Phony Abalone

I heard about this recipe when I was about 10 years old.  It was the era of 8-track tapes and AM radio. My step dad had a powder blue metallic Firebird. I felt smokey and the bandit tough in that car.  We were driving down the road,the radio was tuned to AM810. They were covering a story of a San Francisco restaurant that had been defrauding its customers for years with a dish they claimed to be abalone.
That story has stuck with me for years. I have been lucky to have eaten my share of this rare delicacy. Living on the coast most of my life I've always had friends and family bring me abalone. For awhile I took it for granted, It seemed like I always had a chunk in my freezer.  It's been a few years and the current market price for abalone is $70.00 a pound.  I have no plans of ever eating real abalone again. It is one of those things that is key to the survival of marine life on the California coast.  Poaching has become common practice with such a high demand in mainly overseas markets.

This is a fun easy recipe.  It does not take much prep time maybe 20mins, It must marinade least 16 hours, 24 is prime.  If you are to fool your guests there is one step you must not mess up.

Phony Abalone

Ingredients:

Skinless chicken breasts

Bottle of clam juice or 2

Tools:

cutting board

smooth pounding mallet

plastic wrap

sharp knife 

large Ziploc bag

Slice your chicken breasts into 1-1.5" rounds.  Do not fillet the breast. If you are to fool your guests this is one step you must not mess up.  Grain structure is key for your final product. Otherwise you just have fishy chicken.

Stand the round on end so the direction of the tissue grain is up and down and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap

You are ready to flatten out the rounds. Gently pound out the chicken with the smooth side of your mallet in to a medallions.  1/3 of an inch thick is perfect.   

Be careful not to break the chicken up

Now rinse your chicken medallions and pat dry.

Place your chicken in the ziplock bag and add your clam juice.

Let marinade for 16-24 hours.

Your now ready to cook 

 I'm leaving this up to your imagination. Any way you enjoyed Abalone in the past you can cook your medallions the same way.

You could simply bake or fry according to the directions on a box Panko bread crumbs

Saute in butter white wine and shallots

Brush on a teriyaki glaze and grill it up

Have Fun!!