Japanese abalone, a hard and chewy crunch to say the least, the outer edge is tough and can shift your teeth if you wear dentures.

There are more than 100 species worldwide and in Japan the major species include kuro awabi, megai awabi, and madaka awabi in the south and Ezo awabi in the north. But why are awabi still one of those scared shellfish. The answer is, two thousand years ago, Princess Yamatohime no Mikoto who is said to have founded Ise Shrine was fond of the delicious taste of abalone when an ama named o-ben offered it to her. Today the tradition of ama has endured in the Toba-Shima area precisely because of this reason, and awabi in Japan is superb!