Seafood hits different when you treat it right. Stir fry abalone with high heat and finish it with a sticky, savoury sauce for a weeknight dinner treat.
Time: 3/5
Comes together in a flash.
Effort: 3/5
Not difficult per se, but stir fries move fast and you have to be present.
See Food Eat Good
Seafood in general is a good source of lean protein. They’re also often a concentrated source of umami, which is always welcome in a meal.
This week, I lucked out at the grocery store by finding abalone on sale. Abalone can fetch very high prices, if they are large and especially if they’re still alive – the freshest they can possibly get.
These were small and frozen, but perfectly adequate for a cozy weeknight dinner. Especially if you flash them hard and fast with high heat in a wok, and finish with a sauce that you also caramelise in the pan (in fact, the very same all-purpose sauce I use for my Pork and Peppers stir fry).
As usual, don’t feel compelled to follow this recipe to the letter. Instead of abalone, you could use shrimp, scallops, clams, tofu, chicken … The general template for a stir fry is very forgiving, and you will make something delicious regardless.
Serving it family style also gives you a lot of flexibility in how to put together a meal. We had this abalone stir fry with Cantonese Water-Steamed Eggs, a savoury custard with a soft silky texture that goes great with rice.
Other comfy classics that you might want to include in your Chinese home-cooked dinner spread would be tomato and egg stir fry, hairy cucumber and dried shrimp stew, and this quick and simple 5-ingredient Bok Choy Soup.
Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 0
Dramatis Personae
Served two.
- 300g abalone
- Whites from a bunch of scallions
- A few slices of ginger
- A few cloves of garlic, minced
- Two shallots, cut into sections
- 1 tsp sesame oil
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Corn starch to thicken, if desired
Note: with this much heat in the pan and this little sauce, I find that the sauce reduces readily and so the corn starch is not necessary at all.
Executive summary
- Prepare the ingredients and the sauce.
- Get a pan on high heat and add oil.
- Fry aromatics until fragrant. Add abalone and stir fry briefly, until they change colour.
- Add sauce and stir vigorously to mix with the rest of the ingredients.
- Turn the heat off and add sesame oil. Stir to combine, then serve hot.
Play by Play
Since I got the pan kind of dirty from steaming the egg custard. I might as well make full use of it. Aromatics go into a hot pan with oil until it tastes good, then the abalone goes in to pick up a bit of colour.
It pays to be prepared when stir frying. The sauce went in just a few minutes after the abalone, and almost immediately it caramelised into a thick coating over everything. Don’t walk away!
It’s done so quick, the steamed eggs were still plenty warm. Here’s a comfy home style Cantonese dinner.
Bon appetit!
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