Abalone

Common Name:

Red abalone, black abalone, white abalone, pink abalone, green abalone, Australian abalone, giant abalone, blackfoot abalone, pinto abalone, blacklip abalone, greenlip abalone, Japanese abalone

Product Information:

Abalone consist mainly of a large, strong foot, which is the edible meat. When cooked, abalone is milky-moist, tender and mild — somewhat like lobster, though sweeter to the sophisticated palate. Taste-wise, abalone is also a distant cousin to calamari. Cultured abalone may be slightly more tender than wild-run.Frozen meat should be firm, like an ivory-colored hockey puck. When thawed, it should have nearly no aroma. Cooked abalone appears in various shades of white. Live abalone should be active and stuck hard to the tank. The foot muscle should respond to touch. If it doesn’t, or if it dents, the animal is near death.

Cooking Tips:

Shuck live abalone with a wide spatula placed between meat and shell. Trim viscera and fringe. For steaks, make 3/8-inch slices parallel to the bottom of the foot and lightly pound with a wooden mallet until tender. Do not overpound — you will shred the meat. Heat oil to near flash point in a shallow pan, then sauté less than 1 minute per side. Overcooking turns this delicacy to shoe leather. Save trimmings for chowder stock.

Cooking Methods: