Echizen Uni is 'shio-uni' (salted sea urchin), made by salting and maturing the gonads of bafun sea urchins caught along the Echizen Coast of Fukui Prefecture. It is also written as 汐うに or 塩雲丹. In the Edo-period book Nihon Sankai Meisan Zue (Illustrated Famous Products of Japan's Mountains and Seas), it was praised as 'the finest of all shiokara (salted delicacies)'. Together with Mikawa's konowata and Hizen's karasumi, it is counted among Japan's three great delicacies (chinmi). The bafun sea urchin used as the raw material is a small urchin with a shell only a few centimeters across, and around 100 urchins are said to be needed to make 100 g of the product. The roe is firmed with salt to draw out moisture, kneaded into a paste, and then matured. Its hallmarks are rich umami, the aroma of the sea, and a smooth texture, and even a tiny amount delivers deep flavor. The current method is said to have been devised in the late Edo period by Tennoya (now Tentatsu), an official purveyor to the Fukui Domain. The catch of bafun sea urchins in the prefecture is very small, and it remains a precious delicacy that still relies on handwork.
Origin
Salting sea urchin has a long history: wooden tablets (mokkan) excavated from the site of Heijo-kyo, the ancient capital, record that sea urchin was presented as tribute from Wakasa Province. For this reason, salting is estimated to date back at least to the Nara period. The current method is said to have been devised in the late Edo period by the third head of Tennoya, an official purveyor to the Fukui Domain. The impetus is said to have been an order from the domain lord, Matsudaira Haruyoshi, to develop a long-keeping preserved food in preparation for war.
History
According to Tentatsu, Tennoya was founded in 1804 (Bunka 1), when it was appointed official purveyor by the Matsudaira family, lords of the Echizen Fukui Domain. In the Edo period, Echizen Uni was treated as a gift presented by the domain. The seventh head, Tennoya Tatsukichi, was called 'Tentatsu', short for 'Tennoya no Tatsukichi', by Matsudaira Shungaku, and the business has used this as its trade name since the Meiji era. When it was presented to Emperor Showa, the ninth head is said to have removed shell fragments one by one on a glass plate.
Features
The raw material is the small bafun sea urchin, which lives on shallow rocky shores. In Mikuni, Sakai City, bafun sea urchin harvesting by ama (female divers) is considered a summer tradition, and because the season is short, shio-uni making is limited to this period as well. Each shell is cracked open one by one, and the gonads are removed without breaking them and washed in seawater. They are salted to draw out moisture, then kneaded into a paste and matured. The longer the maturation, the more the color shifts from orange toward vermilion.
Main Ingredients
Food Culture
Echizen Uni is classically savored little by little as an accompaniment to sake. Besides being served on freshly cooked rice or used as a filling for onigiri, it is also suggested paired with cheese or used to flavor pasta. Because it is so rich, adding just a little can greatly change the flavor of a dish.
How It Differs from Home Cooking
Echizen Uni is not simply raw sea urchin salted as is; it is finished by drawing out moisture, kneading, and maturing. Removing the contents from small urchins without breaking them and picking out shell fragments take a great deal of effort. These processes are carried on by specialist producers as a traditional skill.
Famous Shops
天たつ 本店
福井県福井市順化2丁目7-17
A long-established Echizen Uni maker founded as Tennoya in 1804 (Bunka 1), which served as official purveyor to the Matsudaira family, former lords of the Fukui Domain. Its signature product, 'Echizen Jitate Shio-uni', costs from around 3,000 yen for 16 g in a lacquered container.
View details →| Echizen Jitate Shio-uni in a Paulownia Box (天たつ) | Tentatsu's shio-uni, made by maturing the ovaries of bafun sea urchins, packed in a paulownia wood box; it is certified as a 'Fukui no Megumi' product by Fukui Prefecture. At around 5,940 yen and up for 17 g it is expensive, but it is well suited to a special gift.Where to buy →PR |
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| Hoshi-uni (Dried Sea Urchin) (天たつ) | A delicacy of dried sea urchin that was made on the shores of Fukui in the Meiji and Taisho eras. Its production was banned before the war as a luxury, but it was revived in 2011 using the traditional method. |
FAQ
Q. What are Japan's three great delicacies?
A. They are Echizen uni, Mikawa konowata, and Hizen karasumi. Konowata is shiokara made from sea cucumber intestines, and karasumi is mullet roe that has been salted and dried. All three have been known as specialties since the Edo period.