Canned abalone is an outlier in canned food, and it appears almost exclusively in seafood merchants in the Chinese world, often in the same category as dry goods from the north and south, and rarely with other canned foods. "Canned abalone to buy Mexican wheel abalone" is the golden rule in the hearts of many older Chinese, on the classic of canned abalone, I am afraid that no brand can surpass the Calmex wheel brand.
 
Produced in Baja California, Mexico, the "Abalone on Wheels" is considered one of the most desirable abalone producing areas in the world due to its clear waters, little pollution, ocean currents, low sea temperatures, and slow abalone growth. Baja California waters are divided into nine legal abalone producing areas, which are managed by the Mexican Department of Fisheries and Agriculture, and abalone is caught and canned under the protection and control of the Mexican government. Since 1957, all nine authorized appellations have been owned by Mexican state-owned producer Ocean Garden, which produces abalone cans under the Calmex brand name and distributes them on behalf of the government.
 
The Mexican abalone fishing area operates as a cooperative commune, and the fishing time is limited to January to July each year, and the rest of the fishing period is closed. The catch is washed and cooked in salted water until it is half-cooked, without adding any other ingredients, and then cooked until it is fully cooked when it is sterilized at high temperature after canning, and then it can be shipped. Canned abalone, also known as "soup abalone", was used in Hong Kong's economic boom in the sixties and seventies, when Canned abalone under the Wheel brand was used to shine, restaurants introduced "soup abalone" as a substitute for dried abalone.
 
There are two varieties of Mexican abalone used in the wheel brand, one is yellow abalone (Haliotis corrugata) and the other is blue abalone (Haliotis fulgens), both of which are wild, the former grows in the deep sea, the abalone has the strongest flavor, the grade is higher, and the price is more expensive; The latter grows in shallow seas, and the abalone flavor is relatively light, and the grade is slightly inferior. No matter which variety, Mexican abalone has a typical tall and thick body, plus the wheel brand only selects wild abalone cans for many years, usually sells strong, full skirt, eye-catching, its meat is rough and hard, but it still tastes smooth and palatable, flexible and slugging, the more the abalone is chewed, the fresher it is, and the flavor is warm.
 
Canned abalone is based on the "number of heads", and the "number of heads" refers to the number of abalone in a can. Regardless of the number of heads, the net weight of abalone of the wheel brand is maintained at 255g/can, and the size of each can must be one to three heads, which is the best among similar products on the market. The most precious abalone in the wheel is naturally an abalone, and there is only one abalone in the can, which is the size of a fist. In addition, canned abalone usually has one and a half, half a head, two and a half heads and other non-integer products, "one and a half" means that one abalone is less than 255g, and another half abalone must be cut into pieces; "Half head" means that the weight of the original abalone exceeds 255g, and a part of the weight needs to be cut to reduce weight, and so on. According to the number of heads, the price of the wheel abalone is also different, the smaller the number of heads, the higher the value, "the first half", "half the head" is not the original sale, so the price will be slightly lower than the whole head.
 
It is worth noting that due to market pressure, the Mexican government sold Ocean Garden, the manufacturer of the wheel plate, to a U.S. company in 2007. The new operators of Ocean Garden are demanding higher capacity, but the existence of a moratorium makes it almost impossible to increase production. To this end, Ocean Garden opened a second product line in Australia, producing canned Australian abalone under the "Wheel Brand", which was considered to be a damage to the brand image of the "Wheel Brand" because the quality of Australian abalone was far inferior to that of Mexican abalone, which caused dissatisfaction in the Mexican production region. Since then, seven of Mexico's nine abalone fishing regions have broken away from Ocean Garden, leaving only two that continue to supply Ocean Garden with canned Mexican abalone.
 
In terms of the new Australian production line, Ocean Garden uses farmed abalone from the junction of the Australian upper current, where the sea temperature is suitable and more suitable for abalone growth, but the meat flavor is still quite different from that of Mexican abalone. Abalone is susceptible to death due to changes in water quality or excessive temperature differences, so the longer the growth cycle, the higher the cost of farming. In order to ensure that the size of the abalone is considerable, Ocean Garden has also invested in the corresponding cost, and the growth period of Australian abalone in the cans is more than nine years, which is much higher than the three-year cycle of ordinary cultured abalone, so that the size of each can of Australian abalone is still 1~3 heads, which is benchmarked with Mexican abalone. Compared with Mexican abalone, Australian wheel abalone has a slightly softer texture, a slightly less flavorful abalone, and a sweeter taste.
 
In recent years, the harvest of abalone in Mexican wheels has been tightening year by year, the supply exceeds demand, and the price has risen year after year, and it is very rare to see an abalone in the market, and 1.5 abalone is also asking for more than 1,100 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to more than 1,000 yuan. Canned abalone from Australia is relatively affordable, with less than half the price of the same size produced in Mexico. Consumers should also pay attention to the similarity of the packaging of the two when purchasing, and do not buy Australian wheel abalone at the price of Mexican wheel abalone: Mexican cans are printed with the map logo of Baja California, Mexico, while Australian cans are printed with the Australian map logo; The net weight of abalone made in Mexico is 255g, while the solid weight of Australian abalone is only 213g.