Sake Steamed Abalone With Liver Sauce

Sake Steamed Abalone With Liver Sauce

Delight your taste buds with the luxurious flavors of Sake Steamed Abalone with Liver Sauce. This exquisite dish combines the delicate sweetness of fresh abalone, gently steamed in sake to preserve its tender texture, with a rich and umami-packed liver sauce. Perfectly balancing the briny essence of the sea with the smooth richness of sake, this recipe is a refined culinary experience that showcases the abalone’s natural flavors. Serve it as a decadent appetizer or a sophisticated main course to impress your guests with a gourmet seafood feast.

Recipe Information

Serves

2-4 people

Preparation

25 minutes

Cooking

3 hours

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • 2 large black-lip abalone
  • 250 ml (1 cup) cooking sake
  • 1 tsp soy sauce, approximately
  • 1 tsp mirin, approximately

Steps

  1. Place the abalone into iced water for 1 hour.
  2. Remove the abalone from the shell using a wooden spoon or heavy metal spoon. Cut away the innards and membrane, leaving only the meat portion, and reserve the liver.
  3. Scrub the abalone meat and shells with a toothbrush to clean them thoroughly. Place the cleaned abalone in a small heatproof bowl.
  4. In a saucepan, bring the sake to a boil. Carefully ignite the sake with a flame until the alcohol burns off. Pour the sake over the abalone until submerged, and seal the bowl with plastic wrap.
  5. Place the bowl and shells into a steamer and steam for 2–3 hours, or until the abalone is tender. Alternatively, sous vide the abalone in the sake for 2 hours at 85˚C.
  6. Trim the livers from the rest of the guts. Cut a small incision into the base of the livers and wash to remove any sand.
  7. Roughly mash the livers and pass through a sieve. Weigh the pureed liver and add a third of the liver's weight each of abalone poaching sake, soy sauce, and mirin. For example, if the liver weighs 30g, add 10g each of sake, soy sauce, and mirin.
  8. Transfer the liver mixture to a small saucepan and stir over very low heat until it reaches 75˚C. Pass through a sieve again for a smooth sauce.
  9. Slice the abalone and serve in the shells, with the liver sauce on the side.