Anyone tasted conpoy or dried scallops?

You can eat it as it. Just pop it into your mouth and after letting your saliva hydrate it, start chewing. Or you can start chewing immediately. It can be tough and it is slightly saltish.

To say that it tastes fishy doesn’t quite cut it.

It comes in pinky tip size to a quarter coin size. In bits or in whole piece. It may be cheaper to buy the bits of the more expensive kind. They may cost a pretty penny if you want to buy the big whole dried scallops.

My mum puts two tablespoons or so of the small sized ones into her clear soups or when she cooks congee.

I buy her a supply every year. She grumbles when I buy her the bigger and more expensive kind. But I know she will use it cos it gives the dish a better and fuller flavour.

late to the game, but…

More often than not, it’s used in dishes as flavoring. Just like @Velvetinenut said, “to say that it tastes fishy doesn’t quite cut it” – it’s salty too. Has a bit of a tang to it. It’s usually rehydrated first, and then used in dishes like simple vegetables, soups, or congee.

(you CAN eat it as is, but it’s not a particularly great snack. It’s pretty hard to digest, so if you eat a lot, you’d feel pretty bloated. Not that I’d know… [looks around suspiciously]