Fried kina on toast

Photo: Josh Griggs

This simple dish could be considered slightly controversial, as I believe most kina eaters would think it was sacrilege to consume kina in any other state than raw. Don’t get me wrong, I love raw kina and will always pick up a dozen or so when going for a dive. The thing is, I want more Kiwis (especially Pākehā) to start understanding how delicious they are, and by serving them this way I see it as the gateway to discovering how darn tasty sea urchin (kina) can be.

There is also another motive running alongside what I’ve said in this intro: in parts of New Zealand we have created what are now called ‘kina barrens’, where the kina have taken over and consumed much of the kelp forests, creating an imbalance in our delicate and precious ocean ecosystem. This has come about due to the overfishing of kina predators, such as snapper and rock lobster. So let’s eat more kina, helping the kelp re-establish and in turn getting our fisheries back in balance and abundance.

Serves . . . up to you

kina tongues
plain flour (start with 1 cup; increase for a larger batch)
ground cumin (start with 2 tablespoons; increase for a larger batch)
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vogel’s bread (I prefer Very Thin slices)
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
canola oil, for frying
butter, for frying
a lemon or two, for squeezing

To best extract the delicate kina tongues, crack the kina open and turn the shell upside down to drain for a few minutes. This helps the dark, ugly-looking membrane dislodge itself from the tongue.

Run a spoon up and under each kina tongue, gently placing the tongues in a bowl until you complete the task. Refrigerate until required.

Mix the flour and cumin together thoroughly in a bowl (use a ratio of 1 cup of flour to 2 tablespoons cumin).

Place a skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Start toasting your Vogel’s bread.

Take the kina tongues and carefully place them on some kitchen paper. Put another piece of kitchen paper on top to get the kina tongues as dry as possible. Season with salt and pepper.

Once your skillet is hot, place a dozen or so kina tongues in a dry sieve and spoon over liberal amounts of the cumin flour. Lightly shake the sieve so the excess flour mix falls through into a bowl; you can use this again for the next batch. The tongues will have taken on a light dusting of the flour mix and should be separated from each other.

Add a small amount of canola oil to the hot pan, then carefully add the kina tongues, along with a teaspoon or so of butter. Cook the kina for no more than a minute either side. They will caramelise quickly, and the trick is to not overcook them as you want them still soft in the centre.

Spoon the cooked kina tongues onto buttered Vogel’s toast, squeeze over some lemon juice, tuck in, and feel your eyes roll back in your head—you won’t believe how good these are.

P.S. You could always top these with a fried egg . . . just saying.

Recipes extracted from Eat Up New Zealand: The Bach Edition by Al Brown, photography by Josh Griggs, published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP $49.99.