Top 10 Sea Cucumbers

Sea cucumber, also known as sea cucumber and sea mouse, is traditionally regarded as one of the four "sea delicacies": abalone, cucumber, shark fin and tripe. It is pickled with lime and other substances and then dried into dried goods. It is a precious food. But not all sea cucumbers are edible: most sea cucumbers are not edible, only 40 species are, of which about 20 species are distributed in China, and half of these 20 species are more delicious. Although they are cylindrical in shape, they vary greatly in thickness, shape and size due to different species. Different types of sea cucumbers also vary in taste, flavor and nutritional value.

So, what are the types of sea cucumbers? Today we have compiled the top ten common sea cucumbers, including imitation sea cucumbers, plum blossom sea cucumbers, Arctic sea cucumbers, red sea cucumbers, flower sea cucumbers, green sea cucumbers, white sea cucumbers, spiral sea cucumbers, pig-po sea cucumbers and topaz sea cucumbers. Let's learn about the types and grades of sea cucumbers!

1. Imitation sea cucumber (the best of all sea cucumbers, the most common edible sea cucumber, dark brown, with many and large thorns, in the North Pacific region)

Imitation sea cucumber, also known as gray sashimi or gray sea cucumber, is one of the ten most common sea cucumbers. It is mainly distributed in the North Pacific region, including the coasts of Russia, Japan and the Korean Peninsula, and is also widely distributed in Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu in my country. Imitation sea cucumbers usually live in harbors with relatively calm waves, abundant aquatic plants and no fresh water inflow, and spawn from the end of May to the beginning of July every year.

This sea cucumber has a variety of body colors, including yellow-brown, black-brown, green-brown, pure white or gray-white, but mostly black-brown. Its fleshy thorns are dense and large, its body wall is relatively thick, its meat is soft, and its taste is very delicate, so it is very popular in the market. Due to its unique soft and glutinous characteristics and thicker flesh, the imitation sea cucumber is considered to be one of the best quality edible sea cucumbers and enjoys the reputation of "the crown of sea cucumbers".

2. Plum blossom sea cucumber (king of sea cucumbers, the largest sea cucumber species, orange-yellow red/petal-shaped thorns, Xisha Islands/southern Taiwan/East Africa)

Which type of sea cucumber is the best? Plum blossom sea cucumber is considered to be one of the most delicious sea cucumbers. It is named because the base of the thorns on the back is connected into a petal shape, and it is also called pineapple sea cucumber because of its shape similar to pineapple. According to the editor, a notable feature of plum blossom sea cucumber is that it is particularly large, usually between 60 and 70 cm in length, and up to 90 to 120 cm, so it is known as the "king of sea cucumbers".

Plum blossom sea cucumbers are mainly distributed in my country's Xisha Islands, the southern tip of Taiwan, and East Africa. It has a crisp and elastic taste. Due to the high content of saponins, it tastes slightly bitter and a little spicy. Many people particularly like this "numbing taste". If you don't like this taste, you can soak it in salt water, and the effect will be more obvious.

3. Arctic sea cucumber (high-latitude cold water sea cucumber, black-gray/small body with short spines, North Atlantic)

Arctic sea cucumber, also known as Arctic sea cucumber or Arctic ice sea cucumber, as the name suggests, is a species of sea cucumber that lives in the cold waters of the North Atlantic. In this area, the maximum temperature on the water surface does not exceed 14 degrees Celsius, and it may freeze in winter. There are few people in all seasons, and there is no industrial and agricultural pollution around. Therefore, sea cucumbers grown in such an environment have almost no pollutants in their bodies, and are dormant or semi-dormant most of the time. The growth cycle is extremely long, making their nutritional content much higher than that of sea cucumbers grown in a "warm water" environment.

Arctic sea cucumbers are all natural wild sea cucumbers. High-quality Arctic sea cucumbers are naturally black and gray in color, with different shades, full and straight in appearance, relatively small in size, and short in meat thorns. They only have the salty taste of the sea cucumber itself, and smell fresh and fragrant.

4. Red sea cucumber (light red/many slender thorns, Northeast Asia/Vladivostok/Bering Strait/Alaska)

Red sea cucumbers, also known as red ginseng, are one of the best sea cucumbers in the world. Unlike other sea cucumbers that are gray, black or blue, red sea cucumbers are usually light red or orange-yellow with bright colors. They live in waters with a depth of 100 to 350 meters. Their growth cycle is 1 to 2 years longer than that of ordinary sea cucumbers. They have thicker meat and more slender thorns.

This type of sea cucumber is mainly distributed in Northeast Asia, Vladivostok and the Bering Strait in Russia, and also exists in small quantities in Alaska, USA. Among them, the red ginseng produced in the Russian Far East and Alaska is of the best quality, with a full shape and rich meat. The northern part of the Yellow Sea in my country was also rich in red ginseng, but with the increasing pollution in the sea area, its number has gradually decreased.

5. Flower sea cucumber (olive green gray/large and prominent abdominal thorns, Indian and Western Pacific region)

Flower sea cucumber is a common edible sea cucumber and one of the most delicious sea cucumbers in the world. It mainly lives near tropical coral reefs or under cracks in rocks and is widely distributed in India and the Western Pacific region. In my country, flower sea cucumbers mainly appear in coastal shallow waters such as the Beibu Gulf, the Xisha Islands, the Nansha Islands, Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula.

This sea cucumber is usually olive green-gray in color and is named for its green, yellow, red and black spots or stripes on its body. Its back is covered with many conical fleshy spines of varying sizes. The fleshy spines along the two ambulacral bands on the back and on both sides of the ventral surface are relatively large and prominent, while the rest of the fleshy spines are relatively small. The meat of the flower sea cucumber is particularly tender and is usually graded according to the weight of a single piece: Grade 1 is more than 125 grams, Grade 2 is more than 50 grams, and Grade 3 is more than 30 grams.

6. Green sea cucumber (dark green/square columnar/long fleshy spines, Xisha Islands/Nansha Islands/Southern Hainan Island)

Green sea cucumber, also known as square columnar sea cucumber or square sea cucumber, is named for its square columnar appearance and is a very popular sea cucumber species. The color of green sea cucumber is generally dark green, dark green or black green, with a body length of about 30 cm. The top of the meat spines is light yellow or reddish brown, up to 10 mm. They live in tropical coral reefs, mainly distributed in the western Pacific Ocean. In my country, they are mainly produced in the Xisha Islands, the Nansha Islands and the southern part of Hainan Island.

According to online information, green sea cucumbers are very suitable for processing into dried or frozen products. Their meat is thick and the yield of dried products is also high. Every 500 grams of dried sea cucumbers can be converted into 3250 to 3500 grams of water sea cucumbers after water treatment. Generally, they are divided into three sizes: large, medium and small in the market, corresponding to the number of 30, 40 and 70 per 500 grams respectively.

7. White sea cucumber (grayish white and yellowish brown/fat body and short spines, western Pacific Ocean)

Which sea cucumber is the best? White sea cucumber is highly praised for its high-quality meat and high nutritional value. White sea cucumber is a general term for many kinds of sea cucumbers. It is characterized by a white or light yellow body base, a slightly light yellow-brown back, a fat body, similar to a winter melon, usually about 30 cm long and 8 cm wide, with about 20 relatively short tentacles around. According to the pattern on the back, the common ones are patterned white sea cucumber and snake-eye white sea cucumber.

White sea cucumber is mainly distributed in the waters of the western Pacific Ocean. In China, it is more common in Xisha, Nansha and near Dazhou Island in Hainan. As a large edible sea cucumber, white sea cucumber has tender meat and high quality. In addition to being eaten fresh, it can also be processed into sun-dried ginseng, white sugar ginseng and white dried ginseng.

8. Spiral sea cucumber (black color/short and thick spines, American)

Spiral sea cucumber from the deep sea area is one of the top ten high-quality sea cucumber species in the world. The thread sea cucumber usually grows in the sea with a depth of about 20 meters. The environment is clean. It mainly feeds on seaweed and seabed microorganisms. It is a purely natural growth. Due to its long growth cycle, it is extremely rich in nutritional value.

At present, the thread sea cucumber produced in the United States is considered to be of the best quality. Wild thread sea cucumbers are spindle-shaped, thin at both ends and thick in the middle, with a smooth surface and black color, dense rings or wrinkles, short and thick meat thorns, thick and elastic meat. After cooking, the body of the sea cucumber remains elastic, the thorns are transparent, the meat is chewy and tough, and the taste is excellent. Even slightly extending the cooking time will not significantly affect its taste.

9. Pig Po Sea Cucumber (no thorns on the body/there are meat thorns on the abdomen/large individuals, Australia)

Pig Po Sea Cucumber is one of the most widely distributed sea cucumber species in the world, and it can be found in many places. According to the color of the body surface, the pig ginseng can be divided into three types: white pig ginseng, flower pig ginseng and black pig ginseng. Its surface is smooth and has no thorns, while there is a row of thick thorns on both sides of the abdomen, which is similar to the nipples of a sow. Because the individual is large, it looks like a piglet when lying on the seabed, so it is called pig ginseng.

Pig ginseng is mainly distributed in Australia, South Pacific island countries, the east coast of Africa and Southeast Asia. Among them, Australia produces the best, followed by Africa and South Pacific island countries, and the products in Southeast Asia are relatively poor. High-quality dried pig ginseng has full meat and thick meat after soaking. In Guangdong, pig ginseng is often used in high-end wedding banquets. It is also an important raw material for sea cucumbers in the famous dish Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

10. Huangyu Sea Cucumber (earth yellow/cylindrical, China)

Sea cucumbers can be divided into sea cucumbers and light sea cucumbers, among which the taste and nutritional value of sea cucumbers are significantly better than light sea cucumbers. Among the sea cucumbers, the yellow jade sea cucumber is the best quality one. The yellow jade sea cucumber is cylindrical, with a slightly flat belly and a yellowish earth color. There are many small warts on the back, which are shaped like thorns. It is mainly distributed in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and Xisha Islands in my country. The special thing is that the yellow jade sea cucumber has the ability to reproduce. It only needs to be cut into several sections. After a period of time, each section can regenerate into a complete sea cucumber.

Yellow jade sea cucumber contains a high level of saponin and a moderate content of acidic mucopolysaccharides, so it has extremely high edible and medicinal value. It can nourish the kidney and essence, nourish blood and moisturize dryness. It is very suitable for long-term consumption by the elderly or those who need to nourish after illness, thereby enhancing their physical fitness.

The top ten sea cucumber rankings in this article are based on the types, characteristics and quality of common sea cucumbers, and refer to the public popularity of various sea cucumbers and other related information, and then combined with other related rankings/lists on the Internet for comprehensive ranking recommendations. The list is for reference only. If you have any questions, please comment/communicate at the end.

animal tags： Sea-Cucumber