Recipe: Braised Abalone

abalone
Image: Red Cook

Organized gangs of poachers, smuggling networks and police shoot-outs—what could the fighting be over? It seems that deaths have been attributed to a turf war in South Africa over the abalone, of all things. Then again, the price of this rarified delicacy is high enough to attract all sorts of unsavory attention.

The abalone is a slow-moving mollusk that encompasses a family of over 100 types of sea snails. Its delicately flavored meat makes it a hot commodity for diners, particularly in China and Japan. Although wild abalone stocks have mostly been wiped out from overharvesting, it is fairly easy to raise farmed abalone, and thus the availability has become more widespread in recent years, though increasing demand still keeps prices high.

Despite its price tag and luxury status, abalone is a popular food to eat for Chinese New Year. That’s because it is a homophone for “assured surplus,” so eating abalone guarantees you a profitable year ahead. No wonder it is a favored food for businessmen!

The following recipe for braised abalone can be adapted for fresh or dried products. Call your W&T Seafood sales rep to order abalone, or check your local Asian supermarkets or fishmonger. You can also substitute canned abalone, which is pretty widely available.

Braised Abalone
Adapted from Red Cook

1 1/2 lb fresh abalone or 3/4 lb dried abalone
1/2 lb lean pork
1 lb or 1/2 chicken
1” ginger, sliced
4 scallions
4 bunches of cilantro, with roots if possible
1 c Shaoxing cooking wine
1/4 c light soy sauce
1 T sugar
6 c chicken stock
1 T cornstarch

To clean and prepare abalones:

Fresh: Learn how to clean and remove them from the shell in this tutorial.
Frozen: thaw completely in the refrigerator. Clean the black film on the sides and bottom by scrubbing with a clean kitchen brush.
Dried: soak in clean water for 24 hours at room temperature. Replace with fresh water every 6 hours or so.
Canned: use directly out of the can.

Line the bottom of a wok or large clay pot with a lattice bamboo mat specifically designed for braising delicate seafood. Arrange the abalones on the mat, and then cover with the scallion, ginger and cilantro. Place the pork and chicken on top of everything else. Pour the cooking wine, light soy sauce, sugar and chicken stock into the wok. Heat until the liquid starts to boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer covered over very low heat. Skim off any scum that forms on top of the liquid. Cook for about three hours. Be sure to check the liquid level making sure the abalones do not burn.

After three hours, there should only be about two cups of liquid left. Turn the heat off and discard all the solid ingredients except the abalones. Set aside the abalones, and reserve the braising liquid after straining it through a fine sieve.

Reduce the braising liquid to about one cup by heating over moderate heat. Thicken the sauce with a slurry of 1 T cornstarch and 1/3 cup water.

Return the abalones to the wok and simmer for another minute or so. Serve the abalones hot with the sauce over them.

February 3, 2012 – 9:27 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Mollusks, Recipes | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Abalone: Much more than just a pretty shell

abalone
Photo: Flickr/artolog

Perhaps you’ve seen lovely, iridescent jewelry made from abalone shells, or tried a piece of this delicately textured meat at an Asian restaurant, but by and large, most people are not too familiar with abalone. A shame too, as abalone is one of the most versatile and uniquely flavored seafoods out there, with a fascinating history to boot. (By the way, it’s pronounced ab-uh-lo-ney, where the “e” is not silent.)

Abalone is the name for a broad category of gastropod mollusks, with a flattened shell that is lined with mother-of-pearl on the inside. A series of holes near the edge of the shell is used for water exchange and excretion of waste products. The bulk of the animal—what we eat—is a muscular foot, known for clinging tightly to rocks or whatever ledge the abalone is perched on. When the abalone feels threatened, it essentially turns into a large suction cup, making it almost impossible to dislodge. On the other hand, if flipped over, the abalone is totally vulnerable.

The abalone industry has its roots in immigrant ingenuity. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, fur traders were actively trapping sea otters, the abalone’s primary predator, which enabled abalones to flourish in ocean beds two and three deep. Then the Gold Rush began. Thousands of Chinese, attracted by the lure of mineral riches, journeyed to the West Coast. There, they discovered that the dense, intertidal beds of abalones were oceanic gold, and they began vigorously harvesting abalones. When ordinances were passed prohibiting abalone harvests in waters less than 20 feet deep, enterprising Japanese divers moved to deeper waters for their catch, using old wine barrels as floats to rest between dives. These fishermen were known as “sake barrel divers” for their unusual technique. By 1929, abalone had become a more mainstream food, and the first commercial fisheries were established to meet domestic demand.

In the United States, there are eight species of abalone: red, green, black, white, pink, pinto, threaded and flat. They range from Alaska to the southern tip of California, but immense commercial pressure and pollution from coastal cities have wiped out the once teeming abalone beds. Today, there are abalone farms that ensure a steady supply of abalone, as the world’s wild stocks are depleted and illegally poached. However, the abalone’s slow growth and reproductive cycle, combined with insatiable demand, mean that prices will be high for the foreseeable future.

Demand for abalone reaches fever pitch around this time of the year, since festivities are in full swing for Lunar New Year. In addition to abalone’s vaunted status as a luxury item, it is a homophone in Chinese for “assured surplus,” so it is considered a particularly auspicious food to eat.

Be careful that you purchase your abalone from a reputable source and carefully read all labels, as there are many versions of imitation abalone out there! Top shell is commonly used as an abalone substitute. It comes from another mollusk family with cone-shaped, spiral shells. While the flavor of top shell is similar to that of abalone, the texture is very different. So if you notice one can of “top shell abalone” selling for $5, and another can selling for 10x more, you’ll know why.

sashimi_logo

At W&T Seafood, we carry farmed blue abalone, grown in the clear, sapphire waters of Bream Bay, north of New Zealand. A steady diet of seaweed and plankton gives the abalone a firm, pearly white meat with subtle flavor. This blue abalone is great when prepared raw as sashimi, giving a crunchy sweetness and distinctive clam-like finish in every bite. When lightly poached, steamed or sautéed, the abalone develops a creamy clam flavor. To try some for yourself, give our sales department a call.

January 20, 2012 – 1:55 pm | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Mollusks | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Recipe: Crispy Whole Fish with Chili and Cilantro Sauce

whole_fish
Image: Almost Bourdain

Ever tried looking your food right in the eye?

In the United States, fish is generally prepared so that you don’t see any semblance of the original animal. No bones, no skin, no fins and certainly no head. But while this may be better for the squeamish, there’s no substitute for the flavor of a fresh, whole fish, with all of its juices, collagens and fats.

In China, fish is a popular dish to serve around the lunar New Year because in Chinese, fish is a homophone for surplus. So, eating fish is a means of assuring abundance for the coming year. The fish should also be served whole, not sliced or chopped up, because whole animals are thought to be symbolic of completeness and family togetherness. In fact, using any cleavers or knives is frowned upon, as you may be hacking away at your family’s good fortune!

Superstitions aside, we find that eating whole fish is perfect any time of the year. The following recipe makes a crispy fried fish, topped with cilantro and julienned carrots. With bold flavors and attractive colors, it is sure to be a hit at your dinner party.

Crispy Whole Fish with Chili and Coriander Sauce
Adapted from Almost Bourdain

Serves 4

1 whole fish, white-fleshed, approx. 2-3 lbs
1 T minced garlic
1/2 T minced ginger
2 red Thai chilis, mincd
2 scallions, chopped
1 T rice wine
4 T soy sauce
1 T fish sauce
3 T sugar
3 T rice vinegar
1/2 t white pepper
1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
Oil for deep frying

Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Make a few slits on both sides and season the fish with sea salt. Fill a wok with oil deep enough to submerge your fish and heat to 350 F. Deep-fry the fish until golden brown and cooked. Remove from the wok and drain on paper towels.

Add 1 T of oil to a sauté pan on medium heat. Brown the garlic, ginger, chili and scallions until fragrant. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, rice vinegar and white pepper. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat.

Place the fish on the serving plate. Scatter half of the cilantro and shredded carrots over the fish. Pour the sauce over the fish, and put the remaining half of the cilantro and carrots on top. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

January 17, 2012 – 9:05 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Fish, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Oyster Lovers Meetup at Saxon and Parole

saxon

We’re excited to announce the first NY Oyster Lovers Meetup of the year! We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, January 31st at 6:30 pm at Saxon+Parole, located in Noho at 316 Bowery (and Bleecker). After winning much acclaim for his work at Public, Chef Brad Farmerie now showcases his love for grilled meats and aquatic delights, in what the NYT calls “gutsy, all-American fare.” For us, he has created an exciting tasting menu, featuring oysters grilled, roasted and emulsified. There’s even a drink with a raw Kumamoto oyster! Check out the menu below:

Bloody Maria with a raw Kumamoto oyster

Grilled Blue Point oysters with Aleppo butter

Salad of baby romaine, sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, orange, and Effingham oyster Caesar dressing

Roasted boudin noir with oyster dressing and watercress

Pan seared cod, Bok Choy and oyster chowder

Dessert canapés

The cost for this dinner, before tax and tip, will be $75. Each person must sign up through Meetup; no +1s allowed. Payments for the dinner will be collected on-site that evening by the restaurant. If you order additional drinks or food a la carte, please settle those tabs with the server on your own.

To sign up, visit: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Oyster-Lovers/events/48300032/

Hope to see you at Saxon+Parole!

January 16, 2012 – 1:50 pm | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Events | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Recipe: Hoe See Fat Choy (Dried Oysters with Hair Seaweed)

ho_see_fat_choy

Image: Hunger Hunger

You can dry oysters? Of course! Dried oysters and scallops are common in China, where they are used to add a flavor punch to soups, sauces and other dishes. They can be rehydrated, stir fried, braised, ground up and more. At this time of the year, near Chinese New Year, dried oysters are considered one of the most auspicious foods you can eat. In Chinese, they sound like the phrase for “happy events” (hoe see), so eating them is said to bring good tidings for the future.

One of the most popular Chinese New Year’s dishes is Hoe See Fat Choy. In this traditional dish, dried oysters are braised and then covered with a black moss known as hair seaweed. The name of the dish is a homophone for “happy events and prosperity,” and it’s also similar to Gong Hei Fat Choy, the traditional New Year’s greeting. It doesn’t hurt that the dish is pretty tasty too.

In New York’s Chinatown at this time of the year, many retailers will have large bins of dried oysters on display, carefully graded by size and origin. One of the best places to pick up dried ingredients is Kam Man Food Products at 200 Canal St. Or, check out Po Wing Ho Food Market at49 Elizabeth Street, a specialty dried goods store. Look for relatively plump, unbroken dried oysters for the best results.

Hoe See Fat Choy (Dried Oysters with Hair Seaweed)
Adapted from Hungry Hungry

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

12 dried oysters, soaked for 2 hours
1 t vegetable oil
2 slices of fresh ginger
1½ t soy sauce, divided
8 oz ground pork (can substitute minced shrimp or fish paste)
½ cup dried black moss (fatt choi), soaked and rinsed until grit-free
Red chili or bell pepper strips
1 T oyster sauce
½ t salt, or more to taste

1 t sesame oil
½ t sugar (optional)
½ T cornstarch + 3/4 cup chicken stock
Lettuce leaves for plating

Clean the dried oysters by soaking them in water. Pour out any sediment at the bottom and pat dry. Add 1 t vegetable oil to a frying pan or wok, and stir fry the oysters, ginger and 1/2 t soy sauce for about 3 minutes over medium heat, until the oysters are dry. Remove from heat to cool.

Wrap each oyster with ground pork, then wrap the fatt choi around the meat-covered oyster. Add a strip of red chili or pepper underneath the fatt choi for color. Put oysters on a greased steaming plate or in a steamer basket, and steam 15 minutes.

Put the oyster sauce, remaining 1 t soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar into a small saucepan and heat. Add the cornstarch and chicken broth mixture, stirring well, until the sauce turns clear and shiny. If too thick or thin, add more stock or cornstarch solution. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Arrange lettuce leaves on the serving plate, and place the oysters on top. The oysters can be served with each one wrapped by a lettuce leaf. Pour the sauce over the oysters and serve immediately.

January 13, 2012 – 9:25 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Recipes, oysters | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Guide to an Auspicious and Delicious Lunar New Year

cny_food

You may be recuperating from the madness of the December holidays, but in many parts of East Asia, the party is just getting started. Lunar New Year is approaching, and it’s the most important of the traditional Asian holidays. This is a festival that lasts for two weeks after the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar, and this year, it begins on January 23rd.

Here at W&T Seafood, the lunar New Year is a pretty important holiday for us. It’s a time for celebration, reflection and togetherness, and of course, lots and lots of food. Though brightly colored dragon dances and popping firecrackers may receive the most attention, the real heart of the festivities is decadent feasting. But you can’t just eat any food; there are particular foods that should be eaten to maximize your fortunes in the New Year. These foods are sometimes dictated by appearance. For instance, long noodles are eaten to represent long life, and whole (not chopped) fish and chicken is served to symbolize completeness and togetherness. Dumplings are fried to a golden brown to resemble gold ingots.

Most often though, foods are eaten because of the way they sound in Chinese. They are homophones for auspicious words like prosperity and wealth, so that you are surrounding yourself with good luck from the inside and out! Tangerines and oranges sound similar to the words for gold and wealth, while lotus roots sound like the phrase “abundance year after year.” Fish is popular because it is a homophone for “surplus,” and raw fish salad is served because it means “growing surplus.” Meanwhile, lettuce sounds like the phrase “growing wealth.” Finally, our favorite dish is Hoe See Fat Choy, or dried oysters with hair seaweed, meaning “happy events and prosperity.” This is a close variant on the traditional New Year’s greeting Gong Hei Fat Choy, which means “wishing you prosperity.”

In subsequent posts, we’ll go over some traditional Chinese New Year’s dishes, including whole fish, abalone and dried oysters. If you have a favorite food to share, leave it in a comment below!

January 11, 2012 – 10:03 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

An Oyster in Paris: France’s Holiday Love Affair with the Half-Shell

cancal_oysters

Oysters are certainly experiencing a revival in the U.S., but for a culture that means Serious Business about its oysters, look no further than France. After all, they are Europe’s number one grower, exporter and consumer of oysters, indulging in 4.5 lbs per capita, compared to a miniscule quarter pound for the average American. In addition, France is home to the Belon River, the namesake of the illustrious Belon oyster, or European Flat.

At this time of the year, France overflows with street side oyster stands, teeming with baskets of oysters, each carefully sorted by size. Oystermen from the Atlantic Coast pack their harvest and drive to Paris, where the city’s hunger for oysters knows no bounds. An astounding 50% of France’s oyster consumption takes place between Christmas and New Year’s. This is in part due to the season (oysters are at their peak flavor when the water gets cold and they begin storing glycogen), and partly due to their association with holiday feasts. In France, no New Year’s celebration would be complete without oysters, slurped from their shells with a glass of crisp white wine.

In Brittany, the oyster trail runs even thicker. This is the heart of France’s oyster country and Cancale is the so-called “oyster capital.” It is said that King Louis XIV had fresh oysters delivered from Cancale to Versailles every day. Unfortunately, the native Brittany oyster has mostly died off, a victim of disease, harsh winters and human gluttony. To replace it, Pacific oyster larva was brought from Japan to France in the 1980s. Today, 95% of farmed oysters are Pacific oysters, and the rare Belon oysters are three times more expensive than their hardier counterparts.

It may be nearly impossible for you to eat a Brittany-grown Belon in the U.S. (95% of French oysters are consumed domestically), but there is an alternative—Belons grown in Maine. Back in the 1950s, scientists transplanted Ostrea edulis seed to Boothbay Harbor in Maine. The seed happily transplanted itself into the Damariscotta River and went wild, resulting in oysters that pack a powerful punch of sea and mineral. This adventurous flavor profile certainly befits the oyster’s far-flung travels.

To try a Belon for yourself, give our sales staff a call today.

January 5, 2012 – 10:07 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in oysters | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Aw, Shucks: Join Us for a Hands-On Oyster Primer at Astor Center!

Want to learn how to shuck an oyster from the pros? Scratching your head over how you can pair oysters with wine or cook with them? You’re in luck! W&T Seafood is proud to present “Aw Shucks: A Hands-On Oyster Primer.” We’ll be exploring the influence of terroir on oysters, giving you the tools you need to understand and describe an oyster’s flavor and texture. Wine pairings will be presented with the oysters, so you can taste the way wine complements these briny beauties. We’ll walk through a few classic culinary applications for oysters, such as oysters Rockefeller and oyster stew. And of course, we’ll teach you the proper technique for shucking an oyster, so that you can dazzle guests with a raw bar at your next party. This class is a fabulous way to meet and learn with other ostreaphiles, and boost your appreciation for these marvelously complex bivalves!

The classes will take place at the Astor Center (399 Lafayette St., at E. 4th St.) on Monday, Jan. 16th and Feb. 13th at 6:30 pm. To sign up for a session, visit: http://www.astorcenternyc.com/class-aw-shucks-a-hands-on-oyster-primer.ac

Bring your questions and see you there!

January 4, 2012 – 10:01 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Classes, oysters | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Last Call: Barnstable Oyster will stop harvesting on Jan 15th!


Image: Barnstable Oyster

It’s been a fantastically briny ride, but all good things must come to an end. We’ve received word from our friends at Barnstable Oyster that they will stop harvesting oysters after January 15th. (Something about dangerously icy conditions in the creeks near Cape Cod…imagine that.) On the other hand, one perk of the colder water is that the oysters are storing up glycogen (sugar) for the winter, which means these oysters have an incredible peachy sweet flavor. They’re in peak condition now, so call your sales rep and order extra Barnstables while you can. We’ll keep you posted when they start up operations again in spring!

December 29, 2011 – 9:20 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in oysters | Tagged , | Comments (0)

New Amsterdam Market: A Gathering of Fisheries

img_5873

Established in 1822, the Fulton Fish Market was the grand dame of New York City’s freewheeling wholesale markets, an undeniably colorful fixture in lower Manhattan. On these chaotic, rough and tumble docks, ships from as far as Maine and North Carolina unloaded their goods in the wee hours of the morning. By 1924, the market was selling 384 million pounds of seafood a year, or 25% of all seafood sold in the U.S. Then in 2005, the market was moved to Hunts Point, a retail facility in the Bronx. This left a chasm in the South Seaport community, which lost a historic focal point and a hub of economic activity.

img_5896

After the original market was shuttered, Robert LaValva held on to his vision of a year-round market at the old Fulton Fish Market location. He hoped to revive the East River Market District as a vibrant public destination for New Yorkers and visitors. In 2005, he launched the New Amsterdam Market, a Sunday gathering of independent and artisanal vendors near the South Street Seaport, a stone’s throw from the Brooklyn Bridge. Butchers, bakers and jam makers began making regular appearances. Then for the 50th and final market of the year, LaValva invited purveyors of local and sustainable seafood to return to Fulton Street, bringing the taste of the sea back to these weathered cobblestones.

img_5870

So, on a nippy December morning, we trekked across the bridge to the New Amsterdam Market for “A Gathering of Fisheries.” In our carefully packed boxes, we had all manner of mussels, clams, netting, shucking knives, trays and napkins. Of course, we also had oysters, one for every palate. Briny Montauk Pearls from Long Island, overflowing with liquor. Thin, crunchy European Flats from the Damariscotta River in Maine, an intense mouthful of sea and mineral. And my personal favorite, Barnstables from Cape Cod, pearly pink beauties with a perfect salty-sweet balance. We had loose oysters in net bags, ready to be toted home, and a team of strong-wristed shuckers, ready to shuck for on-the-spot slurping.

img_5891

The adjoining stalls were filled with regional fishermen and shellfish farmers, displaying packed bins of smoked eel, seaweed and fresh fish. Our friends and neighbors from Cape May, New Jersey, who had toted a whopping 3,000 Cape May Salt oysters to New York. The farmers were happy to share the bivalve wealth, shucking freely and offering samples to the curious. “Brine and butter with a nice clean finish,” they said. When our team of shuckers began lagging behind an ever-growing, hungry crowd, one of the farmers even jumped in with a knife to help us out. In a matter of seconds, he had opened several European Flats while standing, not even needing a flat surface! (European Flats are notoriously difficult to open because of their thin edges and lack of distinct hinges.) Onlookers may have been calling me a “shucking pro,” but I would have happily handed over my title to this true mollusk master.

img_5888

By the end of the afternoon, we had shucked and sold nearly 1,000 oysters. My clothes were now covered with brine and shell fragments, and my feet were blocks of ice, but I felt that rush of satisfaction from a well-fought battle. The wind was picking up again, and some of the oysters were beginning to freeze in their liquor. In unison, the market vendors clanged their bells one last time, as the sun set over the humming city. The New Amsterdam Market may be over for now, but its community—and fresh seafood—will return again before too long.

December 27, 2011 – 1:44 pm | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Markets, oysters | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)