If you’re diving for sea urchins, looks for ones that are green, red, or purple. Black sea urchins aren’t edible. [2] X Research source
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.
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. [5] X Research source The spines on the urchin might fall off while you’re cutting, so do this over a sink or towel.
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.
If there are still brown pieces left on the roe, you can wipe or pick them off with tweezers.
Urchin starts spoiling quickly, so chefs recommend eating them right away instead of leaving them out, even if they’re chilled.
Uni is a popular appetizer and is often served raw and plain like this.
You could also squeeze some lemon juice over it if you prefer that flavor. [12] X Research source
You could also top a cracker with a piece of uni.
You can also grind the uni into creamy sauces and top your pasta with this.
You could add the ground uni to barbecue sauces and season meat with it before cooking.
In Japan, sake is the main drink to have with uni. The Greek drink ouzo, an anise-flavored liquor, is also common.
