Sea Urchin Shells

My latest trip to Chinatown to stock up on New Year goodies yielded a surprise. Lovely sea urchin shells. A little dusty but oh so beautiful pure whites and slight purple colourations with perfectly symetrical structures. Who knew? Happy with my find, I gave them a good scrubbing when I got home and they look almost as good as new.

Sea Urchin or Uni is a Japanese delicacy and one of my favourite dishes. How did people even think of cracking open the prickly shell and eating the golden coloured roe? I think they must have been really hungry or tired of eating the same foods all the time.

Buy sea urchin inspired ware: http://www.lifesabeachstore.com/detail.aspx?ID=811