How to cook fresh abalone – it’s easier than you think, just leave the dried version to the pros
- Readily available from seafood vendors, the hardest thing about this dish is slicing the abalone
- The classic Cantonese dish is simple, seasoned with salt and a little oyster sauce
In Cantonese cuisine, one of the most luxurious and expensive ingredients is dried abalone. It takes time and patience to prepare, and is usually reserved for banquets and other celebratory meals. As much as I love it, I’ve never cooked it – I leave that to the experts. But I do cook a fair amount of fresh abalone, which is readily available at reasonable prices from seafood vendors.
If you can’t find fresh abalone, buy frozen – taken out of the shell and cleaned – usually from South Africa or Australia. Frozen abalone is much larger than the fresh ones in seafood markets, so you will need just two or three for this recipe.
Fresh abalone with Chinese celery and bamboo shoots
As with most good Cantonese dishes, this one is very pure – it’s seasoned with salt and a little oyster sauce. It’s easy to prepare and cook; the hardest part is slicing the abalone horizontally into thin pieces, for which you will need a very sharp knife.
Removing the husk of the fresh bamboo shoot is much harder to describe than to do. Please don’t use canned bamboo shoot for this (or any) dish – it has an odd flavour, and the texture isn’t nearly as good as the fresh vegetable. You can sometimes find frozen bamboo shoots in supermarkets.
10 fresh abalone, with body size about 6.5cm, (2 ½ inch) or 2-3 frozen (and thawed) abalone, about 10cm (4 inch)in length
1 fresh (husk on) bamboo shoot, about 350 grams (12 ½ oz), or 250 grams (9 oz) peeled fresh (or frozen) bamboo shoot
10 stalks of Chinese celery
1 medium-sized onion, peeled
1 red banana chilli, a long thin one (or another mild chilli)
3-4 spring onions
15 grams (½ oz) pine nuts
20 grams (3/4 oz) oyster sauce
2-3 thin slices of peeled ginger
Fine sea salt, as necessary
About 30ml (2 tbsp) cooking oil
1 If using fresh abalone, use a sharp paring knife to cut the muscle attached to the shell. With both fresh and frozen abalone, use a clean toothbrush to scrub the entire surface under cool running water. Squeeze the fresh abalone to remove the liver, then rinse. Lay a paper towel on a cutting board, and place one abalone on top (the towel will prevent it sliding around; replace when necessary).
