POSC Pacific Ocean Sea Cucumbers: SEA CUCUMBER COOKING

Sea cucumbers are marine animals and they are used in fresh or dried form in various cuisines. Most cultures in East and Southeast Asia regard sea cucumbers as a delicacy. In some cultural contexts the sea cucumber is thought to have medicinal value.

The pacific sea cucumber (Stichopus species and other members of the family Holothurioidea) has been revered by Chinese cooks since ancient times. In particular, sea cucumber meals have been offered on special occasions, especially New Year celebrations. An ancient Confucian recipe, translated roughly as "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" and made with sea cucumber, shark's fin, and 5 kinds of fish and shellfish, is one of the classic banquet dishes. The sea cucumber is valued-along with several other delicacies, such as shark's fin, ginseng, cordyceps, and tremella-as a disease preventive and longevity tonic. It was listed as a medicinal agent in the Bencao Congxin (New Compilation of Materia Medica) by Wu Yiluo in 1757. The popular Chinese name for sea cucumber is haishen, which means, roughly, ginseng of the sea. It is often known in medical literature as fangcishen (fang = four-sided, ci = thorny; referring to the spiky protrusions that emanate from four sides) or, in abbreviated form, fangshen.

The Asian demand for sea cucumber has been so high that these have been collected from the U.S. and other countries (e.g., Australia, Philipines) to get an adequate supply. The Atlantic sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa, has been collected primarily for food, but has recently been researched as a source of medicinal components, thanks to the efforts of Coastside Bio Resources in Maine, headed by Peter Collin.

Sea Cucumber with Bailing Mushroom