Bafun uni ✦ ◆

Oursin bafun

What it is

The Japanese name means horse-dung urchin, for a flattened, dull shell that sits on the rock like a dropping. Under it are five short tongues of gonad, darker and far denser than the Mediterranean urchin's, tasting closer to caramel than to sea water.

In the kitchen

Buy it in the wooden tray, never loose in brine — the alum used to firm uni in holding water is what makes it taste bitter and metallic. Eat it within a day, at cellar temperature; fridge-cold flattens it.

Goes with

Rice Nori Soy sauce Egg Wasabi Scallop

In season alongside

Japanese abalone Lobster coral Brown crab Cuttlefish Breton kombu Royal kombu

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