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Hokkaido Ensui Bafun Uni (Highest Quality in Japan) - 日本最高品質・塩水ウニ+職人の煮切り醤油

$129.00

What's the difference between boxed uni and ensui ("salt water") uni?

Despite the fact that uni found at high end restaurants will almost always come as neatly arranged rows inside a wooden box, most professional chefs will choose to serve ensui uni when cooking at home or for their friends. This is because most boxed uni contains a preservative known as myouban (alum) to help the uni last for longer and retain its shape - alum is what causes the slightly unpleasant/bitter aftertaste that you notice in uni.

Instead of using preservatives, ensui uni is kept fresh by being stored in salt water similar to the oceans where it was picked from (in case you might be wondering, the uni doesn't taste any saltier than their boxed counterparts). Keeping the uni in salt water means that you can taste uni in its most natural form (its sublime sweetness, creaminess, and texture). However, the lack of preservatives means it will keep for a much shorter period of time, which is why most restaurants prefer not to use ensui uni despite its pure taste.

We recommend enjoying this uni with fresh wasabi and the highest quality sushi nori.

Is it that different from normal uni?

This is the first thing that many will ask, and the answer is yes! Nothing else beats the sweetness, texture, and clarity of ensui uni. From the comforts of your home, you can experience what uni is truly supposed to taste like, as if it were just picked out of the ocean. We guarantee this will be a hit at your next dinner party! For an even more interesting experience, you can try doing a side by side taste test between ensui and boxed uni.

※ Boxes comes with a built-in strainer for convenience, which you can use to easily separate the uni and water.

    Weight 100g
    Region Hokkaido・Sanriku Coast
    Storage Refrigerated
    Best Before Consume within the same day of delivery, or the next day

    「塩水ウニ」と「板ウニ」の違いは?

     塩水ウニは、殻から取り出したウニを海水同等の塩水に浸したものです。プラスチック容器に入っており、生ウニの美味しさをそのまま味わえることが特徴です。一方「板ウニ」の多くは、形を保つための凝固剤代わりにミョウバンが使用される場合も多く、板の上に綺麗に並べられています。ウニ=苦いと感じるのは、このミョウバンの風味です。

    塩水ウニの甘さがすごい!

     そんなに違うの?と思う方も多いはず……でもそんなに甘いんです!食感も甘みも風味もまさに獲れたてに近く、一度味わったら脳裏に焼きつく甘さです。 ウニが苦手でも「塩水ウニ」だけは食べられるという人もいるほどですね。

    サイズ 100g
    産地 北海道・三陸
    輸送保管 冷蔵
    賞味期限 到着日含めて2日前後 

    All fresh/live seafoods arrive by air once per week. Before placing your order, please refer to this page for the latest information on the next available delivery/pickup dates, weekly order cut-off times, and other important information.

    If you have any special requests or questions, please contact us

    How do you guarantee the freshness of my seafood? (Hint: it's much more than just using the fastest air shipping)

    Takuya has extensive experience working in the seafood industry, consistently handling high-end fish when he worked as an auctioneer at Tsukiji Market (now known as Toyosu Market) for over 10 years. From logistical solutions like oxygen-regulated water tanks to traditional Japanese techniques such as ikejime, Takuya will draw on his expertise to deliver you the highest level of freshness and quality. To learn more about how fresh seafood reaches your doorsteps, click here for an interesting read.

    To share his love of seafood with you, Takuya hand-picks a fresh selection of the highest quality fish every week, and he hopes that you will enjoy them as much as he does. However, he also know that some expert foodies will want to explore and try even more seafoods!

    Toyosu Market is full of Japan's rich culinary wonders (not just seafood, but also fruits and produce), and Takuya-san will be able to source any item that you are looking for on the auction floor. He has a lot of knowledge about the best season ('shun') for each species, fishing locations/towns, and varieties, so he would love to talk with you and share his passion for seafood. Just send him an email or use the contact form!

    For example, if you are looking for the highest grade of uni that is exclusively found at Tokyo's top restaurants (these can go from $600-1000 per box), Takuya will get these for you at the auction. Or if you are looking for live kegani, he can arrange for them to be shipped from Hokkaido the moment they are pulled out of the water. If you are confident in your knife skills and have a lot of stomachs to fill, you could even try making sushi with a 3kg block of bluefin tuna.

    If you're curious about how the whole process works, click here to learn more about the role of Toyosu Market (which acts as a central exchange location for seafood distribution in Japan) and how seafood reaches your door.

    See below for examples and ideas of Japanese culinary wonders that you could try at home.

    Why we launched Tsukiji Selections

    After moving to Canada, I realized that there were many people who wanted to eat authentic Japanese fish, but did not have the chance to try them. Through Tsukiji Selections, I wanted to share delicious fish with as many people as possible, because people feel HAPPY when they discover delicious foods!

    However, as much as tasty fish can make people happy, it can also be a huge burden on the environment. If we continue to capture a limited number of marine fish, the ecosystem will gradually collapse, making it impossible to return to its original balance. A huge part of my mission when starting Tsukiji Fish Market is to promote sustainable seafood. I want everyone to know that there are so many more types of fish out there, beyond the ones that people are already familiar with in BC. Adding these new fish to your diet not only makes a tasty addition to your family dinner table, but also diversifies our consumption patterns. If we are able to explore and enjoy an even larger variety of fish, we can reduce our strain on overfished populations.

    With sustainability in mind, I am committed to introducing a variety of high quality fish which are hard to find in Canada, so that more people become aware of the thousands of seafood species that they are missing out on.

    築地セレクションズ

    築地セレクションズとは、築地セリ人であった疋田が日本人向けに開始した水産物販売サービスでした。その後、口コミで好評を得て、多くの方にその広がりを増しています。築地セレクションズは下記のような気持ちでスタートしました。

    美味しい日本食を食べようとすると、なかなか本物 “Hon-mono” に出会う事ができない。バンクーバーでも、食卓で日本の味を気軽に愉しんでもらいたい、家族・友人で美味しさを共有してほしい、そんな想いが届けばとても嬉しいです。

    築地セレクションズは、本物 “Hon-mono” を取り入れられるようなライフスタイルに貢献したいという想いから、魚のエキスパートである築地セリ人の疋田が始めました。また、食育の基本は家庭です。セレクションズを通して、食卓から次世代への架け橋をお手伝いし、魚を食べる楽しみを未来に繋いでいきたいです。