Abalone

[WCZ]

seen this baby knocking around at a couple of chinese places at £70 a pop

anyone tried it?

[Mr Gearchange]

Tried in in California where they are quite popular - tastes a bit like a Squid/Oyster combination.
Very nice - never seen it over here though.

[WCZ]

Mr Gearchange said:

Tried in in California where they are quite popular - tastes a bit like a Squid/Oyster combination.
Very nice - never seen it over here though.

sounds like my kind of thing then!

http://www.minjiang.co.uk/restaurant.htm

[majordad]

We were in Chile in May and they were popular in restaurants and on sale in the fish markets. They called them scallops but they were in fact Abalone. Not that expensive there either. Tasted like a hard scallop and chewey.

[MK1 GIT]

Tried it in NZ last year. Alright but wouldn't rush back to eat it again.

[Wadeski]

they are one of those chinese foods that are prized for texture, not flavour (along with sharks fin, birds nest, tendons etc).

[Mobile Chicane]

MK1 GIT said:

Tried it in NZ last year. Alright but wouldn't rush back to eat it again.

I've dived for them off the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington.

They need a lot of beating to tenderise, and are then fried in garlic butter. The taste and texture are a bit like a cross between 'snails' and 'squid'.

I ate what I caught, but it isn't something I'd rush out to buy.