As Japan is surrounded by water, the Japanese eat a lot of seafood as part of their diet. My mom used to serve fish and seafood way more frequently than I do for my own family. San Francisco is located by the ocean so I’m lucky to be able to have pretty of fresh seafood available all year around. Because enjoying seafood has been always part of my life, it wasn’t until I learned from food bloggers living in areas not close by ocean that seafood can be hard to get. So today’s post may not be or everyone, but I thought it might be interesting for everyone to see how the Japanese typically cook and eat some seafood, and today’s menu is simple, easy, yet delectable sauteed abalone dish.
My husband bought these baby abalone from the nearby Japanese supermarket and wanted to make it himself so I told him how to cook it. It was interesting for me to watch him prepare food in the kitchen because he normally just barbecues.
I’ve learned from past experience the key to preparing delicious abalone is to not overcook them. These abalones were really small so they were done cooking in less than 1 minute. For regular-sized abalone, I usually never cook for more than 4-5 minutes otherwise the meat loses the tenderness and becomes rock hard. My husband really loves shellfish so I’ll share another one of his favorite abalone recipes in the future.
I hope you enjoy this simple dish with cold sake, or even without drinks. You can of course substitute abalone with shrimp, chicken, white fish…as you like! Have a wonderful weekend!
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Sautéed Abalone
Ingredients
- 5 baby abalone
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 2 Tbsp dashi (Japanese soup stock) (can substitute with sake or white wine)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- green onion/scallion (Finely chopped, for garnish)
Optional
- ⅛-¼ tsp soy sauce (if you don't use dashi and used sake/white wine, you can drizzle a tiny bit of soy sauce)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Use a knife to remove from the shell. Remove the abalone guts and heart.
- Clean the abalone with tiny bit of salt under running water.
- Make some slits crosswise.
- Melt butter on the frying pan over medium heat.
- Add abalone.
- Then quickly add minced garlic.
- Lastly pour dashi stock and lemon juice and turn abalone and saute for 1 minute. Do not overcook. Remove from heat immediately.
- Garnish with green onions and serve immediately.
Hi Namiko, could I use a single large abalone to cook it this way? Or should I just slice it up instead?
Hi Chris! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post!
Both ways work for this recipe. You can slice it if you like and if you use large abalone, please adjust the cooking time as needed.
Fantastic site. Lots of helpful information here. I抦 sending it to some friends ans additionally sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks in your effort!
Hi Makeup, Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
Nami and JOC team are glad to hear you enjoy our site.
Thank you for your love and support. 😊
Last time I had what I thought was abalone it was cooked like Egg-Foo- Young. It was dredge in egg, breaded and panned fried for just a few minutes. Does that sound right?
Hi David, It must be Awabi tempura (Abalone Tempura). It is one of the Seafood tempura in Japan. You can make them at home using a tempura batter. https://www.justonecookbook.com/tempura-recipe/
We hope this helps!
Hi Nami, if making larger abalones (but still small, just not baby) do you cook for longer?
Hi Helen! Yes, you should. 🙂
Amazing recipe thank you
Thank you Josh! 🙂
You have done it again! Just made this tonight after I was trying to figure out whether to eat my giant abalone in shell raw or cooked. I didn’t have dashi, only Tsuyu soup base. Wow! I have a new appreciation for these delicious creatures! Thanks, Nami!
Hi Olivia! Aww I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this dish and thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
[…] Sautéed Abalone […]
hi nami…. can i use a scallop or some other seafood?? it’s not easy to find this.
thank`s…. very special.. and very delicious recipe… very very good job….
Sure you can do that, Chris! 🙂
Do you have anymore paua (abalone) recipes to share?
Hi Felicity! Sorry that’s it for now… I’ll try to add more in the future!
Sounds like a wonderful dinner, Nami. I love abalone. It’s great that it’s easy to make too. =) You mentioned pouring wine with the lemon juice in your demonstration. Did you replace the wine with the dashi stock (which was listed in the ingredient list)?
Hi Candice! Ohhh good catch! Thank you – no wine (or sake) for this recipe! I remember while I was writing this recipe, I was talking to my husband about the other abalone dish which we use wine! How silly. Thank you so much for letting me know my mistake!