Awabi 鮑

Abalone is a marine mollusc in the family Haliotidae, caught in Japan mainly along coasts from Ibaraki southward. The Japanese market chiefly carries four kinds—kuro-awabi, ezo-awabi, megai-awabi and madaka-awabi—but wild specimens have become scarce, so farmed abalone is now far more common.

Abalone commands some of the highest prices among shellfish. Kuro-awabi is especially prized for its flavour and can be exceptionally expensive. When a restaurant offers it for only a few hundred yen per piece, it is generally imported—though no less enjoyable for that.

The contrast between abalone’s crisp, springy bite and soft vinegared rice is one of its great pleasures.

Origin: Iwate, Chiba, Yamaguchi, Nagasaki and others Season: Winter in Tōhoku; summer in Honshū and Kyūshū