Made with just 4 simple ingredients, Uni Toast is a better way of buttering your bread! Fresh sea urchin makes butter a little sweet and a little briny, perfect for crusty french bread.
An easy sea urchin recipe
This Uni Toast recipe is super easy, so I thought I would tell you a little about my favorite fish market. Keep reading below to find out where the best fish market is and where I purchased my fresh uni!
What is uni?
The day we visited the fish market, they had fresh uni. Uni is the Japanese name for sea urchin. I’ve bought it here before in the shell but this time, it was already shelled and ready to eat. Winning!
Uni has a firm texture and is normally served raw. Bite into it and it’s smooth and creamy with a sweet, slightly briny flavor. I love it.
I ate at least half of the uni raw and decided to make a butter out of the rest. My plan was to slather it on toasted slices of my homemade french bread with dinner that night. YUM!
How to make uni butter for uni toast
Uni butter is simple and easy to make: basically you take butter, fresh uni, and a touch of sea salt. Keep it covered in the refrigerator and use it in place of regular butter over the next– days.
I like to have small pieces of uni in the butter, so I don’t mix it up too much. The pieces just melt into the bread when toasting it under the broiler.
Ways to use uni butter
- On scrambled eggs
- Stir it into sautéed veggies
- Top a grilled steak or seafood
- Add a few tablespoons to cooked pasta, rice, and mashed potatoes
- Spread it on a big piece of french bread for uni toast!!
Ain’t nobody got time for counting calories when eating bread, so be generous with the uni butter, my friends.
Uni butter just makes toast taste better. I know uni is a little weird, but sometimes you have to try new and strange ingredients.
Harbor Fish Market for the BEST and freshest seafood
If you find yourself in the beautiful coastal city of Portland, Maine, you have to visit the Harbor Fish Market. This is fresh cold water seafood at it’s best!
Even if you don’t like seafood, I bet you’ll find something here you do like. If you are a seafood lover, well then, you just walked through the gates of heaven.
The wonderful city of Portland Maine
Portland is one of my favorite cities because:
- Water is everywhere you look. It’s right on the Atlantic, so the views are to die for!
- It’s a fantastic walkable city
- There are some of the best farm-to-table restaurants around
- And some of the best breweries too!
- Lastly, the Harbor Fish Market is there
With all that Portland has to offer, the Harbor Fish Market is pretty much the main reason why I go visit. Yeah, it’s all that or so much more.
Their selection of oysters is astounding, the scallops are the size of your hand, and the fish is unbelievably fresh. Like, right outta the water fresh.
Most everything is local to Maine or the New England area and is labeled with the point of origin so you know exactly what you are getting.
Oysters galore!!! We are huge oyster lovers so this is the frosting on the cake for us.
At home, enjoying one of the oysters with with a homemade mignonette (red wine vinegar and shallots).
Wild Atlantic salt cod and it makes the most unbelievably tasty fritters!
Huge scallop on the top (yes, that’s my hand, not a child’s) and fresh raw tuna on the bottom. If all these pictures haven’t convinced you at this point that this place is the best fish market ever, then it never will.
If you have a chance to pick up some fresh uni, try making some butter and this delicious Uni Toast. Next time you are in Portland Maine, don’t forget to visit the Harbor Fish Market or seek out the best fish market in your area!
Uni Toast
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted grass-fed butter, softened
- 1/4 cup of fresh uni (sea urchin)
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco
- 1 french bread baguette, cut into 1″ slices
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven broiler on high. In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter, uni, lemon juice, sea salt, and Tabasco.
- Spread the uni butter generously on the bread slices and broil until lightly brown (about 1-2 minutes). Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Makes 1/2 cup of uni butter.
- Store leftover in a tightly covered container for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Butter can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap tightly in freezer proof plastic wrap or freezer storage bag.
sara says
lol, i just came home from portland with my haul from harbor fish mkt, possibly my favorite place to visit besides disney. planning a dinner for friends tonight and googled “uni toast” and it brought me to this post. so new england! fish on!!
Karrie says
Are you my sister? lol! Love that you love Harbor Fish Market (and Disney) as much as I do! Hope you had a fantastic dinner party and enjoyed the uni toast. Thanks so much for commenting on my post too Sara. GO NEW ENGLAND!!!
[email protected] says
I never thought I’d be interested in trying uni..but you’ve convinced me! It’ll try anything on toast! Great post! Love the photos and I can’t believe the size of that scallop!
Heather wells says
I’m your best ever friend. Best. Ever. Best.
Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom says
Omg, omg, omg!!!! I am in love! Seriously, I think my heart skipped a beat when I read the title! Uni is one of my all-time favorite foods – tastes like butta! Creating an uni butter for toast is pure genius! I HAVE TO try this! You just made my week girlfriend! xoxo!
Nelson says
I can attest the fresh squid statement, I’ve caught squid and cooked it right away and it is the best! I’ve never tried sea urchin before but the idea of uni butter on toast is pure genius.
Sophie says
This place sounds like HEAVEN… that scallop! My jaw literally dropped!!
Very intrigued by this uni butter… I have my doubts that I’ll be able to find any uni here, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled!