Abalone is an expensive food, whether it is fresh or dried. In ancient times, dried abalone was the top food that the royal family could eat. Fortunately, in modern times, with the improvement of people's living conditions, dried abalone has finally appeared on ordinary people's tables.
Abalone is also known as "soft gold" on the seabed because of its rich nutritional value, delicious meat and strong fragrance. Abalone is one of the rare "seafood". Although the price is not as high as before, it is still not cheap. We can buy two kinds of abalone: ??one is fresh abalone and the other is dried abalone. Among them, dried abalone is the most expensive. So, when buying abalone, should you choose "fresh abalone" or "dried abalone"? Don’t be casual, you’ll spend money if you choose the wrong one!
1. Fresh abalone. Fresh abalone refers to fresh abalone in shell. Due to huge customer demand, abalone production has become increasingly high in recent years. Fresh abalone is also easy to buy in life. When people cook, they only need to shell, remove the internal organs, and wash them. Therefore, the price of fresh abalone is much cheaper than that of dried abalone. 2. Dried abalone. In fact, dried abalone is made from fresh abalone that has been shelled, gutted, soaked, washed and baked for 3 months. Compared with fresh abalone, the production process is complicated and takes a long time, which also makes the cost of dried abalone higher. After fresh abalone is dried, the water basically evaporates. It is said that one pound of dried abalone can only dry 10 pounds of fresh abalone, plus various losses, so the price is more expensive than fresh abalone.
The fresh abalone is tender, the meat is tender and elastic, and the taste is very fresh. But compared to dried abalone, the taste is much worse. When cooking fresh abalone, be sure not to stew it for a long time to avoid losing its flavor due to aging of the meat. In addition, fresh abalone is difficult to chew and swallow, so it is not suitable for the elderly. Dried abalone is delicious, salty and rich in flavor. It tastes like eating rice cakes. Dried abalone is especially suitable for stewing in a whole pot. It doesn't take long to cook, and the more it cooks, the more fragrant it becomes. Even the elderly with bad teeth don’t have to worry about chewing.
It is also abalone. There is not much difference in the nutritional content of fresh abalone and dried abalone. After the dried abalone is dried, a chemical reaction occurs in the abalone and a large amount of amino acids are produced. Due to changes in meat quality, dried abalone is more easily absorbed by the body than fresh abalone. In addition, dried abalone has a taste that fresh abalone does not have, making dried abalone more "valuable" than fresh abalone.
Fresh abalone is cheaper than dried abalone, but it is not suitable for stewing, especially if it takes a long time. Dried abalone is different. Therefore, if you want to make soup, it is best to choose dried abalone. The longer it takes, the stronger the flavor will be. As a kind of fresh seafood, fresh abalone is at its fattest in May every year, while its meat is thinner in October and November. In addition, when cooking fresh abalone, you must master the cooking time and do not cook it for a long time to ensure that its "freshness" is outstanding.