???]
