A big, heavy shell with a thick plug of meat inside it, sweet and firm enough to stand up to a hard blanch or a salt crust without turning soft.

What It Is

Whole sea conch in the shell, cleaned of mud and sand and rinsed, with the operculum and the dark intestinal coil removed. The foot muscle is the part worth eating: dense, pale and slightly translucent, and it tightens rather than shrinks when it is cooked.

Where It Comes From

Hand-gathered by divers working shallow reef flats, one at a time, then held in clean seawater to flush before being processed. Nothing is dredged, so the shells come up whole and unmarked.

Specifications

State on Arrival

Frozen in the shell. The shell should feel heavy for its size, the lip should be intact and unbroken, and there should be no grit or mud trapped in the whorl.

Storage and Thawing

Hold at -18 C or colder. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, 10 to 12 hours. Crack the shell with the back of a heavy knife and lift the meat out in one piece, then trim the dark tip and the rough edge before slicing. Rinse the meat well; grit hides in the folds.

Shelf Life and Delivery

Best within 9 months of the production date on the box. Ships frozen with dry ice in an insulated liner and arrives hard frozen.

How to Cook It

Slice it thin across the grain. A thick slice will fight back; a thin one turns tender in under a minute.

• Blanch slice the meat 3 mm thin, drop it into boiling salted water for 20 seconds, and serve it at once with wasabi and soy.
• Garlic steam return the sliced meat to the shell, cover it with minced garlic and a little soy, and steam for 6 minutes.
• Salt roast nest the whole shells in coarse salt and roast at 220 C for 12 minutes, then crack them at the table.
• Sauce stir-fry toss thin slices in a hot wok for 45 seconds with ginger, spring onion and a spoon of bean paste.

Allergen Information

Contains molluscs. Packed in a facility that also handles fish and crustaceans.