When treating guests to a meal, abalone is often on the table as the top of the eight delicacies of the sea – because its price gives the host a lot of “face”. Due to my major, my friends always ask “Is this very nutritious” during meals, which makes me feel embarrassed. I want to say “no” because I’m afraid of spoiling the fun, but I want to say “yes” but I really can’t find any basis for it.
Culturally speaking, in Southeast Asian countries, people are particularly fond of abalone. It is said that its homophonic pronunciation is “bao means bag, fish means surplus.” Abalone represents bag of surplus, which means that there is “inexhaustible” surplus money in the bag. Therefore, abalone has become one of the must-have “auspicious dishes” at banquets.
Whether historically or today, the deeper meaning of abalone goes beyond food, and is also a symbol of power and wealth, identity and status. Western nutrition experts believe that the popularity of abalone eating in the world today and the high price of abalone stem from China’s food culture. An abalone costs 10 pounds in the UK and 10 francs in France. Why is abalone so expensive? In fact, the Chinese food culture has been an official culture for thousands of years. Therefore, eating is not only about enjoying the fragrance surrounding your lips and teeth, but more importantly, enjoying the dignity and wealth in front of others.
Looking back at the nutrition of abalone, the content of iron, calcium and selenium is very high; eating 2 taels can meet all the iron, 1/2 of the selenium and 1/3 of the calcium that an adult needs for a day. However, its sodium content is quite high (2 taels of abalone is equivalent to 6 grams of salt), and its cholesterol content is also very high. This also creates a paradox. People with affluence diseases such as high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia are not suitable to eat more abalone, but on the other hand, people who can afford abalone are often inseparable from these diseases.
Of course, whether abalone is good or not cannot be determined entirely through nutritional analysis. After all, food is a complex whole. But sure, if your starting point is “nutrition”, there are obviously many solutions that are much cheaper than abalone. But its so-called magical functions can only be felt by yourself.