New Year’s Rockin’ Uni Eve & Day
We don’t typically go out on New Year’s Eve but since this was a special one - the first with our new babe, we wanted to go all out with a multi-course uni tasting. The carefully crafted menu took inspiration from traditional Japanese uni, mixed raw fish bowls and comfort foods with a twist. Uni trays were sourced from the Lobster Place in Chelsea Market and we bought not one, but two trays of California uni.
Here is the before pic with all the ingredients:
New Year’s Eve Dinner Menu
Course 1 - Not your average blini
Course 2 - New age surf ‘n turf
Course 3 - Mega uni, sake, maguro don
New Year’s Day Brunch Menu
Course 1 - Uni breakfast taters
Course 2 - Sunny side uni
Course 3 - Triple egg scramble
My take on caviar blinis consists of your standard Russian pancake, creme fraiche, shallots and caviar... but we amped up the flavor of the sea with ponzu-soaked uni.
sea urchin
blinis
creme fraiche
shallots
ponzu drops
sturgeon caviar
Roasted bone marrow fans are down with sopping spoonfuls of greasy lard. For me, it’s a hard to eat too much of it so we cut that fat by adding an earthy citrus sauce - instantly creating a more palatable version.
sea urchin
bone marrow
parsley
capers
shallots
extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
sea salt
I’ve been waiting to have a New Year’s uni don celebration ever since I first laid eyes on this post and blogged about it here. With the addition of salmon, tuna and some fried seaweed, I present, the Mega Don!!!
sea urchin
sushi grade tuna
sushi grade salmon
salmon roe
seaweed
wasabi
rice
rice wine vinegar
This is a take on the classic eggs benedict, with a couple of swaps. A bed of tater tots replaces the traditional english muffin base and, instead of hollandaise, we drenched the poached egg in soy sauce. For fun, we threw in a slice of burrata and also added radishes for a bright veggie crunch.
sea urchin
tater tots
poached egg
burrata
radishes
soy sauce
chives
Very simple egg dish - fried sunny side up quail egg, roe and a chive garnish, over a couple pieces of uni.
sea urchin
sunny side up quail egg
salmon roe
chives
sea salt
I like to use the last pieces of uni in the tray for a good ol’ scramble. By now the uni tongues are not as fresh, and don't look as pretty, so they’re better off in sauces or mixed with other ingredients. This is also a great way to get rid of any extra salmon roe left in your fridge.
sea urchin
scrambled eggs
salmon roe