How to Choose Sea Cucumber: Count, Thickness, Smell

"An open-belly sea cucumber with a head this big is honestly rare to find elsewhere," says Carmen, who runs Fosetter in Montreal's Chinatown. Here's what she actually checks before she'll sell one.

Count the pieces per pound

"This is one pound," she says, picking up a handful at the counter. "Five, ten, fifteen, eighteen." Fewer pieces in a pound means each piece is bigger.

Feel the thickness, then smell it

"This one is very thick," she says. "And you smell it — when I'm sorting these out, can you smell a very fresh fragrance?" A clean, fresh smell while sorting is, in her words, something you rarely find elsewhere. "Because we sell a lot, the goods we bring in have to be good," she says. Whether it's for yourself or a gift, for a man, an elder or a child, it's the same stock.

Bagged or boxed, and who's behind the brand

Besides the bagged sea cucumber, Fosetter also carries a boxed line, Arctica Food. "It's from Arctic Sea Group," Carmen says. "It's the first brand that was able to clear customs into China." She's carried it for years, and says the company is an officially authorized brand — which is how she can guarantee what's on her shelf under that name is genuine.

Count the pieces, feel the thickness, smell it while it's being sorted. That's the check Carmen uses before anything with a head this big and a belly opened this way goes on her shelf.