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This pricey limpet is a delicacy among Asians. Its taste
is of the brine, its texture smooth and chewy. The ama
of Japan, women divers clad in their neoprenes, have to
dive deep down to harvest them from the rocks. It is the
foot of the shell that’s eaten—and they cost an arm and
a leg.
THERE
are many delicacies which will never go out of style,
perhaps because of their rarity or the difficulty to
source or process these. Foie gras, caviar, Kobe beef,
fin de Claire oysters and abalone are on this list.
These foodstuff are expensive and you’ll never know if
they’re worth their weight in gold until you try them.
At Tin Hau of the Mandarin Oriental Manila, baby abalone
is the centerpiece of the current lunch menu. At P988+++
per person, there was a Tin Hau Barbecue Platter,
Braised Fish Soup-Auntie Song-Style (on the hot sour
taste), Stir-Fried Shrimp with Chinese Wine and Chili
Sauce, which we all liked, Steamed Dory Filet with
Minced Pork and Mooi Choy, or pickled cabbage (another
dish we enjoyed).
Two more
dishes followed: Wok-Fried Tofu with Minced Pork and
Leek Sauce on Vegetables, and Braised Crispy Egg Noodles
with Shredded Pork, Mushrooms and Bean Sprouts. And at
the center of this menu was the Braised Baby Abalone
with baby bok choy and a black Chinese mushroom (which
was too big to be swallowed whole; Tin Hau should find a
better way to serve it nicely, yet bite-sized).
I’m
guessing the sauce was of supreme chicken and reduction
from the abalone broth, if it’s true that the cooking
and tenderizing of it took eight hours! The golden sauce
had the umami taste of dried scallops, while the baby
abalone itself was chewy like canned button mushrooms.
Savor
the foot
THE foot
of the shell is the edible part of the abalone. To
render it eatable, fresh abalone has to be pounded with
a mallet to relax the tough muscles and shorten the
cooking time. Mast abalones are canned and are one of
the most expensive canned foods in the world. On time in
Unimart, I asked about abalone and was directed to the
liquor section. There, a few cans were kept by the
cashier’s booth. One can, then, was priced at P800 (no
wonder it had to be under watchful eyes!) and contained
two big abalones.
Abalone
is a single-shelled marine mollusk that has the shape of
an ear, thus it is known as “ear shell” in some
countries. Every shell is of beautiful nacre underneath
and the shell has seven holes along one side. Although
China is the biggest resource for this delicacy, other
countries have begun the aquaculture of abalone and
succeeded! Australian and
New Zealand
varieties are just as good and not as expensive. These
are shipped already tenderized, then frozen. The abalone
is known as bao yu or pau yu in Chinese, in Japanese it
is awabi, in Malay it is siput, and in
New Zealand
it is called paua. Locally, it is known as lapas/kapina.
In
exclusive Chinese restaurants, the abalone comes in the
middle of the lauriat when the guests are kind of filled
up. You can tell it would be an expensive lauriat with
the serving of abalone. In any new Chinese restaurants
there is a “fake” abalone dish wherein a large mushroom
when sliced looks like, tastes like and has the
mouthfeel of a large abalone. Such “fakes” can also be
tender mercies!
As for
the real thing, being an expensive delicacy, the abalone
risks being criticized as overrated and overpriced,
despite having that exotic mouthfeel and texture, and
despite its rarity. It is also high in selenium, and a
good source of magnesium and vitamins B12 and E. It’s
your call...take a bite. Abalone is as good as it gets!
***Source: Alan Davidson in his book Seafood: A
Connoisseur’s Guide and Cookbook (Mitchell Beazley
Publishers) |
