Diving for sea urchin in Croatia was something that was high on our list while exploring the beautiful islands there! Sea urchin (or ‘uni,’ its Japanese name, as its commonly referred to in the US) are round, spiny sea creatures that can be found along the Croatian coastline. Sea urchin has become more and more popular in the US and is featured not only on most sushi menus but also in pasta, eggs, toasts and even ice cream!
Croatia’s rocky coastline is dotted with sea urchin and, while spending time in the water, you’re almost guaranteed to see hundreds. The best way to enjoy sea urchin is fresh from the sea so, with some practice and guidance from local chefs, we caught fresh sea urchin for lunch from the Croatian sea.
Here are my tips on how to catch and eat sea urchin in Croatia!
Recommended Equipment for Diving for Sea Urchin
To catch and prepare sea urchin, there are a few items you’ll want to pack with you to protect yourself from the spines and pry them from rocks.
- Gloves: these are essential to protecting your hands from cuts while handling sea urchin!
- Mesh bag: while you are diving for sea urchin, you’ll need to have a bag to collect them in. A mesh or net bag is preferred so the urchin can remain in water.
- Snorkel Mask: you’ll want to have one of these to be able to select the perfect sea urchin underwater.
- Scissors / knife: a sharp tool is definitely needed to open the sea urchin!
- Bowl: while preparing the urchin, a large bowl (filled with sea water) to hold them in will be helpful.
- Spoons: once you’re ready to eat the sea urchin, spoons are going to be essential!
Tips for Selecting Sea Urchin
We saw sea urchin in Croatia of all different colors and sizes and in different locations and depths. We wanted to make sure we selected the best sea urchin to eat — here’s what we learned from the locals and our experience catching sea urchin on the Croatian coast!
- Look for sea urchin in shades of color (ex. deep purple) rather than solid black
- We had the best experience with medium sized sea urchin
- Select sea urchin with something (ex. seaweed or pebble) attached to it’s spine
- Don’t go too shallow when selecting sea urchin. Try to look for urchin in a bit deeper / colder water if you can!
- Since the water affects the taste, avoid diving for sea urchin in harbors or busy waterways
- According to Croatian locals, the best time to dive for sea urchin is during / around the full moon
Directions for Catching and Preparing Sea Urchin
- Wearing a snorkel mask and equipped with gloves, knife and mesh bag, select the area of water you would like to select the sea urchin from.
- While wearing the gloves, use the knife to pry sea urchin from their position (you’ll find most are in or around rocks) and keep in the mesh bag (make sure they are always kept in sea water until ready to eat!)
- Once you’ve gathered the sea urchin, transfer them to the place that you’ll be preparing them. This is likely when you’ll want to transfer them the bowl filled with sea water.
- When ready to eat, begin an incision at the center hole in the bottom of the urchin, cutting width- or length-wise (either way works!).
- Once open, remove all the sand inside. Depending on the amount of sand, you may be able to pick the grains out or, if there’s more, may want to submerge under water and shake gently to remove the sand (being careful not to lose the sea urchin roe). Make sure to remove anything else that is non-roe.
- Enjoy straight from the shell or place on a serving plate. Remember it’s never as fresh than right out of the shell so make sure to enjoy straight away!
Where to buy sea urchins pls?
Where can i buy sea urchins pls.?
Sea urchins are considered a delicacy here in Sardinia, where I am from. However in the last couple of years there’s been a massive restriction on fishing and selling them, as they are a highly endangered species. People still do it – probably without realizing that if they continue, we soon won’t have any left. I truly hope that the situation in Croatia is better than it is here and people are more responsible. And by all means, I know that fishing for personal consumption like you did does not have nearly the same impact as fishing for the market.
Hi Claudia — thank you for sharing! Actually, what we found in Croatia was that sea urchin was not very popular at all (at least on the islands we visited). While we saw hundreds of sea urchin on almost every beach we visited, it wasn’t a popular restaurant menu item and when we asked the locals about it, they didn’t know much about consuming it (except for one very helpful chef in Korcula!).
I was told by a local that they consider it to be garbage and only good to filter urine from the sea. I was very surprised how uninterested they are on sea urchin considering it’s everywhere.
Wow! That’s interesting.