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Abalone

 

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By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 2009

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The Chinese phrase for this highly regarded mollusk is bao yu, a homonym that sounds like “assured wealth.” Indeed, the Chinese say that eating abalone is like “eating gold.” Given the Chinese desire to eat both symbols and foods, the name for abalone alone is sufficient reason to seek out this seafood and eat it, whatever the cost. Even its shell’s glittering mother-of-pearl lining is desirable, ground into a fine powder for medicine that is said to improve eyesight and lower blood pressure.

Abalones are to be found in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico and the Americas, in the waters off Australia and Japan, and in the Persian Gulf. The finest abalones, without question, are the Oma, which are harvested in northern Japan near the village of the same name, in the strait separating the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. These swiftly moving waters, with the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific to the east, are consistently pure and thus contribute to the innate fragrance of the abalones. The mollusks, which are small and rare, are dried to tiny, beige disks, and can cost as much as $3, 000 per pound, or about $300 each. They are hoarded by collectors. The slightly larger Yoshihama abalones, which grow in the small straits at the northeastern tip of Honshu and dry to a meaty red, are almost as highly regarded. A third Japanese variety, the Amidori, grows along the coast of Honshu facing the Sea of Japan and dries to a lovely gold. The Amidori, though less aromatic than the others, is favored for banquets because its size and color allow the host to best demonstrate wealth: the guests are truly “eating gold.”

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