The most common question people ask about cooking abalone is how to make them tender. Tough abalone is rubbery and horrible. However, using the correct method guarantees tender abalone every time. First, it is important to tenderise the ‘Ab’ by beating it (described below). The key after that is to cook it either low and slow for a long time, or very quickly using high heat. Here we slow cook abalone for a heartwarming congee that’s good for the soul.
Congee is a delicious, savoury, porridge like rice dish eaten for breakfast in Hong Kong and southern China. It is usually served with pickles and fried Chinese doughnuts. Don’t limit it to breakfast though – congee as a supremely comforting winter dinner. While this recipe might look complicated, it is actually super easy, and you can adjust all of the ingredients and quantities to suit your taste. The only essentials are rice and stock!
Ingredients
For the Stock
2 chicken feet (optional)
1 bulb ginger, sliced (skin on)
2 dried red dates
5-10 Spring onion, green part only
4 dried shitake mushrooms
3L water
2 chicken marylands
1 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs shaoxing wine
1 Tbs sugar
For the Congee
1 blacklip abalone, shucked and cleaned
1 C jasmine rice
4 Spring onions, shredded
Soy sauce, sesame oil and fish sauce to taste (approx 2 Tbs of each)
Method
- For the stock, put water, chicken feet, ginger, red dates, spring onion and shitake in a pot and bring to a simmer. Add sesame oil, shaoxing,, sugar and chicken marylands and bring back to a simmer. Put on the lid, turn off the heat and leave to sit undisturbed for 25 minutes
- Meanwhile, take cleaned and shucked abalone (if whole, shuck the abalone and remove both the gut suck and the beak before lightly scrubbing under running water) and place in a plastic bag or similar. Take a meat mallet (or a rolling pin) and proceed to tenderise the abalone. Hit it with consistent, average force rather than bashing it – the flesh should not split. Tenderise both side, hitting all over until the abalone goes loose and floppy. Give the abalone a brief rinse and then slice into 2-5mm slices
- Shred the meat from the chicken maryland and strain the stock
- Bring 1.5L of the stock to the boil in a medium sized pot. Add the sliced abalone to the stock, swirling the water to separate the pieces. Then immediately remove the abalone from the stock with a fine strainer and set aside. This initial cooking will give you crazily tender delicious abalone. Reserve this cooking liquid
- Next, add all of the rice to the remaining stock, stirring to stop it clumping. Cook, stirring, until tender. Add the reserved stock as necessary until the rice is beginning to break down and a porridge-like consistency is reached – about an hour and a half
- Add the shredded chicken, sliced abalone, spring onions and sauces to the congee, stirring well and tasting to season
- Top with the abalone, spring onions greens and your choice of Chinese pickles such as radish, daikon or mustard leaf. Serve with Chinese doughnuts (available from any Asian supermarket or grocer)