Went out to a fancy sushi spot tonight. Got to try uni (sea urchin) for the first time. Two uni gunkans were $22+tx.
I would compare it to sucking the green skum off the bottom of a rock out of a tidal pool at low tide down stream from the wastewater treatment plant. It was like picking up an abused star fish out of the touch tank at the aquarium, putting it in my mouth, and having it shit itself in fear of being eaten. I bet there's barnacles underneath the pier at coney island that have been feasting on the vomit of tourists who had too many fried clams before riding the roller coaster that taste better than this overpriced orange abomination. You would think that a restaurant with uni in the name would deliver something that deserves praise, but I was sorely mistaken.
Does all Uni taste like this? What is uni actually supposed to taste like? Is this like a cilantro situation and I have the wrong number of chromosomes to taste it "correctly?" Help me find uni that doesn't make me gag.
by -irregardless
49 Comments
Bud, wrong number of chromosomes doesn’t mean what you think it means..
I agree.
It tastes like thick saltwater snot
I fucking laughed my ass off reading this.
It is supposedly taste like some sort of buttery-ocean-sweet like when eaten fresh from the Uni box we have in our sushi stations.
For me it has such a strong flavor I am only able to eat two pieces because I get overwhelmed by the taste. It is not bad but I understand it is not for everyone.
I’ve tried many uni pieces from upscale omakases and to me it always has an acrylic paint taste. I wonder if there’s something similar to cilantro where it tastes one unappealing way to certain palates. I want to love it but so far it hasn’t clicked.
It tastes of gonads
Uni tastes like the ocean. Take that as you will haha
If that was Hokkaido uni, you got scammed or they’re storing it horribly.
Hokkaido is the gold standard, but it’s also the most sensitive. If it’s not fresh, it turns into that bitter, metallic sludge you described. $22 for two pieces of actual Hokkaido uni is also suspiciously cheap-usually, that stuff is usually $20–$30 for a single piece at a legit spot.
You probably ate the “expired” version of a luxury product. It’s not your taste buds; the chef served you a literal biohazard. Keep that “starfish shitting itself” description in your back pocket for the Yelp review.
Edit: From the pic, the uni do seemed a bit mushy. One possible explanation is that those uni are already expiring. Good uni should look firm, like distinct “tongues” with a bumpy texture.
There’s a huge difference between processed tray uni and straight out of the shell fresh from the ocean uni. Fresh uni has a bright salinity with a creamy underlying sweetness and a texture similar to ricotta cheese. Tray uni tastes as you described.
Fresh off the boat uni is life changing.
https://preview.redd.it/9uaxzztrh2ag1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ad682cd379b692cb899028861217e64f97a8917
Butter seawater
Anthony Bourdain on Uni
“Put it this way, first or second date, I would always take a woman to a really good sushi bar and I would order uni, and if she didn’t eat the uni, that relationship was pretty much over. If she’s immune to the charms of sea urchin roe or unwilling to try it, there’s no hope.”
From
https://www.pastemagazine.com/food/seafood/i-hate-uni
Like the bottom of the ocean pungent. In a good way though. My first ever taste was Nasty. Took me 2 years before I tried it again. Turned out the first one was old/bad.
It really depends on the season and your personal taste.
It has a fairly aggressive flavor. Depending on season it can be quite briny, but as well it can be very sweet. The urchin basically eats seaweed, so some people naturally are very put off by the taste. The picture you put here seems fairly ok, so I wouldn’t necessarily suspect poor storage.
To me, I love the variety and unpredictability, but it’s an acquired taste that can be inconsistent, very similar to oysters, for example.
I’ve had bad uni too. Your description is spot-on for bad uni.
Good uni is like salty oceanic butter. It’s fantastic.
Had uni once at my local spot. It was ROUGH. Tasted chemical-ly. Like a mix of nail polish remover and brine. Put it off for years until reddit convinced me i needed to try it from a higher end sushi place. Tried that. CHEMICAL-LY. Never again. Well at least until someone raves about it again here.
A gourmet basement floor
A good sea urchin tastes sweet and buttery with a hint of the ocean.
If subpar sea urchin tastes of the ocean with hints of sweet and buttery.
Bad sea urchins taste bitter. Even the freshest batches can have a few bitter ones mixed in from what I’ve seen.
Honestly if you have the chance try a sauce made with sea urchins. They do pastas and whatnot. Helps to determine if it’s the texture that’s throwing you off.
Like the best parts of the ocean
It should be light and sweet. Like fish ice cream
It’s orgasmic. I’m in heaven the taste and texture. Eat the freshest uni. It makes a big difference.
I love uni. Good uni tastes buttery and slightly sweet (like the sweetness of a shrimp).
Bad uni tastes like acrylic paint with a slimy texture.
I love sushi and sashimi, seafood in general….Uni is pond SKUM for sure, and I don’t have many issues with/textures… When it’s coming across like a giant SNOT BALL though, NOT DOING SNOT….Kinda of shit I’m trying to get rid of when I’ve got cold/congestion, not trying to consume…Uni just SNOT natural…eew
That description reminded me of the sushi bar skit from the Cheech and Chong album “get out of my room”.
“Its worf scrapings…sometimes it’s chewy, sometimes it’s crunchy, but its always fresh”
Salty sea urchin balls. Literally. Uni are the testes of sea urchins. That being said, they are totes high in testosterone.
Bad uni is well… bad. I generally only eat uni if I purchase a tray, or at higher end restaurants ($250/person and up is usually safe). You probably should find a new spot if you want to eat uni.
Uni is one of the worst things that I have ever eaten. Tasted like I was eating slime.
That uni should eat pineapples.
It can vary widely. From what you describe. To essence of the ocean. To 100$ chefs choice meal in tokyo which was heavenly essence of the ocean.
It needs to be fresh. Right sea urchin. Right season. This is hard to find. Even the local fish market in awase Okinawa Japan had ok uni. Not great. Just ok.
I’ve eaten Uni once at Sushi Dai by Tsukiji fish market. It wasn’t my favorite compared to the very fatty Toro tuna served by the chefs. Wait time was 2 hours.
I tried Uni at a fish market in Japan and it still tasted like concentrated sea water…
i worked at one of the premiere uni factories in california for a while. when i got the job, i went to the local “upscale” sushi joint and tried it. awful. in my first week on the job i tried the best uni, caviar, otoro, and hamachi belly. the difference is like day and night.
right now is actually the best time to get uni, but only if its the higher grade (XA or A grade). good uni tastes like sitting by the window overlooking the sea on a sunny breezy day. its savory and sweet, not overly salty. definitely comparable to caviar and ikura but way more creamy than salty. i dont eat uni unless i know it came from my old work, its just not worth it. it IS worth it to spend $200 getting 200 grams of it delivered overnight.
I thought it tasted like the entire aquarium, but somehow still palatable. Not far off from your descriptions.
I always describe it as “tastes like the ocean”.
https://preview.redd.it/j5x1gm7403ag1.png?width=1676&format=png&auto=webp&s=54db0ca880a33b80f7336490ecdd5e93d2acb987
It’s like eating gelled seawater with just a hint of brine. It isn’t really salty.
If you like caviar, it’s slightly more rich in flavor
Put your hand in the air if uni is your favorite piece of sushi 🙋♀️
Lol at the description. Fur me it’s an acquired taste, much like sushi, sashimi. I’m never get Uni.
My take on uni is that the first time I had it, it was at a mid-tier sushi place and I didn’t like it, but then I had it at a legit shit high end omakase and loved it (like 100% fresh out of the urchin), so now I can enjoy it pretty much anywhere because I know what it’s “supposed” to taste like and I can tell what even slightly lower quality unis are approximating. There’s of course always a limit on that, and I still appreciate a good uni better than a mid one
First time I had uni, it tasted like a bad oyster. Vile.
Didn’t try it again for 15+ years but I’ve had it numerous times over the last few years and I loved it. Tastes like the ocean, light, creamy.
Failed exams and comfort meals
Im sorry you had such bad uni. I feel like uni is similar to oysters in that when its bad its reaalllyyy bad.
Your review on the other hand is hilarious and left me in shambles, and I am definitely showing this to my chef because I know he will laugh his ass off. Your descriptions are just so spot on I can really taste it in my mouth right now!
I would say taste wise sea cucumber and texture wise foie gras
It should taste like going down on a freshly washed mermaid
Oh cool. Last time I told this sub I hate the taste I was told I was wrong for never getting it at an upscale sushi restaurant. Apparently many other commenters are saying getting it at an upscale restaurant isn’t good enough either. I’m not really interested in going out of my way to get on a boat just so, at best, I never can get back to tasting good uni ever again.
When I first tried it it tasted like getting soldier in the mouth with dolphin water at Sea World but I went to a good place and it tastes like oceany briny sea butter. So there’s degrees of quality but unless you like briny tastes like raw oysters it might not be for you
Fresh uni very good. Old uni very bad
The ocean
That wasn’t good uni just based of your description
Sweet and light, with a slightly briny aftertaste.
Can you post an actual photo of what you ate? You’re describing uni that’s gone bad or is turning. Bummer but I’d give it another try if you get another chance.
The one time I had uni it tasted the way an aquarium smells. Is that bad uni or just the way it is? Texture was very soft and maybe creamy even.