What sea urchins caviar is considered edible, how are echinoderms caught and egg mass obtained? Description and photo of sea urchin caviar, energy value, composition. The benefits and harms of sea urchin caviar for the body. How is a delicacy eaten and what is prepared from it?
Sea urchin caviar is a food product made from the eggs of female echinoderms that live in the salt water of the seas and oceans. The second name of echinoderms is sea chestnuts, females are most similar to this fruit - round, medium-sized, with short needles and a small beak. In the mass, the eggs resemble a dispersed mixture. Smell - salty, with a touch of breeze and seaweed; the taste of sea urchin caviar is oily, reminiscent of egg yolk with a fishy flavor. The shape of each egg is spherical, the color is yellowish-orange, rather amber; diameter is less than 1 mm. The most useful product is the caviar of dark purple, almost black in color, sea urchins, the needles of which are poisonous. It is revered in Spanish, Italian and French cuisine, and in Japan it is worshiped and called "the source of immortality."
Edible sea urchins
Pictured is an edible sea urchin
Biologists have described 800 species of echinoderms of various colors and sizes, from very tiny (2-3 cm in diameter) to huge (30-35 cm in diameter). The spherical body is completely covered with needles of various lengths and strengths. You can find individuals of green, gray, purple, purple and slate (black) colors.
Most of the echinoderms are poisonous, and only 15 species are used for culinary purposes. Most often, caviar is obtained from:
- Edible sea urchins (Echinus esculentus) … Habitat - the coast of Europe to the Barents Sea. The shell is reddish, the tips of the needles are purple, the body diameter reaches 16 cm.
- Common sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) … They are widely distributed in the North Seas of Eurasia, along the coast of North Korea and in the Pacific Ocean. Diameter - 9-12 cm. Any color, whitish-green, gray, black-violet. The most valuable is the caviar obtained from individuals of almost black color.
- Dark purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus granularis) … This caviar is considered the most sought-after delicacy. Individuals reach 15-18 cm in diameter, are common in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Individuals do not descend deeper than 30 m, the dark shell is clearly visible on light sand. Currently, this species is listed in the Red Book, since echinoderms are caught not only by fishermen and people engaged in fishing, but also by divers. If fishing is not limited in the near future, this species may completely disappear from the Earth's surface.
- Purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus) … Small sizes - no more than 7 cm in diameter, with long poisonous thorns. Found in the east Atlantic, including the Mediterranean.
- Red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) … This echinoderm species is found along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California. It can live in shallow waters and at a depth of more than 100 m, most often on rocky shores that are protected from extreme waves.
How are sea urchins caught?
To obtain a delicacy, sea urchins are caught from late October to early March in the Northern Hemisphere and from early May to mid-October in the Southern Hemisphere, that is, until the sea warms up. The rest of the time, spawning also occurs, but the product is dangerous for humans and consumption can cause poisoning.
If individuals spawn in shallow water, collect them by hand. In this case, a diving mask is sufficient. But the most delicious "sea chestnuts" hide in rocky depressions at a relatively shallow depth - up to 30 m. To get them, you need a wetsuit and scuba gear. The diver attaches a net to his belt, where he puts the echinoderms. They are picked up with a stick with a grip in the form of 2 pins at one end.
In order not to destroy unnecessary individuals, one should learn to distinguish females from males. The "girls" have shorter needles, the color is uneven - more intense at the ends, the size does not exceed 15 cm in diameter.
Note! You cannot collect coal-black sea urchins - they are poisonous.
If you buy echinoderms at the bazaar, you need to know how to choose them. Fresh specimens have sharp needles, a closed beak and the salty smell of the sea.
More photos of how sea urchins are harvested for caviar on the island. Bali, Indonesia:
How is sea urchin caviar obtained?
Fishermen, who are engaged in the constant extraction of a delicacy, have special devices - guillotines - in order to open the shell. But the accessory is expensive, about $ 200, so many are content with an ordinary sharp knife with a long wide blade.
How sea urchins caviar is obtained
- They put on tight gloves so as not to prick themselves, pick up a black hedgehog and turn it belly upside down. There is a beak on it.
- Stick the tip of a knife into the hole and cut it round and round, and then remove part of the shell, like a lid.
- In the upper part of the body, in the hatching chamber, in 6 cells, caviar is stored. It is chosen with spoons or other devices.
During the spawning season, the egg mass makes up 20% of the weight of the echinoderm; however, to collect even a small amount, 6-10 individuals will have to be cut open. The maximum volume of each well is 1 tsp.
The juice should also be drained - the liquid from the shell of the sea urchin. It is used to prepare various delicious sauces. If, due to inexperience, you made a mistake and opened the male's shell, you should not be upset. Milk is also used for food.
Composition and calorie content of sea urchin caviar
Echinoderm eggs have a high energy value and contain useful substances that have a beneficial effect on the human body.
The calorie content of sea urchin caviar is 84 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Proteins - 13, 8 g;
- Fats - 4, 3 g;
- Carbohydrates - 2.5 g.
The vitamin complex found: retinol, tocopherol, nicotinic and ascorbic acid, vitamin D and K, several "representatives" of group B - B1, B4, B6, B9 and B12.
According to the last vitamin, sea urchin caviar can be called the champion among all products of animal origin - 250 μg per 100 g. The positive effect of vitamin B12 increases when combined with omega-3, polyunsaturated fat, which is 37.5% in the total composition of fats.
Minerals per 100 g of product:
- Magnesium - 1mg;
- Potassium - 3.85 mg;
- Sodium - 4 mg;
- Zinc - 29.42 mcg;
- Copper - 2, 18 mcg;
- Cobalt - 0.25 mcg;
- Nickel - 0.49 mcg;
- Iron - 8, 18 mg;
- Manganese - 0.28 mg;
- Chromium - 0.25 mcg.
Chlorine, iodine, lithium, cadmium were also isolated in the composition of the product - only 21 microelements.
The sea urchin caviar contains biologically active enzymes thymidine and thymidylate kinase.
Essential amino acids in relation to protein composition:
- Alanine - 5.40%;
- Arginine - 5.49%;
- Histidine - 9, 31%;
- Glycine - 3.48%;
- Glutamic acid - 14, 25%;
- Isoleucine - 4.49%;
- Valine - 5, 6%;
- Lysine - 6, 78%;
- Leucine - 6, 67%;
- Methionine - 3.09%;
- Proline - 2.56%;
- Serine - 5.0%;
- Tyrosine - 3.66%;
- Threonine - 6, 27%;
- Tryptophan - 1.05%;
- Phenylalanine - 4.49%;
- Cystine -1, 20%.
The study of the chemical composition and the effect on the human body of sea urchin caviar was considered in sufficient detail, since a food product in oriental medicine is considered an elixir of health, thanks to which it is possible to get rid of almost all known diseases. It is scientifically proven that it can indeed be widely used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes and recommend a product for culinary use.
Useful properties of sea urchin caviar
Sea urchin caviar has a healing effect due to its balanced and rich chemical composition. In addition, of the 23,000 DNA strands of the echinoderm, 7,000 coincide with the human genome. That is why the product is fully absorbed by the human body and has a pronounced effect on processes at the cellular level.
Scientists from the US College in Baylor still have not stopped research. With the help of echinoderms, they are trying to solve the problems of rejuvenation. The age of some individuals is estimated at 200 years (radiocarbon method), and it is very important that, regardless of their lifespan, sea urchins do not lose their ability to reproduce. It is possible that for the production of the elixir of immortality, not a philosopher's stone is needed, but echinoderm caviar.
Also, research is currently underway on the effect of sea urchin eggs on diseases transmitted at the genetic level. The tests have not yet been completed, but it has already been established that after 2 treatment courses in persons in whose intestines the formation of tumors began, no pathological neoplasms were detected or the process slowed down. However, it should be borne in mind that such work has just begun and you should not place your hopes on the eggs of sea urchins in oncology and refuse other methods of treatment.
It is most advisable to introduce the delicacy into the diet of persons with a history of radiation or radiation sickness. Due to the high iodine content, the thyroid gland is normalized, which has a positive effect on the general condition.
The beneficial properties of sea urchin caviar are not limited to this effect. Positive qualities include:
- High biological value, allowing you to quickly recover from various types of diseases, exhausting stress and stress and stop weight loss.
- Improving blood quality, increasing hemoglobin levels.
- Cleansing effect - removes radionuclides.
- Stimulation of the regeneration of all organic tissues, increasing skin tone and collagen production, slowing down age-related changes.
- Normalization of metabolic processes - the product is a unique natural bioregulator.
- Prevention of diseases of the cardiovascular system, restoration of the endocrine and reproductive system.
- Stabilization of metabolic processes at the cellular level and acceleration of organic reactions.
- Decrease in blood pressure.
- Prolongation of life and slowing down of degenerative-dystrophic changes.
- Fat burning action that accelerates the transformation of the fatty layer.
- Stopping the production of atypical cells, stopping cancer processes.
- Dissolution of cholesterol plaques formed on the walls of blood vessels.
- Increase in the life cycle of hepatocytes - liver cells.
What else is sea urchin caviar useful for: accelerating the healing of injuries on the internal organs, which helps to quickly cure peptic ulcers and erosive damage to the stomach, digestive tract and intestines. Dyspeptic symptoms, fermentation and putrefactive processes are eliminated, defecation becomes stable.
Interesting! On the basis of sea urchin caviar extract, tablets for astronauts are made, which are designed to reduce stress during severe physical and mental stress.
Contraindications and harm to sea urchin caviar
Any food product, even the most useful one, is capable of provoking the development of allergic reactions. Therefore, when introducing into the diet, even if heat treatment was carried out, one should be careful and learn not only about what the sea urchin caviar heals, but also what danger is fraught with.
The caviar of sea urchins can cause harm due to its active immunological action and high biological properties. Changes in the rate of metabolic processes can adversely affect overall health.
It is worth giving up the use of this product and its use for medicinal purposes during pregnancy and lactation. It should not be introduced into the children's diet. A high amount of the protein component can provoke intoxication in people with unstable immunity. In addition, when used raw, the microbiological hazard increases - the possibility of helminthic invasion.
It is dangerous to use eggs of echinoderms with hyperfunction of the thyroid gland - the development of hyperthyroidism, the adrenal glands - Itsenko-Cushing's syndrome, the nervous system - so as not to provoke overexcitation and the appearance of insomnia.
Heat treatment will help to reduce the negative impact on the body. But before you cook sea urchin caviar, you should pay attention to the fact that in this case, as a medicine, the product has a minimal effect. Its effect is limited to the restoration of tone and energy reserve, partial replenishment of the vitamin and mineral reserve.
Note! If the storage and transportation conditions are violated, a valuable food product can be poisoned.
How is sea urchin caviar eaten?
The photo shows fresh sea urchin caviar
Echinoderm caviar is eaten in many countries, but most of all this product is popular in Japan (consumption is up to 70% of the world production). Dishes with sea urchin caviar are on the menu of almost every restaurant. It is included in sushi and sashimi, it is added to soups and salads. Here it is called the elixir of longevity, the source of immortality and sea ginseng.
Consumer demand for a gourmet, in contrast to the product obtained from fish, is not used for salted or canned caviar of echinoderms, but from fresh hedgehog, which was just taken out of the water. The color of such a product is yellow or almost orange, the taste is salty, iodine, and it also smells pleasantly of the sea. But you can also eat salted and canned caviar.
Before feasting on the egg mass, which was extracted from the echinoderm, it is necessary to rinse the contents of the excretory chamber. People who are accustomed to this product can be content with bathing in sea water, but it is still better to rinse with cool boiled water.
Restaurants serve the product chilled and eat sea urchin caviar with a dessert spoon, seasoned with soy or lemon sauce. By the way, this way you can get rid of some bitterness, which is inherent in the caviar of some types of echinoderms.
But Europeans eat the product baked or fried. The taste of sea urchin caviar will not change during cooking, and the consistency will not suffer if it is heated for a couple of minutes.
In Malta, it is customary to cook pasta and risotto with echinoderm caviar, in France omelets with such an additive have earned recognition, and in Spain the fried product is served with garlic sauce. Italians use this ingredient as a spice and add it to desserts and alcoholic cocktails.
For medicinal purposes, sea urchin caviar is consumed regularly, and the daily dose is limited depending on the physiological status of the patient. The usual course of treatment is 2 weeks with a break of 2 months, no more than 0.5-1 tsp. per day.
Moderation should also be observed when using sea urchin caviar for food - the maximum portion should not exceed 70-100 g per day.
Sea urchin caviar recipes
Sea urchin caviar is combined with butter, various sauces, it is added to pates, julienne and carpaccio; this ingredient is often used in soups, seafood salads and cold snacks.
Recipes with delicious sea urchin caviar:
- Gunkan sushi … Boil rice - 250 g. A sheet for sushi is cut into strips 4 cm wide. From glutinous rice, 1-1, 5 tbsp. l., form a bar, wrap it with a prepared piece of seaweed, tamp on one side and make a depression with your finger, which is first filled with thick wasabi sauce and caviar. Seal the nori with a dry grain of rice.
- Stuffed sea urchins … The shells of 8 individuals are opened, the entrails are separated and the eggs are taken out. The juice is poured into a cup. The resulting "forms" are washed. Finely chop 1 onion, fry in butter until soft, cool slightly and mix with caviar. Put it on the fire again, pour in a little juice, 2 tbsp. l. brandy and wait until the liquid evaporates. Pour 1 tbsp. l. corn flour, add 200 ml of milk, 50 ml of liquid from the shell and bring to the consistency of a thick sauce. Beat 2 eggs and fill a bowl with breadcrumbs. Preheat the oven to 200 ° C. Fill the shells with sauce, coat with eggs and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Spread out on a sheet and put in the oven for 1-1, 5 minutes. Served with white wine.
- Pate … Pour a piece of feta cheese, about 30-40 g, with boiling water and leave for half an hour to get rid of excess salt. Dry on a paper towel. In a blender bowl, 2 boiled eggs, cheese, eggs of 2 hedgehogs, a little butter are interrupted. If necessary, add some salt. You can limit yourself to egg yolks. Salt and spices to taste.
- Assorted river and marine life … Prepare 4 echinoderms as described in recipe # 2. Take out meat from crayfish necks - you need 40-60 g. Slices of 1 tomato are fried in butter, after removing the film-peel, caviar, chopped shallots and necks. Turn off the fire, allow to cool, mix with watercress - tear the leaves with your hands. Dressing: in a water bath, beat the yolks of 2 eggs with 4 tbsp. l. white wine, sea chestnut juice, mint and basil (dried herbs), salt and pepper. Spread the frying on the shells, pour in the filling. Served with lemon juice.
When storing sea urchin caviar in frozen form, the color of the product changes, useful substances disintegrate and the taste worsens - bitterness appears due to the accumulation of certain substances with a pronounced bitter taste. The content of valuable proteins decreases, the amount of acids increases, which can provoke intoxication of the body. Freezing also increases the loss of juice after thawing, which affects its firmness and appearance.
You can slightly extend the shelf life of sea urchin caviar by salting. The fresh product is washed with salt water, then spread on an absorbent napkin to remove excess moisture. Pour with brine, proportions - for 350 g of caviar 0.5 l of liquid, in which 70 g of salt is dissolved. Leave in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Strain the liquid, pour the caviar into a sterilized jar, pour 1 tbsp on top. l. olive oil and cover tightly. You can taste it every other day.
The shelf life of such a workpiece is no longer than 5 days. Long-term storage caviar is prepared only under industrial conditions. To preserve all the nutritional and taste qualities of caviar, its appearance, texture and smell, preservatives and stabilizers must be added.
Interesting facts about sea urchin caviar
In Japan, sea urchin caviar is worshiped, and every year in many cities on the coast, a celebration of veneration for the elders is held. On this day, every inhabitant of the Land of the Rising Sun should buy sea urchin caviar, eat it and drink the juice that is in the animal's shell, this process is accompanied by wishes for the health of their loved ones. By the way, the Japanese eat 500-800 tons of delicacy per year.
To maintain the strength and health of the younger generation in Japanese schools, echinoderm eggs are introduced into the diet of students.
Cultivation of echinoderms in Japan is carried out artificially, in special cages. However, it is believed that such eggs can only be used as an ingredient in dishes - they have no healing effect.
Salvador Dali was an ardent supporter of this product. For years, he ate toast with butter and fresh sea urchin caviar for breakfast.
Sea urchin caviar is a national product in Mediterranean countries. In Italy, Croatia and other countries, the product is included in the daily diet, like more familiar seafood.
For prophylactic or therapeutic purposes, a tincture is made from echinoderm caviar, the beneficial substances in which do not lose their healing properties for 1 year:
- Only large whole eggs are sorted out and washed with boiled sea water cooled to room temperature.
- Pour in an alcoholic solution or vodka. At a strength of 28-30% - 1 part of caviar and 25 parts of liquid; 40-45% - 1 in 15-20; at 70% - 1 to 8.
- Insist in the dark at room temperature for 96 hours.
- Clarify by filtering through activated carbon and store at 10 ° C.
On the basis of the product, you can prepare a mixture: mix fresh caviar of dark sea urchins with butter in a 1: 3 ratio. The shelf life of the medicine is 3 weeks in the refrigerator. They take sea urchin caviar 2 times a day for 30 g, regardless of the type of medicine. The course is 2-3 weeks. During use, you will have to stop drinking alcohol.
It is possible to provide the biological value of echinoderm eggs with industrial canning. To preserve the beneficial properties, to avoid changes in color and taste, special technological lines are installed. However, such caviar is salty, which means that its use for medical purposes is limited.
Watch a video about sea urchin caviar:
