Braised Abalone

I made this dish during Chinese New Year this year. Yeah, it's that long ago.

My husband's friend gave him a few cans of abalone but unfortunately they were rather tough and bland. It's not nice to give them to our parents since we already know how it taste like. We can't throw them away too. I'll be send to Hell if I do that. So the best them to do it to try making them tastier. Well, braising the abalone did helps a lot. I have since kept the rest of the abalone for next year's Chinese New Year's dinner.

However I hesitated putting up this recipe. My husband commented that it's too costly and risky for anyone to try out this just with a recipe found on the Net. He is worried people who do try it will try to hunt me down and ask me to pay them a can of abalone. :P

Why did I put up this recipe now? Celine, a diner wrote on my chatbox yesterday asking for it as she wanted to make it for her mother-in-law's birthday. How sweet! How can I reject her? But please don't hunt me asking me for a refund, okay? All I can offer you is a can of tough and bland abalone. :P

Ingredients:

• 4 Dried Scallop, soak for at least an hour
  
• 4 Fresh Scallop (optional)
  
• 1 handful Broccoli florets or other veggies
  
• 6 Dried Mushroom, soak to soften
  
• 1 canned Abalone (mine contains 1 1/2 abalone)
  
• 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
• Chicken Stock
  
• Cornflour mixture (thickener)

Additional to taste:

• 1-2 teaspoon Oyster Sauce
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
• Rock sugar
  

How to do it:

1. Place  mushroom with stalk removed, dried scallop and abalone in pot, preferably a claypot.
2. Add in the water used to soak the dried scallop, oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine and enough stock to cover all ingredients.
3. Bring abalone pot to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes.
   
5. While braising the abalone, blanch vegetable with a pot of water with a teaspoon of salt.
6. Lay on a dish.
7. If you are using fresh scallop, blanch it just before the abalone is ready.
8. Before removing the braised ingredients, season with additional oyster sauce if necessary, dark Soy Sauce for colour and rock sugar to taste.
9. Braise for another 15 minutes.
   
10. Remove the braised abalone, mushroom and dried scallop, taking care not to break the dried scallop (like I did).
11. Lay them on the dish with the vegetable.
12. Drain the sauce remaining from the pot and reheat the sauce.
    
13. When sauce begin to bubbles, gradually stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce.
14. Pour sauce over abalone.
15. Serve immediately.

Note:

• You can also add in the liquid from the canned abalone. I didn't use mine as it didn't make a difference.
• You can cut down cooking time by slicing the abalone instead braising it in whole.
• I took much longer to braise the bland abalone. In my opinion, braising 1 hour for a regular mushroom is more than enough.
  
• I use fresh chicken stock prepared a day before, by simmer a whole chicken in 2 litre of water for 4 hours.
• If you are using chicken stock cube, you might want to omit adding the oyster sauce in the initial cooking as stock cube is seasoned.
  

There you have it, Celine. I hope your mother-in-law will like it. I would like to wish her a very Happy Birthday. And may happiness, health and good fortune be with her always.

Happy Wokking!

一品锅