linguine with uni and clams 意大利扁麵海膽和蛤

This is the second time that I encounter live sea urchin (uni) at my Asian fish monger. The ones that I bought last time was small, and worst yet, there was hardly any roes inside. This time they were bigger. Being gun shy from the last experience I bought only one, not thinking what I would do with it.


It is surprisingly heavy with quite a lot of seawater and I suppose body fluid inside. It weighted in at about 0.8 lb. I also bought a live dungeness crab and some live manila clams.

OM Seafood Inc. is now my favorite Asian fish monger - located on SE Powell Blvd near SE 82 Ave; the owner also operates a Chinese restaurant next door

i first whipped up some fresh linguine with Durum wheat flour

There is no substitute with freshly made pasta. They are surprising easy and quick to make.

the spiney thing

i harvested the roes (right) - still need to hone my skill so they are not broken up

I have been using Chinese salted turnip (big head vegetable) 大頭菜 for preparing shellfish dishes lately and this time I do the same. I like the briney accent it provides. I use it in place of salt so there is no need to season the dish with salt.

for the uninitiated, especially those who has fears of real food in raw forms, cleaning uni may look like a grisly deed - quite a mess and you sure don't want to pour the spines down the kitchen drain

The ingredients are very simple so as not to overwhelm the delicate taste of the uni.

• home made linguine
• butter
• boiled clams
• clam juice
• sliced onion
• ginger
• garlics
• black pepper
• big head vegetable (used as salt)
• Parmesan cheese
• whipping cream (very small amount)
• sliced scallion

I used to be afraid of cooking with butter and cream. No more, once I see through the wrong advice of the US health authorities who had been wrong for decades not recognizing sugar and processed food are leading public enemies. I believe in eating most things our grand parents would, and in moderation. A hearty well made meal will make you feel satisfied, and you would less likely to snack on junk food. Just a small amount of butter and cream adds a lot of depth to the right dish.

If you follow my blog, you would probably notice that I use scallions a lot in my cooking. Why so limited in the use of fresh herbs? The truth is mainly convenience and economy. Scallions is readily available and cheap. They last forever in the refrigerator, and is super-versatile. Other fresh herbs are very pricy of how they are sold, and most don't keep well at all. Very often the fresh herb alone is as much as the cost of all the other ingredients in some of my meals. Sure. If I were to be cooking for entertainment for a party that is a different story. That is the reason I use dried herbs a lot.

I have been trying to maintain my own collection of planted herbs. So far few survive with the exception of rosemary and mostly other onion family plants. Certainly my areas that sorely need improvement.

I two serving worth of this dish. I ate the second serving as breakfast the next morning.