Sea Urchin Bruschetta (Uni Toast)

My first taste of sea urchin or uni was a rather blah experience. Maybe it was the weird, creamy texture or the briny-sweet-salty flavor combination but I just couldn't get myself to like it. Ray teasingly likes to refer to my first uni tasting as a BR or "before Ray" experience, indicating that it was my immature palate that couldn't appreciate how yummy uni was. Needless to say, since I've met Ray, my appreciation for uni has grown exponentially. I'm not exactly sure when my preference for uni changed, immature palate or not, but somewhere in the last four years, I've come to love all things uni: uni sushi, uni pasta, uni toast, I just can't get enough!

Thanks to my friend Chau for bringing this Bobby Flay Sea Urchin Bruschetta recipe to my attention. It strays away from the more Asian-inspired uni preparations, using only lemon juice and sherry to create a tangy marinade for the sea urchin. The addition of raw onions and cilantro or shiso leaves adds a more earthy zing to the toast. Overall, the dish was yummy but not quite  "OMG, that's so good!" The marinade was a little too acidic for my taste so I will need to play around with the proportions.

Sea Urchin Bruschetta
adapted from The Food Network

Ingredients 
1/2 yellow onion, minced 
1 tablespoon dry sherry 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped or shiso leaves, chiffoned
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
24 sea urchin "tongues" 
8 rustic bread slices 
Salt and pepper

Directions 
Combine the minced onion, sherry, lemon juice, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl. Add the urchins and season with salt and pepper. Let marinate while you grill the bread. Brush the bread slices with the remaining olive oil and grill over medium heat until both sides are lightly colored. Slice the toast into fingers and top with the urchin and serve.

There are a lot of other popular uni toast dishes/recipes out there - will definitely need to re-create these versions at home!

Aldea (NYC) - with cauliflower puree, lime and shiso
Black Hogg (LA) - with plugara butter and a scallion vinaigrette
Uni Panini- with soy ginger butter