Conpoy or Dried scallop (干貝, Cantonese: konpui; Mandarin: Gān beì), is type of dried seafood product made from the adductor muscle of scallops. Conpoy is a loan word from the Cantonese pronunciation of konpui (干貝), which literally means "dried shell(fish)". It is commonly used in Asian cuisine, especially Chinese and Japanese cuisine. The smell of conpoy is marine, pungent, and reminiscent of certain salt-cured meats. Its taste is rich and umami due to its high content of various free amino acids, such as glycine, alanine, and glutamic acid. It is also rich in nucleic acids such as inosinic acid, amino acid byproducts such as taurine, and minerals, such as calcium and zinc. ... Genera See text. ... A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. ... Cantonese (Traditional Chinese: 粵語; Simplified Chinese: 粤语]], Cantonese: Yuet6yue5; Mandarin pinyin: YuèyÇ”, lit. ... Asian cuisine is a term for the various cuisines of South, East and Southeast Asia and for fusion dishes based on combining them. ... There are many views of what is fundamental to Japanese cuisine. ... Human taste sensory organs, called taste buds or gustatory calyculi, and concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue, appear to be receptive to relatively few chemical species as tastes. ... The general structure of an amino acid molecule, with the amine group on the left and the carboxyl group on the right. ... Glycine (Gly, G) is a nonpolar amino acid. ... Alanine (Ala, A) also 2-aminopropanoic acid is a non-essential α-amino acid. ... Glutamic acid (Glu), also referred to as glutamate (the anion), is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids. ... Schematic diagram of a double-stranded nucleic acid. ... Inosinic acid is a nucleotide present in muscle and other tissues. ... Taurine (Latin taurus = bull, as it was first isolated from ox (Bos taurus) bile in 1827 by German scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin) or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an acidic chemical substance found in high abundance in the tissues of many animals (metazoa), especially sea animals. ... General Name, Symbol, Number calcium, Ca, 20 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 4, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 40. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ...

In Hong Kong, conpoy from two types of scallops are common. Conpoy made from Atrina pectinata or kongyiu (江瑶), a fresh water scallop from main land China, is small and milder in taste. Pationopecten yessoensis or sinpui (扇貝), a sea scallop imported from Japan (hotategai, 帆立貝 in Japanese), produces a conpoy that is stronger and richer in taste .

Like many dried foods conpoy were originally made as a way to preserve seafood in times of excess. In more recent times its used in cuisine has been elevated to gourmet status. Conpoy has a strong and distinctive flavor that can be easily identified when used in rice congee, stir fries, stews, and sauces. Spaghetti with seafood (Spaghetti allo scoglio). ... Rice congee is a type of rice porridge that is eaten in many Asian countries. ... For the computer protocol, see SAUCE In cooking, a sauce is a liquid or sometimes solid based selection of various ingredients served on or used in the preparation of food. ...

XO sauce, considered by some as one of best seasoning for frying vegetables or sea foods in Cantonese cuisine contains large quantities of conpoy. XO sauce (Chinese: XO 醬, Simplified Chinese: XO 酱) is a spicy seafood sauce, which develop in Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine in the 1980s. ... Seasoning is the process of adding flavours, or enhancing natural flavour of any type of food. ... Cantonese cuisine (Chinese: 粵菜; Pinyin: yuè cài) originates from the region around Canton (Guangzhou) in southern Chinas Guangdong province. ...