Murasaki uni ✦ ◆

Oursin murasaki

What it is

Murasaki is the long-spined purple urchin of warmer Japanese water, and its tongues of roe come out larger, paler and gentler than the deep orange bafun. Chefs name the species and often the bay, never simply uni, because the two ripen in opposite halves of the year and taste nothing alike.

In the kitchen

Buy it in the wooden ita trays only if the tongues hold a clean edge. Slumping, weeping uni has been dosed with alum to firm it, and that leaves a metallic bitterness no amount of rice will cover.

Goes with

Rice Nori Wasabi Sudachi Junmai sake Soy sauce

In season alongside

Brill Brocciu Arctic char Clam Crayfish Dentex

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