Chinese stir-fried dishes use precooked abalone, either steamed,
pressure cooked, or out of a can (also pressure-cooked). The
flavor, rather mild, is pretty well killed off by such treatment, so
the result is kind of like the clams you get at Howard Johnson's,
i.e., not very distinctive and without much charm.
A few times I've had it raw, where it's got a nice sweet and
briny taste with a crispy crunch similar to geoduck. Once the
cook failed to trim off the hard part, so that added a bit of
unappreciated textural interest.
Sushi or sashimi, I reckon, is the best way, when fresh fresh
anyhow, though as Lord Peter Wimsey would say, I agree with
you that it is horribly overrated.