KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Weekends are meant for projects of passion, for pursuits that have no purpose other than the pleasure they give us.
Which, when I enter my kitchen, sometimes means I want to linger for hours over the stove, playing with ingredients that I might otherwise not use on a week night when all I desire is a quick meal, the faster the better.
For an indulgent weekend, I have decided to make this abalone and cabbage in superior gravy. It’s no quick meal, that’s for sure.
To begin, there is the base, which is a classic Chinese superior stock that requires long hours of simmering for the meat, bones and various dried ingredients to produce a deep, intense flavour you just can’t get from a sachet of instant dashi or a bouillon cube.
Here, my star ingredient is a Chinese dry cured ham such as Jinhua or Xuanwei (or whatever savoury ham you can get your hands on). Other ingredients for the stock include dried scallops, dried shiitake mushrooms, ginger and spring onions.
It takes time. And when finally you have your stock? It takes even more time for now, after straining, it’s time to reduce the stock into a concentrated gravy. More simmering, more time. It’s a sauce with the most opulent sheen.
Then there is the "meat” of the dish — abalone (canned is easiest, trust me) and Chinese long cabbage (naturally sweet). These require the least amount of work, thankfully.
The result of all our labour? A dish of luxurious abalone in superior gravy that tastes like the very definition of savoury ambrosia. How lovely.
ABALONE & CABBAGE IN SUPERIOR GRAVY
One point to note is that while the abalone is simmered (briefly) in the superior gravy, the leaves of the long cabbage are blanched separately.
If we were to simmer the cabbage together with the abalone, the leaves will produce too much excess water and dilute the gravy. Essentially we would be reconstituting the stock from the gravy, thereby squandering all our hard work!
So yes, this feels like a multi-step recipe but you can always prepare the superior stock in advance and prepare the dish itself (gravy, cabbage and abalone) the next day. You can even make the gravy ahead of time and keep refrigerated in an airtight container till needed.
Ingredients: Superior stock
200g Jinhua ham, sliced thinly
1 whole chicken (kampong or free range chicken, preferably old hen)
4 dried scallops, soaked and rehydrated
6 medium-sized dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and rehydrated
1 piece of ginger, crushed
A handful of spring onions
4 litres water
Ingredients: Abalone & cabbage in superior gravy
400ml of superior stock
½ Chinese long cabbage, broken down to the leaves
1 can of abalone, drained and rinsed
Salt to taste (optional)
Method
First, prepare the Jinhua ham by removing the skin from the meat. Blanch the Jinhua ham with hot water to remove excess oil: you may do this by placing the Jinhua ham in a bowl filled with hot water, cover with a dish and leave it for about 40-45 minutes.
While the Jinhua ham is being blanched, add the other ingredients — chicken, dried scallops, shiitake mushrooms, ginger and spring onions — to a large pot. Fill with 3 litres of water (or at least enough to cover all the ingredients. Bring to a boil.
Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat and carefully remove any scum that rises to the surface using a fine-mesh skimmer. When all or most of the scum has been removed, you may add the blanched Jinhua ham.
Now that you have added the Jinhua ham, bring the pot to a boil again. Allow the stock to boil for about 10 minutes, then reduce to the lowest setting and simmer for at least 4 hours.
Once ready, strain the stock from the cooked ingredients. From the cooked leftovers, remove the dried scallops and set aside to cool. Once they are no longer hot, shred them using forks or your fingers. Reserve as topping for the abalone and cabbage dish.
Ladle up 400ml of superior stock to make our gravy. For the rest of the stock, allow it to cool before dividing them into air-tight containers for later use; these can be frozen and subsequently thawed when needed.
To make the superior stock gravy, add the reserved 400 millilitres of superior stock to a clean pot. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.
Simmer for about 40-60 minutes until the stock has reduced by half, now the consistency of a loose but concentrated gravy.
While the stock is simmering, blanch the cabbage leaves in a separate pot of boiling water. Drain the pot of water once the leaves have begun to wilt but not disintegrated.
Rinse the cabbage leaves with cold water to stop the cooking process. Once the leaves are cool, squeeze out the excess water then arrange on a large plate and set aside.
When the stock has reduced to a gravy, add the abalone. Allow to simmer for a few minutes until warmed through. As these are canned abalone, they are already cooked so don’t simmer for too long so as not to overcook them.
Taste the gravy and season with some salt, if necessary. Transfer the warmed abalone to the plate of blanched cabbage leaves. Ladle the gravy over the abalone and cabbage. Garnish with the shredded cooked dried scallops. Serve immediately.
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