Uni-Hishio : Fukui’s Specialty Sea Urchin Sauce
The “Wakasa (若狭)” district in Fukui Prefecture is known for being rich in seafood from ancient times. In fact, it is said that, in the Nara Period (奈良時代 : 710 to 794), the lord presented the seafood caught in the district, such as salt, fish and seaweed, to the imperial court of Japan.
In the old days, the sea urchin, “Uni (雲丹)” was caught in large quantities in Wakasa, and now the district is known for having a specialty sea urchin sauce.
Unihishio (雲丹醤)
The specialty sea urchin sauce that Wakasa boasts is called “Uni-Hishio (雲丹醤)” (Amazon.com). The Uni sauce is made by salting sea urchin roe, and then fermenting and aging the salted sea urchin.
The Ingredients
Specifically, according to the label on the glass bottle, the ingredient of the Unihishio sauce mainly includes sea urchin, sugar, salt, onion, amino acid, spices, and paprika pigment.
The Taste
The Uni-Hishio sauce has a golden brown color that comes primarily from its main ingredient sea urchin eggs. It has a right amount of salt and the fermentation and aging process imparts depth of flavor and distinctive umami to the sea urchin sauce.
The Uses
The above small folded leaflet came with the product. According to that, the sea urchin sauce, Unihishio can be used in various ways.
It can be used as a sauce for pasta and fried seafood, and goes well with “Tamago Kake Gohan (卵かけご飯 : Uncooked egg on rice)”. Besides, the Uni sauce can also be used as a secret seasoning in Ramen.
Actually, this was the first time I tried the Unihishio sauce. This time, I tasted it with fresh vegetables, Sashimi fresh raw fish slices, and plain white rice.
With Sashimi
Instead of soy sauce, I ate Sashimi slices dipping in the Uni sauce. As the above leaflet says, this usage was very nice.
Dipping Fresh Vegetables in the Uni-Hishio Sauce with Mayonnaise
Fresh vegetables match perfectly with the sea urchin sauce as well. Especially, a dip of Unihishio sauce and mayo is great.
With Steamed Plain Rice
Using Uni-Hishio with steamed plain rice, I found out that this sea urchin sauce is suitable for plain foods in particular.
| Unihishio Sea Urchin Sauce 140g |
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| Amazon.com |
