Braised Abalone with Bok Choy (Stove or Pressure Cooker)

Braised abalone is served on a bed of baby bok choy with savory sauce is a perfect dish for special occasions like celebrating Chinese New Year. Recipe can be done on the stove or pressure cooker.

Braised Abalone with Bok Choy (with Pressure Cooker)

There are certain foods that my mom only prepare for special occasions and abalone is one of them. I talked a bit more about abalone in this Abalone and Fish Maw Soup post. Abalone is definitely not your everyday budget-friendly ingredient 🙂 Abalone dishes make their appearances a lot during Chinese New Year in Asia though. Canned abalone is often gifted to family and friends as Chinese New Year gift.

HOW TO PREPARE FROZEN ABALONE

I prefer to use canned abalone because there’s minimal work involved, BUT, I thought I give frozen abalone a try because they are a bit cheaper compare to canned abalone 🙂
The frozen abalones I got were already gutted but not clean on the outside. Here’s how to clean it
1. Thaw the abalone in the refrigerator
Once thawed out, you can clean them. Do you see that blackish stuff on the outside? yup, use a little brush to brush all those black stuff off from the top and the side of the abalone over running water

2. Now they are all clean

3. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and then blanch for 5 minutes

4. Discard the water and rinse with clean water. They are ready to be used

HOW TO BRAISE ABALONE IN PRESSURE COOKER

Fresh or frozen abalone is more suitable for pressure cooking or long hours of braising on the stove. If you use canned abalone, you definitely can skip this step
1. Place ginger, white stalks of green onion and all ingredients for seasonings in the inner pot of instant pot. Arrange the abalone and mushroom pieces inside. Close the lid.

2. Turn the steam release valve to seal. Press “pressure cooker” and then “high pressure”. Pressure cook on high for 50 minutes
3. After 50 minutes, wait for 5 minutes and then release pressure completely. Remove mushrooms and abalones from the pressure cooker. Discard ginger and the green onion stalk

CAN I USE CANNED ABALONE FOR THIS RECIPE?

You certainly may! It’s even more convenient. Here’s how:
1. You can skip the pressure cooking part and just prepare the sauce by placing ginger, white parts of green onions, mushrooms, and all ingredients for seasonings in a heavy-bottom pot and then bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes
2. Put the canned abalone pieces in there and let them simmer over medium heat for about 2 minutes or so. Don’t over cook them as they will turn rubbery. Give the cornstarch solution a stir and pour as you stir until the sauce is thickened.  Proceed to assemble the dish

HOW TO BLANCH BABY BOK CHOY

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Separate the bok choy stalks and wash clean with water. Boil for 1 minute and refresh with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside

HOW TO PREPARE THE SAUCE

If using instant pot, Press “saute” on instant pot and bring the braising liquid from cooking the abalones earlier to a boil. Have a taste and add more salt and/or sugar as needed. It should be savory. Give the cornstarch solution a stir and pour in and keep stirring until the sauce thickens and proceed to assemble

ASSEMBLING THE DISH

1. Arrange the blanched bok choy decoratively on a serving platter

2. Slice the abalone piece to about 1/4-inch in thickness or you can leave one abalone whole for presentation. Arrange decoratively on top of the baby bok choy

3. Slice the shiitake mushrooms and arrange them on top of the abalone slices

4. Drizzle the sauce over generously

5. And there you have it

6. Garnish with chopped green onion

Abalone may not be for everyone despite considered as a “gourmet” ingredient in Asian culinary. Perhaps because I was exposed to it when I was a kid and it has become my favorite food to eat (though only once a year!). One of my kids like abalone and the other one could care less 🙂

To me, it’s a must for Chinese New Year 😉

Braised Abalone with Bok Choy (with Pressure Cooker)

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Servings 4 servings

4.8 from 5 reviews

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Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

0.5x1x2x

• 400 gr abalone fresh, frozen, or canned abalone
• 500 gr bok choy baby or regular size
• 50 gr shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 inch fresh ginger thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp shao xing wine

Seasonings:

• 200 ml liquid from soaking mushrooms
• 200 ml chicken broth and juice from canned abalone (if using)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ¼ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt or more to taste

To thicken sauce:

• 1 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water you can use potato starch too

Garnish:

• 1 stalk green onion thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp goji berries soak in warm water until soften

Instructions

 

• Soak shiitake mushrooms in 200 ml warm water for 30 minutes or until they are soft and plump. Squeeze excess water from the mushrooms. Keep the soaking liquid and trim off the stems from the mushrooms

Blanch bok choy:

• Separate the bok choy stalks and wash clean with water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add bok choy and boil for 1 minute and refresh with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside

Clean the abalones (if frozen):

• Thaw the abalones if frozen. If you are using canned abalone, you can skip this part. The frozen abalones we got were shelled and already have their guts removed. However, they are still dirty. Use a little brush to brush off all the black stuff off the abalones. Rinse clean with water
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Boil the abalone for 5 minutes and then discard the water and rinse clean. The abalones are ready to be used at this point

Pressure cook the abalones:

• Press "saute" on instant pot. Add cooking oil to inner pot. Saute garlic for 30 seconds. Add ginger slices and cook for another minute. Deglaze with a wine and scrape the bottom of the pot. Add the liquid from soaking mushrooms, chicken broth, liquid from canned abalone, and seasonings. Arrange the abalone and mushroom pieces inside. Close the lid. Turn the steam release valve to seal. Press "pressure cooker" and then "high pressure". Pressure cook on high for 50 minutes
• After 50 minutes, wait for 5 minutes and then release pressure completely. Remove mushrooms and abalones from the pressure cooker
• Press "saute" on instant pot and bring the braising liquid from cooking the abalones earlier to a boil. Have a taste and add more salt and/or sugar as needed. It should be savory. Give the cornstarch solution a stir and pour in and keep stirring until the sauce thickens and proceed to assembling

If cooking on the stove:

• Preheat a large pot. Add cooking oil and saute garlic for about 30 seconds. Add ginger slices and saute for another 1 minute. Deglaze with wine. Scrape the bottom of the pot. Add the liquid from soaking mushrooms, chicken broth, liquid from canned abalone, and seasonings. Bring to a boil then add mushrooms, and abalone pieces. Lower the heat and cover with a lid and let it simmer for the next 2-2 1/2 hours or until the abalone pieces are tender

If using canned abalone (which is usually already cooked):

• You can skip the pressure cooking part and just prepare the sauce. Preheat a large pot. Add cooking oil and saute garlic for about 30 seconds. Add ginger slices and saute for another 1 minute. Deglaze with wine. Scrape the bottom of the pot. Add the liquid from soaking mushrooms, chicken broth, liquid from canned abalone, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, add mushrooms and let it simmer for about 30 minutes
• Put the canned abalone pieces in the there and let them simmer over medium heat for about 2 minutes or so. Don't over cook them as they will turn rubbery. Give the cornstarch solution a stir and pour as you stir until the sauce is thickened. Proceed to assemble the dish

Assembling:

• When abalones and mushrooms are cool enough to handle, slice them into about 1/4-inch thickness. Arrange the bok choy on the platter decoratively (if you like). Arrange the slices of abalone next and then the mushrooms
• Drizzle the sauce generously over the dish, garnish with chopped green onion and serve. In the video, I use goji berries for the pop of red color

Recommended products:

Instant Pot

Dutch Oven

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 159kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 1088mg | Potassium: 701mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 5706IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 1mg

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