Australian seafood has long been renowned internationally — most notably abalone and lobster, and the beloved pearl necklace. It turns out pearls have meat, and pearl meat has recently become a popular favorite in Hong Kong: a precious treasure in soups. If conch is the standard offering and geoduck is the nourishing and health-promoting option, then pearl meat is the ultimate deluxe! Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners claim that pearl meat nourishes the liver and improves eyesight. The liver is a vital organ in the body, responsible for detoxification; the eyes, the windows to the soul, must be well-maintained.
Many of our customers who just returned from Hong Kong and bought something at our store have been telling us: "On Hing Hao is guaranteed to be Australian! Instead of buying Australian pearl meat in Hong Kong, why not buy it back in Australia? It's guaranteed to be fresh!" We are so grateful for your support.
You may wish to refer to this column from Hong Kong newspaper AM730 published on February 12 , 2025 .
A bowl of delicious soup to maintain your health easily – Xiao Dong
Everyone wants to make delicious soup, but not everyone can! Ingredient selection is crucial. A chicken or a piece of meat, depending on its origin and variety, can make a world of difference in the resulting soup. Xiaodong has been following his grandmother's lead in making delicious soup since he was little. To this day, anyone who tries my homemade soup is hooked. The key is to create a fresh, sweet, and not greasy flavor. In the past, we used conch heads to anchor the soup, but things have changed. Conch heads no longer hold the same freshness, and geoducks have been used instead, but they're still a step behind! Here's a great ingredient: Australian pearl meat. The saying, "Pearls are covered by straw, and treasures sink to the bottom," perfectly describes Australian pearl meat. Pearl meat is the flesh of the pearl oysters that cultivate pearls. It's a type of seafood that's often valued for its dazzling pearls, but the preciousness of its meat is often overlooked.
In Australia, you'll see foreigners eating fresh pearl meat, much like we eat geoducks. However, the clever Chinese dry the fresh pearl meat to lock in its flavor and preserve it easily. They then use it in soups to unleash its sweet, savory flavor, a taste unmatched anywhere else in the world!
The reason why Australian pearl meat has always been expensive is that it has the health-promoting function of effectively nourishing the liver and improving eyesight. It is also one of the few seafood that enters the liver meridian. It has excellent liver-nourishing and eye-protecting effects for students who are under long-term pressure and have extremely busy homework, as well as those who work very long hours. Xiao Dong's family stores extra thick pearl meat in the refrigerator for a long time in case of emergency.
A simple, delicious and beneficial soup: a chicken, 4 slices of ginger , 2 slices of pearl meat, 30 grams of yam, 20 grams of wolfberry, 8 grams of raw sun - dried ginseng root , and an appropriate amount of Jinhua ham. Boil them together for 1.5 hours. It can nourish the liver and kidneys, replenish qi and fight fatigue.
