Braised Mushrooms with Abalone

Luxurious dish for Chinese New Year: Braised Mushrooms with Abalone

I’m still on my Chinese New Year recipes posting spree with the holiday just peeping around the corner. Many people like to buy canned abalone during this season as it’s a sign of auspiciousness (“年年包有余”), and also because ’tis the season to indulge in luxurious food. You can see canned abalones flying off the shelves these few weeks and various promotions enticing shoppers to part with their money. A can of abalone (usually containing 1 1/2 abalone) can easily set one back by S$30 to S$80 (on average), depending on the grade and size of the abalone. This is a recipe for serving sliced abalone in a special braising sauce with simmered Chinese mushrooms. In fact, I rationed a can of abalone to make 3 dishes (abalone chicken congee, fish maw soup and this dish) to stretch my dollar since I’m only cooking for two. This is so far my favourite way of using canned abalone. The individual plating reminds me of the serving style at high-end Chinese restaurants. The ones from restaurants are typically using dried abalone (serving one small whole abalone per plate) and take hours of simmering to make it tender. My sliced abalone from the can is a cheap and short-cut way of recreating this expensive Chinese restaurant dish.

Communal Plating

Besides the individual plates, you can also serve it as a communual platter like the photo above.

Ingredients
(Serves 4)
- 8 dried Chinese mushrooms
- 200ml chicken stock
- 100ml abalone broth (from the can)
- hot water
- 4 large dried scallops
- sliced abalone
- 250g shanghai green vegetables (or any green leafy vegetables of your choice)
- 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce
- 4 small cubes rock sugar
- cornstarch solution (1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water)

Directions
1. Rinse Chinese mushrooms and soak them in hot water till softened. Reserve 150ml water from soaking mushrooms. Remove stems, squeeze out the water in the mushroom caps and set aside.
2. Rinse dried scallops then soak them in hot water till softened. Reserve water for soaking the dried scallops.
3. In a pot, add chicken stock, abalone broth, the water you reserved in step 1 & 2 from soaking the dried mushroom and scallops, dried mushrooms and dried scallops. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 25 minutes. Any time the water runs out during simmering, you can add more broth or hot water, a little at a time.
4. Add 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce (for the colour) and 4 small cubes of rock sugar (for the glaze). Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Thicken the remaining sauce with cornstarch solution until it reaches a slightly thick but still runny (like maple syrup) consistency.
6. Blanch greens in boiling water with a bit of cooking oil added for about 40 seconds. Set aside.

Serving Suggestions

Individual Plate (first photo)
1. On a small plate, add 1-2 whole blanched greens, 2 simmered mushrooms, one whole dried scallop and abalone slices. Pour the sauce over.

Communal Platter (second photo)
1. Arrange sliced abalone one layer around serving plate. Add blanched greens in the center followed by the braised mushrooms.
2. Use your fingers to shred the dried scallops and garnish the dish with shredded scallops. Pour the sauce over.

Cooking Notes
1. To use or not use the abalone broth (from the can)? Some people do not like to use abalone broth (the liquid used to soak the abalone) as they are worried about chemicals or preservatives. It’s up to you whether you want to use it or not. Personally, I use the broth in my cooking. I do not mind because I reckon since the abalone is already soaked in the broth, you are already consuming it one way or another.  I usually mix it with some chicken broth (for soup base, steamboat or congee), and in this case, for braising the mushrooms.
2. To cook or not to cook the abalone? Personally, I eat the abalone off the can while I’m slicing it. If you wish to eat it warm, just scald individual slices in hot water for less than 5 seconds. It tends to become tough and chewy from overcooking.

Ingredients Used abalone • mushroom • soy sauce • sugar • vegetables

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