Luscious sea urchins anyone? Swaki ta bai!

Categories Food
Pour some vinegar and spoon some!
Pour some vinegar and spoon some!

Yes, 23 years ago, I first stepped foot on Camiguin’s popular White Island. And 23 years ago, a friend from our group dug into the sand, got swaki (sea urchin), cut it into two and I had my first taste of the salty sweet morsel that drives Japanese crazy. Uni, as what they call them.

Twenty three years to the present, I once stepped into White Island and this time, I was with a friend. Just the two of us and planning to enjoy the white strip, the cool water and just savor an away time. But a man with a basket came near.

Swaki bai, Sea urchin sir.

Well, at P20, its still a steal and from what I gathered, these were freshly dug from the sand. And who wouldn’t want to have a taste of gonads of a sea creature? I got two, one for me and my friend. The vendor happily got one. Put down his basket and with a knife, he struck the widest part of the hapless sea urchin.

Crack! With his hands he parted the two halves. Bits of seaweeds that the creature ate and digested and those yellowish gonads sticking to the inner walls in five strips. With a few drops of vinegar, he gave it to me with a plastic spoon. I took a spoonful, took a bite and was relishing the freshness. Indeed, it was so good. Too good to pass.

Have you tasted this one, fresh?

Yummy sea urchins!
Yummy sea urchins!
Sea urchin in a basket with a plastic bottle of vinegar
Sea urchin in a basket with a plastic bottle of vinegar
Cutting  crosswise the sea urchin
Cutting crosswise the sea urchin
Are you ready to eat these delicious morsels?
Are you ready to eat these delicious morsels?
The popular multicolored parasol in White Island. It's also where most of these vendors get their sea urchin.
The popular multicolored parasol in White Island. It’s also where most of these vendors get their sea urchin.
I'm a Travel and Architecture photographer, blogger and writer based in Cebu, the Philippines.

A true blue Cebuano, I make stunning images and meaningful stories. My work has been published in various coffee table books as well as local and international publications including Geo (Germany), Sunday Times Magazine (London), done photo assignments for Mabuhay and written posts in Smile.

My personal Photography work has been exhibited around Asia and Europe including Paris in France, Germany, The Netherlands, South Korea, China and around the ASEAN regional capitals.

I am a peripatetic traveler and have been to all 81 Philippine provinces and abroad.

Check out my portfolio site at StanCabigas.

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