A product we use a lot of and also eat a lot of here in Spain is the Sea Urchin.

For me it has the most Umami flavor of any product available. It is on the same level as a very ripe cheese and gives that spike of flavor needed in some dishes.

The only part used is the roe and it is extracted by cutting the bottom with scissors and carefully removing the roe from the side with a small spoon.

I have added them to a new dish of mine which is a “Surf and Turf” concept with a difference. I had some trimmings from a slow braised pork belly which I use in another dish. So I pan seared the pieces and served them with a consommé of a selection of 10 different shell fish from the north of Spain. To enhance the Asian feel from the spiced pork belly I added things like Soy, Orange, Coriander, Lime, Ginger and star anise.

To add some texture I put some fried Ortiguillas (which in English is Sea Anemones) which in spain are available to be ordered by the plate. Another fantastic secret ingredient from Spain, I will write about these amazing little critters in another post.

Not a bad way to use trimmings!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 13:53 and is filed under Food, Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.