INTRODUCTION

Eating abalone is definitely not common when I was young. We hardly or have no chance to eat abalone and we only knew about the term abalone from various literatures. It was always written that it is precious and an an expensive ingredient that fit for the kings.

However, in recent years, it seems that it is very common to have abalone dish. That could possibly due to the efficiency of worldwide transportation, progress in international trade and increase of GDP for most countries . Possibly because of these factors, import of abalone increases and thus lower the cost of procurement.  Not all abalones are expensive. It averages from S$20-80 for one abalone. Abalone has a chewy texture and to me its taste and texture just like the pacific clams. Personally, I am not a great fan of abalone and it will definitely not my choice in the restaurants.

Since I have some abalone in the fridge, I have decided to churn out a dish for Chinese New Year and share with readers . Don’t be surprised that many readers may have excess abalone during Chinese New Year period and they are looking for recipes to “dispose” it. They may not bought the abalone themselves but gifts from relatives, business associates and etc..

This is a simple recipe based on what I think is nice and I have decided to pair abalone with abalone mushrooms (杏鲍菇 / 鲍鱼菇）（scientific name: Pleurotus eryngii ). Unlike oyster mushrooms, it was called not because it resembles abalone. Instead, it was called because of its slightly chewy texture. Frankly speaking, if not because of abalone have some fishiness, one will not be able to differentiate the texture of abalone  and abalone mushrooms if it is sliced at the same thickness.

For this dish , my kids who don’t eat abalone only “attacked” the abalone mushrooms and me and my wife are “forced” to eat the abalone. To us, eating abalone is a waste of money but I know what happens in my families will be a reverse situation in many other families. I am sharing basically a concept and how I did it. Feel free to add in more abalone if you wish and you should plate your dish based on the dish shape that you are going to serve.

WHAT IS REQUIRD

Servings : 4-6 adults

• About 5-6 small – medium  size abalone
• 200 grams of abalone mushrooms
• 200 grams of ham
• Some lettuce

Sauce ingredients

• 2 tablespoon of abalone sauce
• 1 tablespoon of corn starch mix with 5 tablespoons of water
• 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine or other Chinese cooking wine
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• Pinches of salt
• Dashes of white pepper

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Slice the abalone thinly at about 2 mm thickness. Also slice the abalone mushrooms thinly into 2 mm thickness. As for the ham, use a cookie cutter to cut into your desired shape .

• In a pot of boiling water with a few drops of oil, blanch the oyster mushrooms for about 4-5 minutes and abalone for about 1-2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

• Use the same water left in the pot to blanch the lettuce leaves for 1/2 minutes. Drained and set aside.

• Select your desired serving plate, arrange the lettuce leaves followed by the abalone mushroom, cut ham and lastly the sliced abalone.

• Put all the sauce ingredients into a bowl, stir until well combine. Put it in a pan and bring to boil. Once it thickens , off the heat, pour the sauce on top of the dish. If the sauce is too sticky, add some water to dilute it. If it is too watery, bring it to boil longer for it to thicken further.

CONCLUSION

An easy peasy recipe that are suitable for house chefs. We are not professional chefs working at the restaurants, we have no formal training, but we can use our creativities to create a dish that is both suitable for the occasions and family members. Do give it a try if you are looking for an abalone dish.. Even without abalone, just omit it and it is still a delicious dish..

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