The Bizarre $300 Costco Seafood Delicacy Customers Love (Apparently It Tastes Better Than It Looks)

Costco is known to have some of the best prices in the grocery biz thanks to its Kirkland Signature brand and bulk buying that brings down name-brand prices. When it comes to seafood, there are plenty of budget-friendly frozen seafood staples and frozen seafood meals to choose from.

Costco's Wild Alaska Giant Whole Cooked Red Sea Cucumbers, however, stray from the norm. They come in three 3-pound bags and are priced at a whopping $289.99, which translates to around $32 per pound. The sea cucumbers are caught by divers who pluck them off the ocean floor, after which they're cleaned and cooked for added convenience.

While they may look more like seafloor monsters than an appetizing fillet of fish, sea cucumbers are quite the ocean delicacy, touted for their myriad health benefits and revered in many Asian countries as an ingredient that only the elite can afford. Indeed, it seems that sea cucumbers are an exclusive treat no matter where you reside in the world. Still, Costco customers love them — at the time of writing, the sea cucumbers boast an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Additionally, Redditors said that it's a great delicacy to ring in the Lunar New Year.

Costco's expensive sea cucumbers aren't the only delicacy that has customers wide-eyed; Costco's high prices for crab legs and lobster tails also leave shoppers shell-shocked. One naysayer on Reddit joked that, with the price of sea cucumbers, they're going to "stick to land cucumbers." But for a special-occasion, high-protein dinner, most seem to think they're worth the splurge. The great thing about Costco's red sea cucumbers is that they're cleaned and cooked, which takes a lot of work out of their preparation.

Costco's sea cucumbers are frozen, so you'll want to thaw them before adding them to a recipe. Despite being cleaned and cooked, you should still slice the cucumbers lengthwise and rinse the cavities under cold water to remove any debris that might remain. Some folks also blanch them in boiling water to revive their texture and rid them of any briny or freezer-burned flavors on the surface. 

You can then slice them and throw them into stir-fries or soups. Sea cucumbers are said to have a mild flavor, so pairing them with sauces or seasonings can elevate it. You can develop a rich sauce on the stove with aromatics and Asian condiments like hoisin or soy sauce, bringing it to a simmer before tossing in the sea cucumbers.