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Cucumaria or sea cucumber (lat. Cucumaria) - a genus of echinoderms from the class of holothurians ( Holothuroidea), which has about 50 species. Although most often all holothurians are simply called generically sea ​​cucumbers, which is not entirely true...

Sea cucumbers, including cucumber, are used by humans for food (usually boiled, dried or canned) and have an unusual taste.

You can read and look in detail about cucumaria (and not only) in various sources.

Thus, cucumaria is a valuable raw material both in gastronomic and medicinal senses...

There are many recipes for cooking cucumaria. Next, one of them will be described and shown, which I have been using myself for several years now...

01. Of course, it’s better to take freshly caught cucumaria (and even better than sea cucumber), but if you don’t have it, you can also use frozen, which is sold in fish stores peeled and frozen. Most often it is frozen in large blocks, which are cut into small briquettes before sale. In our case, we got the shapeless edge of such a block.

02. For further work with cucumaria, it must be defrosted (thawed) in air or water.

03. Water defrosting occurs faster and at the same time the cucumari raw material can be washed and cleaned of internal elements that were not removed during production.

04. Thoroughly wash the thawed cucumaria and clean it of sand, entrails and mucus...

Often, along with cucumaria, its more delicate relative, sea cucumber, is found, so at this stage it is advisable to separate them, because sea ​​cucumber cooks much faster. If there is a lot of sea cucumber in a frozen briquette, then it is advisable to cook it separately, and if there are few (1-2-3 copies), then skip steps 12-13 of this recipe and add the sea cucumber to the pan along with the bay leaf (item 14).

05. This is what defrosted cucumaria looks like from the “back”...

06. And so - from the inside (reverse side).

On the white pulp, yellow remains of the entrails are visible, which it is advisable to remove before cooking. Although some do this later.

07. Put it on fire large saucepan with water, which we salt generously. In camping conditions, sea (sea) water is often used.

08. As soon as the water boils, add cucumber to it.

09. After boiling, cook for 10 minutes and drain in a colander.

10. Rinse thoroughly and, if necessary, remove previously unremoved particles of entrails.

11. When cooked, cucumaria shrinks, curls up and decreases in size and becomes hard (elastic).

12. Transfer the washed cucumaria into a smaller container (preferably with a thick bottom to better retain heat during the final stage of cooking) and fill with cold water.

13. Add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 2 liters of water and put on fire.

After the water boils, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours over low heat. Some people recommend cooking for 4 hours, but I think that's overkill.

14. 10-15 minutes before the end of cooking, add black peppercorns (3-4 pieces), cloves (1-2 pieces) and a couple of bay leaves. After turning off the heat, cover the pan with a towel and leave it on the stove for an hour and a half. Sometimes when cooking in the evening I cook it a little less (no more than an hour), but then I leave it to simmer on the turned off stove until the morning. This is exactly what a thick-bottomed saucepan is for.

15. Then the water is drained, and the boiled cucumaria is cooled to room temperature.

The finished cucumaria should be slightly soft. If it turns into jelly, it means you overcooked it. If it turns out to be tough, it is undercooked, therefore, it must be finished cooking or passed through a meat grinder, depending on what kind of cucumaria dish will be prepared later.

16. Then the cucumaria is cut into pieces. Most often it is cut into strips.

17. Chopped boiled cucumaria is a semi-finished product for cooking large quantity delicious and healthy dishes (there will be a separate post about them). Although it is already ready for use and can be used as an independent product.

Since preparing cucumaria is a fairly long process, I usually cook a lot of cucumaria at a time (2-3 kg) and, after cutting, pack it in plastic bags and freeze it. It’s very convenient - I decided to cook a dish with cucumber, and it’s already ready - you just need to defrost it and add it where needed, for example, in a hodgepodge with seaweed and vegetables, but more on that next time.

Bon appetit!

Sea cucumber, sea cucumber, sea egg capsules are all different names for one marine echinoderm invertebrate mollusk, which looks like a fat caterpillar. There are over a thousand species of this mollusk; sea cucumber trepang is a number of subspecies that are classified as edible and are used as food. Differences between species relate to the structure of the tentacles, size and internal organs.

These animals live in the depths of salty sea waters, the average depth at which they are found is about 100 m. The oval body of the mollusk can resemble a cucumber, it is covered with thick skin and spines, sometimes very similar to the pimples of a cucumber.

Appearance of holothuria

Holothuria is a unique mollusk that resembles both a worm and a caterpillar at the same time. Its body is soft, in some cases the skin can be smooth, in others it can be rough and have growths. Depending on the type, spines are short and long. The color of the sea cucumber also differs from one species to another, but dark tones predominate: gray, green, black, brown.

The variety of sizes of holothurians is impressive, the smallest representatives do not exceed 0.5 cm, and the largest ones can reach 5 meters! This is how they attract hunters of sea animals.

Sea cucumbers cannot chew or grind food; there are no teeth or other devices for this in the mouth. The mouth is located at the front end of the body. Some species resemble a ball or flask; they are able to attach to rocks or burrow into mud, this is possible due to the location of the mouth closer to the back.

A distinctive feature of holothurians is the presence of tentacles around the mouth, these are modified ambulacral legs. Their structure varies, and the number varies from 10 to 30 pieces. The function of the tentacles is to capture and catch food from the bottom or water space.

The fact that holothuria has such extraordinary look, does not make it difficult to identify the dorsal and abdominal areas by eye. The morphological structure of the sea cucumber's abdomen is strikingly different from other animals. Holothuria always moves on its side, so the names of the dorsal and abdominal regions do not quite coincide with the usual ideas about them.

The head and body of a sea cucumber are in most cases inseparable, but some forms of sea cucumber have noticeable boundaries that separate the head from the rest of the body. This is a very slow animal that moves by squeezing and unclenching. But most of It spends its life simply lying on its side, so catching them is quite simple. To a large extent, catching consists of searching for the animal rather than actually catching it.

One of the species of Holothuria is the Giant California Sea Cucumber, an absolutely unique animal. Despite the fact that he has a completely normal mouth, he also uses his anus as a mouth. The respiratory tract of these animals also located in the anus. Therefore, it turns out that their anus performs three vital functions in the body.

There are cases where these animals reproduced asexually. When one organism was divided, both parts grew the missing parts, resulting in two full-fledged organisms.

Sea cucumber sea cucumber

Some of the species of sea cucumbers that are eaten are called sea cucumbers; there are at least 30 such species. They are caught mainly off the coast of Japan and the Malay Archipelago, but this is also possible in the Vladivostok region. This is a very nutritious product that has high a set of vitamins, proteins, amino acids and nutrients. It is worth noting the very low calorie content of sea cucumbers.

The composition of sea cucumbers includes:

• Groups of vitamins A, C, E, PP.
• Fluorine, iron, magnesium, calcium, cobalt, nickel, potassium and many other elements.

Holothuria is considered a healing and restorative natural substance that allows you to quickly get back on your feet after operations or serious illnesses. In oriental medicine, sea cucumber meat has long been used for metabolic problems, to increase blood pressure, and various heart diseases, as well as for tissue regeneration. It will be useful to take sea cucumber meat for iodine deficiency, endocrine disorders, and problems with the thyroid gland.

Sea cucumber renders positive influence on human health, so by including it in your menu, you can prevent many diseases. Also, sea cucumber will be useful for patients with arthritis, it is different beneficial effect on joints, some elements from the composition of sea cucumber can eliminate pain and stiffness of the joints.

Not only meat is produced from this mollusk, but also a concentrated extract. Chinese doctors claim that this extract has the same properties as meat. But also, it significantly increases immunity, improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system, and helps keep the body in the necessary tone. Special recommendations for the use of hoods apply to pensioners and people suffering from chronic diseases.

But sea cucumber also has contraindications:

• Hyperfunction of the thyroid gland.
• Hypertension, a substance that increases blood pressure.
• Not recommended for children under 15 years of age.
• Seafood intolerance.

Cooking sea cucumber

There should be no problems with preparing these shellfish; it is not difficult.

You should start by preparing the dried product, washing it thoroughly until there is no trace of the black powder left. Then it is left to soak in water, the water needs to be changed from time to time. After that he cook for 3 hours. If the sea cucumber is fresh, it is washed and boiled for 2-3 hours until the meat is soft. Various dishes are prepared from boiled meat.

There are a huge variety of dishes that can be prepared from sea cucumber. It can be various soups and salads, you can stew it with vegetables, chicken or horseradish, fry it with onions or tomato sauce. Hot sauces go best with shellfish dishes.

For example, sea cucumber with honey has gained high popularity among lovers of delicacies not only for its taste, but also for its unique beneficial properties for the body.

If you come across a product that is too dry, it should be soaked for several days. Readiness for cooking is determined by the purity of the water when rinsing; if the water is completely clean, you can start cooking.

The storage conditions for dry sea cucumber are standard: a dark and cool place, away from sunlight. Cooked or fresh product can be placed in the freezer, but if it spends there for more than 2 months, it will lose its properties. healing properties.

Japanese chefs prepare sea cucumbers raw. Having previously cleaned and washed it, cut it into pieces and pour vinegar or sauce over it.

IN lately, canned sea cucumber has gained popularity; many global companies have already launched conveyor production of canned sea cucumber. For this purpose, they even began to artificially breed it on special farms.

At first glance, it is difficult to assume that sea cucumber is edible; some may even find it disgusting to look at. But after studying it in more detail, it turns out very useful product, which will help tone the body and protect against various diseases. Finally, it can simply become a tasty and satisfying dinner, while at the same time being a dietary product.

Holothuroidea Blainville, 1834

The modern fauna is represented by 1,150 species, divided into 6 orders, which differ from each other in the shape of the tentacles and calcareous ring, as well as the presence of some internal organs. About 100 species are found in Russia. The oldest fossils of holothurians date from the Silurian period.

Holothurians, relatives of sea stars and urchins

Biology

Unlike other echinoderms, holothurians lie “on their side” at the bottom, with the side bearing three rows of ambulacral legs ( trivium) is ventral, and the side with two rows of ambulacral legs ( bivium) dorsal. In deep-sea holothurians, the ambulacral legs can be greatly elongated and used as stilts. Some species move due to peristaltic contractions of the muscles of the body wall, pushing off from the ground with protruding calcareous bones.

Most sea cucumbers are black, brown or greenish in color. Body length varies from 3 cm to 1-2 meters, although one species ( Synapta maculata) reaches 5 m.

Lifestyle and nutrition

Holothurians are sedentary or crawling animals found in almost any part of the ocean - from the coastal strip to deep-sea depressions; most abundant in tropical coral reef environments. Most species are bottom-dwelling, but there are also pelagic ones. They usually lie “on their side”, raising the front, oral end. Holothurians feed on plankton and organic debris extracted from bottom silt and sand, which is passed through the digestive canal. Other species filter food from bottom waters with tentacles covered with sticky mucus.

In case of severe irritation, the back part of the intestine is thrown out through the anus along with the water lungs, scaring off or distracting the attackers; Lost organs are quickly restored. In some species, Cuvier's tubules containing toxins are also released. Sea cucumbers are hunted by sea stars, gastropods, fish and crustaceans. Fish called fieraspheres ( Fierasfer), sometimes pea crabs ( Pinnotheres).

Reproduction and development

Life expectancy is from 5 to 10 years.

Economic importance

Some species of sea cucumbers, especially from the genera Stychopus And Cucumaria, are eaten as “trepangs”. In China and Southeast Asian countries they are considered a delicacy, served fresh or dried with fish and vegetables. Their fishing is most developed off the coast

Sea cucumbers > Black sea cucumber = Black sea cucumber = Holothuria atra
Black sea cucumber is a Holothurian genus Holothuria They are distinguished by a long worm-like body. They are widespread in the Red Sea. Some specimens can reach significant sizes of 35 - 45 cm. Animals form significant concentrations on coral shallows. The black sea cucumber slowly moves along the bottom and swallows the soil, assimilating the organic particles in it. The Black Sea Cucumber lives for about 10 years. The black sea cucumber is inactive; sometimes it covers the top of its body with shell fragments or algae. Various uninvited guests often find refuge inside the Black Sea Cucumber. For example, pearl fish Сarapus up to 20 cm long, lives in the intestines of sea cucumbers, penetrating there through the anus of the animal. She leaves her shelter only at night, for a short time, to find food. Holothuria does not derive any benefit from such cohabitation, but on the contrary: quite often large fish tear its insides apart. The genus Holothuria has more than a hundred species, about a quarter of which are eaten. However, there are also poisonous species. Holothuria atra is a fairly typical worm-shaped holothurian. The color is black or dark brown with large light spots of irregular shape. The black sea cucumber is a sandy soil dweller.

Article: Sea cucumbers (repeated).

Holothurians differ from other modern echinoderms in their elongated, sometimes worm-like, cucumber-like shape, and in the absence of protruding spines. To the touch, the body of a sea cucumber is leathery, slimy, sometimes rough and wrinkled. Holothurians live on sandy or rocky seabeds. Holothurians capture food using their tentacles located around the mouth opening. Some sea cucumbers feed by filtering the water, but most of them ingest coral sand, excreting organic matter from it. It is estimated that sea cucumbers “serving” one hectare of the seabed are capable of sifting 150 tons of sand in a year. Many species of sea cucumbers have unusual defense mechanisms: they throw out their insides, which grow back within a few months. Holothurians are widespread throughout the World Ocean and inhabit all depths in seas with oceanic salinity. Along with some types sea ​​urchins, sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus and Holothuria play a significant role in the human economy. Some species are eaten as sea cucumbers. In Southeast Asian countries, they are even grown on special underwater farms. Holothurians are sedentary animals that can often be found underwater. Watching sea cucumbers move and feed can be a real pleasure. But you still shouldn’t touch them with your hands unless absolutely necessary. Some types of sea cucumbers, when irritated or frightened, shoot out liquid, contact with which leads to inflammation of the skin or temporary loss of vision if it comes into contact with the eyes. Vadim Savchenko, an underwater photographer and diving instructor in Israel, will make you a beautiful scuba dive in Eilat, tell you what the flora and fauna are and show you where the fish and corals of the Red Sea and the Black Sea Cucumber live.