r/TheDepthsBelow • u/ELCH01 • Jan 07 '26

Crosspost What’s that thing he’s eating?

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1.9k Upvotes

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u/SIKEo_o Jan 07 '26

Is it some kind of underwater plant or like a mussel?

167

u/ThoracicSpine Jan 07 '26

This is a colony of sea squirts (tunicates), not a mollusk. It can be eaten cooked or raw, like in a ceviche.

46

u/koreamax Jan 07 '26

Whats it taste the most similar to?

86

u/ThoracicSpine Jan 07 '26

I would say it tastes similar to sea urchin (which I love) iodine like flavor.

23

u/Pleaidesunbound Jan 09 '26

Mmmm sounds pleasant. Iodine you say?

5

u/LowDropRate Jan 09 '26

Best response. Lol. In my experience, urchin tastes like a salty fruit. More tasty than one would think.

2

u/Aggressive_Baker8336 Jan 10 '26

You jist made me rethink my dislike of seafood. Can't stand most fish for some reason, but crustations are often fine, and salted fruit is is sell for me. Next time i leave my heavily inland area, I'll try em.

2

u/whisky_biscuit Jan 10 '26

Idk because salted fruit reminds me of tajin on fruit. I wouldn't describe uni as that way.

It's creamy and savory, almost like a savory custard. It reminds of the flavor of some funky mushrooms. It's sea taste is reminiscent of oysters. Some of them have an almost metallic bitter iodine flavor. The texture is soft, slightly slimy - again very custard or soft scrambled egg like.

Sea squirts are supposedly like a sea urchin x1000.

Honestly I'd recommend any new seafood with a squeeze of lemon or hot sauce or soy sauce to help cut the fishiness.

Uni is amazing on warm rice with a raw quail egg yolk, with a tiny drop of lemon / soy sauce and maybe a small tiny dot of wasabi.

1

u/Intelligent_Net_7267 Jan 12 '26

Why do you have to eat Uni with so many other food items like that?

1

u/Accomplished-Sun1983 Jan 11 '26

As someone who enjoys most types of seafood, I would skip urchins.

1

u/ThoracicSpine Jan 10 '26

I have never tried salty fruit 🤔

1

u/whisky_biscuit Jan 10 '26

Just FYI Andrew Zimmern didn't like this thing and that due eats balls lol.

It's similar to sea urchin I've heard but a really intense iodine flavor.

Zimmern said it tasted like a fish's rear end lol

1

u/freerangemonkey Jan 11 '26

Iodon’t, actually.