Sea stars (starfish)

[oldmansurfer]

The Hawaiians ate most of the seashells here in Hawaii but ophi or the Hawaiian limpets are the most sought after ones. Billie have you tried the California limpets? Not sure if they are eddible or taste good but then there are all those mussels and the goose neck barnacles which are also edible. As far as opihi go I like to eat them raw including the guts if I am at the beach but the really big ones (more than 2 inches) I liked cooked with some butter garlic and soy sauce. Some people take the guts off and just eat the foot muscle which is crunchy and nutty tasting and I do that with big opihi. The shell I like to eat is an amphidromous species that has it's adult form in freshwater streams but the veligers (babies) go out into the ocean for a while and find their way back to the stream. So billie how do you like to eat opihi?

[oldmansurfer]

I forgot to mention the name of the amphidromous species is Hihiwai (pronounced he - he- vae) and it is not a limpet but a nerita and I prefer to eat it boiled and dipped in garlic butter.

[billie_morini]

Ol’ Man,
Thank you for sharing the ways you enjoy ophihi and for asking how I like to eat them. It does not matter whether it is yellow foot opihi, black foot opihi, or any other limpet. I eat them different ways:

1. Raw right from the shell, sometimes with a little salt or Dulse or Sriracha sauce.
2. Mixed with limes to “cook” (i. e., chemical denaturation), onions, and cilantro. Like ceviche.
3. Frilled with Tamari sauce or Sriracha sauce

Every one of these ways is ono!!

This conversation about preparing and eating limpets is funny because it is not the first time we ventured into culinary delights!

[billie_morini]

Because this forum topic is titled, “Sea Stars” and we’re talking about culinary delights, I wondered if anyone eats Sea Stars. I learned that they sold as street food in at least Qingdao, Shandong, China (southeast of Beijing and north of Shanghai). It seems like a bit of a novelty.

Sea stars are fried to cook them. Then you break off a leg and crack it open to eat the green stuff inside. It is supposed to taste a little bit like sea urchins (uni).

[oldmansurfer]

In the mean time I did a little online research and found recipes for California limpets and found that chitons are also eaten and recipes available as well as the mussels and periwinkles which I knew were eaten although mussels are off season for commercial harvest between May and October. They are still harvestable for personal use during that time. I bet the Cumash ate all those shells as well as sea urchins, seaweed, abalone etc. When I was a young surfer dude I would on occasions pick opihi and eat them as I go along or pick a few to eat with Primo beer on the beach. I have also used them as bait to catch a fish which was cooked immediately on a fire at the beach. Many locals like to eat them after they have sat around in the fridge for a day or so but I really don't like that and prefer them fresh off the rocks. Funny thing about the write ups about eating them is that every single one mentions they are tough cooked but then so is abalone. However raw they are crunchy but not tough. I wondered about the sea stars I usually eat sea urchin raw also so I wouldn't know what it tastes like cooked. Also very good if you are hot and hungry and at the beach and want something cool and refreshing and slightly sweet.

[billie_morini]

Correction: 3. Grilled with Tamari sauce or Sriracha sauce

[billie_morini]

Ol' Man, let's hear if for Primo beer! Hooray!
When it comes to personal (sport fisherman) collection shell fish in California, we are faced with quarantine from 1 May to 31 October. This is because there is potential for biotoxin concentrations high enough to make you very sick or worse. We usually see annual domoic acid concentrations so high it makes noticeable impacts on the fish and sea lions. It is sad to see a sick sea lion on the beach.

My family always enjoyed fishing, crabbing, clamming, and such while I was growing up. So, having the mussels, limpets, crab, fish, and seaweeds in great abundance is a pleasure. I did not know you could eat the gooseneck barnacle until forum member BaNZ visited one of my semi secret spots with me. He explained he ate them in Spain and they are delicious. We to plan to eventually collect some here and eat them together. One of my sailor buddies that runs boats between Croatia and Cuba tells me he sees these barnacles grow centimeters per day on his hulls.

I want to try eating chiton, too. I'm encouraged with your notes. Like you, I like these things when raw and/or fresh. Gotta eat it within minutes to hours because that's the best.

You are right about the Chumash. They had a sea food smorgasbord here in the Channel and it included BIG abalone and lots of sea urchins. There was fabulous hunting on land, too. The climate is truly mild and there are few places more optimal than this for the Native people.