How to choose?
Place of origin
Mexican canned wild abalone is one of the most expensive ones, no preservatives and large in size (1 head).
Canned South Africa abalone have better high quality against price, the abalone is only soaked in salt water without preservatives, maintaining its original taste, nowadays usually are farmed rather than wild ones. While canned abalone from Australia and New Zealand contain preservatives and overall quality is only average. For China canned abalone, although cheaper in prices, some domestically produced abalones will also claim to be South African abalone.
Usually the ones with salt water are having higher quality.
Size
Unlike dried abalone, where "head" is calculated as pieces per 600g (please see "Dried abalone: types and why it is so expensive" for details), canned abalone, the "head" means how many pieces in one can container (around 454g).
Some brands contain the "head" size number on the tin body, if 10 means a approximate 255g abalone. Some may show number of pieces. Beware of the net weight and the drained weight, net weight means total of abalone an water, drain weight is abalone minus water.
How is it made
The process of making canned abalone involves removing the shells and meat from fresh abalone, followed by pre-processing, seasoning, canning, sterilization, and other processes. Traditional methods face challenges such as labor-intensive manual cleaning, which can damage the appearance of abalone. Additionally, high-temperature sterilization leads to water loss, texture hardening, astringent taste, and browning of the meat.
Abalone black mucus, a protein on its outer surface, is traditionally removed by adding salt and gently brushing. This labor-intensive process raises costs and hampers industrial production.
Recent year, soak abalone meat in a certain concentration of salt water and n clean it with ozone water combined with an ultrasonic container. This method uses the mechanical action, the oxidation effect of ozone water and the oscillation effect of ultrasonic waves to collaboratively clean and remove the black film, and the result is very good.
Cooking
Boiling the can with the abalone as a whole, canned abalone in sufficient water without puncturing the can prevents it from becoming tough. Alternatively, the restaurant steams abalone for 1 to 3 hours, ensuring a tender and smooth texture.
In case the canned abalone is 4 head-size or more, cooked for 30 minutes to 1 hour will make it soft. After cooling slightly, if for smaller abalone for example, 19 head or smaller, it can be immediately eaten after can is open.
Brands
- Chuen Jia Fu - Australia baby abalone
- Calmex Australian Abalone
- Cedmex Mexican Abalone
- Aqunion South African Abalone
- Paua New Zealand Abalone
- Golen Ocean Chile Abalone