Sunday, February 01, 2009

Stir-fried Mexican King Topshell with Napa Cabbage



King Topshell is an abalone like shellfish with fractional of the cost. Since the major producer of canned king topshell situated in Mexico, thus the name Mexican King Topshell. This is my first time buying this product, frankly I actually mistook it for abalone, no wonder it was cheap. Taste wise, it is really delicious. I really like the texture of this shellfish. Normally you slice it thinly and stir-fry it or braise it.


How it looks like before slicing, straight from the canned. The shape does look like abalone right?



I was fooled by the big letter of "bao" or abalone in English. I didn't bother to read the English words and just grabbed one to try since it was fairly cheap compared to abalone ($7). But I bought this with no regret because this king topshell turned out to be really divine. And I discovered another delicacy to add into my menu. Normally I see this selling during Chinese New Year, not sure whether they have it on other time.

18 comments:

pigpigscorner said...

I've never heard of this before. Would love to give this a try!

My cooking journal said...

Try looking for dry ones at the Asian supermart? These are really nice in soup too. Good luck.

tigerfish said...

Hmm.....look and sound like Bao....but not Bao....hahahhaha!
Is this some kind of clam?

Pearl said...

LOL when i was little, my parents used to buy canned abalone for me. i just ate pieces of it straight out of the can. i called it "bubble gum."

Big Boys Oven said...

yes they are awesome delicous!

Noob Cook said...

sounds and looks good hee ... I'll try to look for it in Singapore =D

Anonymous said...

I always see this stuff in stores in Hawaii and always wondered what it was. I will have to try it. From your description I know I will like it.

Thanks!
Winnie

Jin Hooi said...

wow.. never heard about this .. have to give it a try !!

Anonymous said...

this is a simple dish, yet full of flavor... :)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Yeah pigpigs, give it a try.

Don't think we can get the dried one here Angie, but I have it before, really good in soup.

Tigerfish, not sure it's a clam or a snail like shellfish. But it's delicious.

Wow, straight from the canned, very terror lah Pearl.

Yup BBOven, I saw you had it earlier.

You should noobcook, winnie and jin hooi, it's good.

Thanks mikky.

Bits said...

Wow! This is lovely... I love abalone!

ICook4Fun said...

We received 2 cans of this in our CNY Hampers. We were wondering what it was until I saw your posting. Now we know :) :)

Beachlover said...

never hear of this,maybe I over look when shop at asian store..Will try to look for it next trip to the city..

SIG said...

Wow, yes, it sure looks like abalone. YuM!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Bit of taste, then you will love this.

Gert, lucky you, this is yummy stuff.

Beachlover, look for it! Next time I would have to get more.

Yum is right SIG. :)

Anonymous said...

That Mexican King Topshell sure sounds good. I’ll have to try it.

I love fish tacos. Maybe they’d be good together?

Taco Fish La Paz in Guadalajara, Mexico has a stand on Avenida La Paz in Guadalajara sounds like ‘Taco Nirvana’.

My experience in Mexico is that some of the best places to eat are those that are off the beaten path that the locals frequent.

I’ve been looking for good places to eat in Guadalajara and Taco Fish La Paz in Guadalajara sounds like just the place.

Fortunately, I live in Ajijic, Jalisco so the trip is a short one.

My mouth is watering,

Gracias!

Joe Chapala
Casa Preciosa Ajijic, Mexico

Anonymous said...

It is a sea snail.

Anonymous said...

I just have a dinner today with this fake abolone I can detected immediately, it was salty through other hidden ingredients thay don't listed, except basic MSG, Sulfite (preservatives), Water?. It's tasted and chewed like sponge soaked in sea water. I used to catch abolone alone the seashore with screw driver and ate it right on the spot even I left in the freezer for month and saute with mushroom it's still bring the the natural flavor and tender. I wont buy this cheap fault advertised labled in chinese was"abolone" & the picture of the meat to pool ignorance shopper like me! Roxy is a company distributed in varieties products in oriental market such as mung bean, cooking oil... they dyed mung bean in yellow color to cheat people that their package bean was fresh from the farm. You know I have to wash 5 time in clean water to get rid some of the color. From now on I will boyscott this ROXY whore brands. They will never cheating again.

C5