Paua and the glory (+recipe)

Steamed paua, blood orange, beetroot & rhubarb. Photo / Supplied

My introduction to that Kiwi icon, paua - or abalone as it is known offshore - came midway though a beachside cooking class. Some free-divers spotted us at work and threw this luxury ingredient into the mix. Talk about having to learn on my feet.

I'd read a lot about how Maori often beat the paua meat with a stick to tenderise it and the best implement I had to do that with was the side of my Chinese cleaver.

I then made a marinating sauce of passionfruit, palm sugar, lime juice, light soy and fish sauce with a little water, and poured it over the shucked paua. An hour later, the paua was drained (the sauce kept) and cooked briefly on oiled barbecue grill bars, basting with the sauce over the flames, then served with fresh cut limes.

My American guests were speechless; their eyes twinkling and mouths watering over the pure sea flavour with a hit of acid from the lime to cut the richness. I fell in love with paua that day.

At the last Savour New Zealand food show, famed Sydney chef Tetsuya Wakuda was busy preparing his scampi but all the while observing me handling the paua as though they were gold. He was so fascinated with my baby paua, he came over to find out more - about my dish and this local delicacy. So inspired was he by the conversation that he decided to help me spread the word about just how fantastic paua are.

These large sea snails devour seaweed and spend their lives clinging to rocks at depths of 1m to 10m. The larger specimens are generally found in colder South Island waters and around the Chatham Islands.

The holes in the shell are for breathing and reproduction, but crafty starfish and octopus prey on the paua by blocking off these vital holes, forcing the paua to let go of its rock.

New Zealand is home to many environmentally sustainable marine farms, that grow paua from 87mm to 105mm, exporting 85 per cent of it to Singapore and Hong Kong. New Zealand's largest paua farm, OceaNZ Blue in Bream Bay, Northland, is a sustainable farm producing some 90 tonnes of paua, sourcing seawater from 600m out into Bream Bay and 10m below the surface.

The water passes through UV lights naturally sterilising it and ensuring the cleanest water available. During processing, paua are slowly chilled overnight to relax them, ensuring the meat is tender.

State of the art cryogenic (nitrogen) freezing technology ensures that when thawed, the product can be used fresh in sushi and sashimi.

Although most familiar to Kiwis as paua fritters, I find paua loves to be thinly sliced (remove the sac pewa - the soft part - and teeth), dusted with rice flour and pan-fried. It also loves to be paired with acidic ingredients such as a homemade slaw or a limey guacamole, and there is no doubt these two recipes will have you salivating with the first mouthful.