Japan — Ise-Shima coast (Mie Prefecture), Chiba Prefecture (Choshi and Awa-Kamogawa), and Hokkaido as major production areas; Ama divers' relationship with awabi harvesting extends at least 2000 years based on archaeological evidence
Awabi (abalone, Haliotis species) is one of Japan's most prized luxury seafood ingredients — the muscular foot of the marine gastropod, firm and chewy when raw, silky and tender when long-cooked, with a rich oceanic flavour that has no parallel in other seafood. Japan's primary abalone species: Megai awabi (Haliotis gigantea, black-footed, largest, most prized), Ezo awabi (Haliotis discus hannai, from Hokkaido), and Kuro awabi (Haliotis discus, smaller, more common in honshu). Cooking methods span an extraordinary range from the intensity of the preparation: raw sashimi (the shell opened and the foot scored for visual effect), sake-mushi (steamed in sake — the primary preparation for high-end restaurant service), kobujime (pressed with kelp to cure), liver sauce (the green liver used as a sauce base), and steamed-dried awabi (dried slowly over months for an intensely concentrated product).
Live abalone: the muscle contracts violently when touched — grip firmly, slide a flat metal spatula under the muscle from the flat side of the shell, and lift in one clean motion. For sake-mushi: steam whole in a covered vessel with sake, a piece of kombu, and salt for 45–60 minutes (large specimens) at gentle steam — the interior should be just cooked through with no rubbery texture. The liver (hepatopancreas) is an exquisite sauce component — rich, green, deeply oceanic — that can be blended with butter and strained for a sauce, but must be used fresh.
Premium Mie Prefecture awabi (particularly from Toba and Ise) is considered the finest in Japan — these are harvested by the famous Ama (female free divers) who have practiced since ancient times. The liver sauce technique for kaiseki: blend the raw awabi liver with a small amount of cold butter, strain, season with salt and lemon, and serve as a cold sauce pooled on the plate beneath the sliced awabi. Dried abalone (hoshi awabi) is an extraordinary product — months of drying concentrates the flavour to extraordinary intensity; it is used in Chinese red braises and as the Japanese New Year premium ingredient.
Over-cooking abalone muscle — it progresses from silky (barely cooked) through tender (properly steamed) to rubber (overcooked) very quickly beyond the optimal window. Discarding the liver without using it — even if not using as a sauce, include it in the steaming vessel as a natural flavouring. Using abalone that has been out of water too long — quality degrades very quickly after removal from cold seawater.
Tsuji, Shizuo — Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art; Davidson, Alan — The Oxford Companion to Food; Mie Prefecture seafood documentation