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Awabi

Awabi is abalone — a large marine snail prized for firm, briny flesh, served raw for a crisp snap or steamed until tender. A luxury neta with a serious conservation backstory.

Also known as

abalone, ezo-awabi, kuro-awabi

Species

Haliotis discus (Disk abalone)

Category

Shellfish & clams (kai)

Texture

crisp or tender — briny, oceanic, umami

Peak season

Jun, Jul, Aug

Sustainability

varies — Wild abalone are heavily overfished and poached worldwide and several Haliotis species are threatened; farmed abalone rates far better.

Mercury

Not in the FDA consumer table

Pregnancy

Eat in moderation

Price tier

$$$$

A snail, and a luxury

Awabi is abalone — a single-shelled marine gastropod (a sea snail), not a bivalve like the clams. The big muscular foot is the neta, and it arrives two ways: raw (mizugai), crisp and almost crunchy with a clean oceanic brine, or steamed for hours (mushi-awabi) until it turns yielding and deeply savory. Connoisseurs also prize the kimo — the liver — worked into a sauce or served on its own.

Summer abalone

Unusually for shellfish, the prized raw species peak in summer, making awabi about the only luxury neta at its best in the heat. Top abalone from the Sanriku coast and Chiba command extraordinary prices at auction.

The conservation catch

Abalone is one of the most over-exploited shellfish on earth: slow-growing, easy to prise off the rocks, and relentlessly poached. Several Haliotis species are listed as threatened, and the US white and black abalone are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Farmed abalone is the responsible choice — worth asking which you’re being served.

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