Garlic Butter Abalone 大蒜奶油鮑魚片

Even as canned food, canned abalone still come in wide price variations. It's better serve the expensive ones as simple as possible to truly showcase the quality and original flavor. As for the ones with much more affordable price tags, want to try butter it up a notch?

Garlic butter abalone -

Ingredients?

• 1 can abalone (215 grams solids)
• 10 baby bok choy (or use the smaller center part)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 to 2 red chilies
• Some chopped scallion
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 4 tablespoons abalone juice
• Some corn starch and water mixture

How?

Remove the abalone from the can and slice them. Save some juice aside.

Use baby bok choy, or simply peel away the bigger outer layers and use the tender center only. Slightly trim off the bottom but still able to keep all the leaves intact.  

Bring a small pot of water to a boil then quickly dip these bok choy in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain and set aside for later use.

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and chop the red chilies. Destem and chop the scallion.

Use a non-stick pan, add the butter and turn to medium high heat. Wait till butter melts, add in garlic and red chilies, cook for about 30 seconds. You'll know when that garlicky buttery aroma starts to fill the kitchen, just make sure not to burn the garlic bits.

Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of black vinegar, and 4 tablespoons of saved abalone juice. Let it cook for a short moment and be careful not to dry out the sauce.

Transfer sliced abalone over and cook for 30 seconds to one minute. Not too long since the abalone was already cooked through. Just enough time to let the sauce cling on every slice.

Mix in some corn starch and water on the side. Just a little bit will do. Turn to low heat then pour over the corn starch water mixture while gently move around these ingredients to prevent lumping. Cook till the whole thing starts to thicken a little, but not too lumpy.

Arrange bok choy around the serving plate. Transfer the gooey sauce along with abalone slices to the center of the plate. Sprinkle some chopped scallion on top.

Really, who wouldn't love it when butter meets garlic? 

Stronger seasonings are extra helpful especially there's this distinct flavor from canned abalone, somewhat like a compact umami scent, more so metallic as some would describe. A slight touch from the black vinegar also does the trick to further brighten up only the good side of canned abalone. 

I don't usually buy canned abalone myself, but it's one of the common fancy gifts to give to someone among Asians. It's kind of like receiving a nice bottle of wine or sorts. If you happen to have canned abalone on hand and not quite sure what to do with it, perhaps giving this recipe a try? Butter and garlic, this route can't be bad at all right?

Extended reading:

• Lemon garlic butter shrimp
• Scallops in the shell with garlic butter sauce

Sweet Potato Congee 地瓜粥

After making Taiwanese sweet potato and taro balls for dessert, I've got some sweet potato left. Instead of prepping another sweet dessert or make sweet potato fries, let's go simple this time.

Sweet potato congee 地瓜粥 -

Ingredients (about 5 to 6 servings)?

• 2 measuring cups white short grain rice
• 20 measuring cups water
• 2~2 1/2 cups loosely packed peeled sweet potato chunks

How?

Pay attention here, I've used regular "measuring" cups for this recipe instead of the smaller Chinese rice measuring cups. However, no matter what type of measuring cup you use, just remember that the rice to water ratio is about 1:10.

Rinse the rice using a fine mesh strainer to wash away some extra starch on the grains. Transfer the rice to a big pot and pour in proportioned water accordingly. Per my case, 2 measuring cups of rice with 20 measuring cups of water.

Turn to medium heat and cook till it starts to boil, should take around 20 minutes. Lower the heat to keep it at a simmer. Continue to cook with lower heat for another 20 minutes or till the grains reach preferred congee consistency. Remember to stir the mixture from time to time, especially scrap the bottom to prevent sticking or burning.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into smaller chunks. Add to the congee and cook for about 5 minutes. 

Turn off the heat then cover with a lid. Let the residual heat to continue cooking the sweet potatoes, about 20 to 30 minutes. 

The sweet potatoes will be like chopstick-tender in the end. If not soft enough, keep the lid on for a little bit longer.

It's so easy to make, and works great with salty side dishes or pickles. If you never had sweet potato congee before, it's not as sweet as one would have imagined. The flavor has been diluted, so it's not strange at all serving with savory dishes.

Also don't underestimate what two cups of rice can do. Only two measuring cups, it turned out a big pot of congee in the end, enough to feed a family of six for one meal. However, if you happened to have leftover sweet potato congee, simply heat it up using a steamer, or use low heat on the stove. Add a little bit of drinkable water once at a time if the congee appears too dry for your liking.

  

Extended reading:

• Taiwanese taro and sweet potato balls in brown sugar syrup 芋圓/地瓜圓