This Chef's Video Of A Sea Urchin Will Haunt You In Your Sleep

Leave it to chef Rene Redzepi of the famed Nordic restaurant Noma to share a food video on his Instagram feed that will absolutely terrify you.

He posted a video last week of a freshly caught sea urchin moving. One look at this thing moving and it instantly becomes clear that this sought-after, under-the-sea umami flavor bomb has been the inspiration for many horror film monsters. 

It’s all in the mouth. Look:

Creepy, we know. Here’s the thing: that scary-looking mouth is fairly harmless. It’s not going to bite you. The structure is made up of five hard plates that come together like a beak. And they use their beak-like mouths to scrape algae off of rocks.

That mouth doesn’t stop anyone from catching sea urchins and cracking them open to get to the uni   ahem, the gonads   that’s so beloved in Japanese cuisine (and has mixed reviews in the states ). We just thought you should know that it’s there.

Bon appetit!