Pan-Fried Abalone Recipe with Soy Glaze
Simple, easy Pan-Fried Abalone with sweet soy glaze. Includes tips for making the most tender abalone. The glaze is mild and perfect without overpowering the mild flavor of the abalone.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 6 abalone
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce (jin ganjang (sempio, kikkoman))
- 4 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup (or corn syrup, oligo syrup)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine (or cooking sake, mirin or any white wine)
- 1/4 tsp Korean Soup Soy Sauce (Guk Ganjang (this really makes this dish so try it but can be omitted, in which case, reduce sugar))
- 1~2 tsp pine nuts (finely chopped)
- 1 piece fresh ginger (1/8 in thick slice) (or pinch of ginger powder)
Instructions
- 1
Pre-cook Abalone
- 2
Clean abalone by lighlty brushing the top and sides with a soft brush but still leaving the abalone intact in the shell. WATCH VIDEO to see how I clean. You don't have to remove all the black stuff - just clean and rinse enough so the dirt and grime is removed.
- 3
Steam abalone (still attached to shell) for 10 min or until a metal skewer or chopstick goes in easily. No need to cook all the way. *Steaming the abalone still attached to the shell is the trick to making a tender abalone
- 4
When cooked, take it out of the steamer and let it cool for a few minutes so you can handle it. Keep abalone covered while you cool it so it doesn't get too dry.
- 5
Once cooled, remove abalone from shell and strip off intestines and cut out the mouth/beak. SEE VIDEO.
- 6
Score abalone by slicing just the top part of it in a grid pattern. This is so the sauce will get absorbed into the meat. Cover and set aside.
- 7
Make Sauce
- 8
Slice a piece of fresh ginger - 1/8th thick slice and in a small sauce pot - mix with soy sauce, sugar, water, piece of fresh ginger.
- 9
Bring to boil and then simmer for 5 min or so until sauce is reduced.
- 10
To the reduced sauce, add maple syrup, rice wine and guk ganjang and simmer again for another 3-5 min till it becomes thick and syrupy like in pic.
- 11
Skewer abalones so you can cook them evenly and easily (you don't have to). Coat them with sauce. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and cook the jeonbok just couple minutes on each side until it is nicely browned. Because it's already steamed, you are just getting a nice sear on these. Press them down with a spatula as they cook so they get evenly browned not just the edges. Brush some more sauce as needed as you cook them.
- 12
Here's a cross-section to show you how it looks when done! Garnish with some chopped pine nuts for extra rich flavor.