Murasaki Uni from Miyagi — And What to Do Beyond Sashimi

This Week's Uni — Murasaki from Miyagi

This week we have Murasaki Uni (紫ウニ) from Miyagi Prefecture. Murasaki — literally "purple" — is the more nuanced of the two main commercial Uni types. Where Bafun Uni hits you immediately with intensity, Murasaki is subtler and more elegant: a lighter sweetness, a softer brine, and a lingering finish that rewards attention. For first-time Uni customers, it's often the more approachable starting point. For veterans, it's what you order when you want something to contemplate rather than be bowled over by.

Reserve your box online — Uni quantities are always limited.

Beyond Sashimi — Recipe Ideas for Bluefin

Raw is not the only answer. Over the past months we've been experimenting with preparations that take our fish into French, Italian, Chinese, and Ukrainian territory — finding out which cuts survive heat, which improve with it, and which demand something beyond soy sauce and wasabi.

Some of what we've been exploring:

• Tuna Sichuan — deep-fried Sujitoro (the sinew-rich belly trim) in a hot/Sichuan pepper sauce. The collagen in the sinew melts with heat, keeping the meat moist inside the fried exterior. One of the most surprising preparations — a cut that's hard to slice for sashimi becomes extraordinary deep-fried.
• Tuna Kyiv — Sujitoro again, this time in a Kyiv-style preparation with miso butter filling. The fat of the cut and the richness of miso butter are a natural match. Deep-fried, the butter melts into the center as you cut.
• Tuna Niçoise — Akami as the centerpiece of a classic Niçoise salad. The lean, clean flavor works perfectly against the acidity of the dressing, hard-boiled eggs, and olives. A summer lunch that requires almost no cooking.
• Tuna Bolognese — Sujitoro slow-cooked as a pasta sauce. The sinew doesn't dry out the way lean beef can; it slowly releases collagen into the sauce, producing a silky, rich result. Make a large batch and freeze in portions.
• Tuna Provence — inspired by a French landlord's recipe. Akami with olive oil, tomatoes, and herbes de Provence. Simple, clean, and surprisingly elegant.

If you've found a preparation that worked well at home, we'd genuinely like to hear about it. The Recipes page covers Japanese technique, but the applications extend much further.

Souvenir — Oniyamma-kun Bug Repeller

A lighter note this week: the Oniyamma-kun (オニヤンマ君) — a model of the Japanese golden-ringed dragonfly (Oniyamma) that has become a popular outdoor accessory in Japan. The idea is that smaller insects instinctively avoid the Oniyamma, Japan's largest dragonfly and a natural predator. Whether it actually works outside Japan is an experiment we're about to run — we'll be testing it in Shenandoah over the July 4th weekend. Available at the storefront while supplies last.