It had been long time since my last jellyfish meal :-P Yes, you read it right j-e-l-l-y-f-i-s-h that floating wobbly, water filled animal with long stinging tentacles that spells out trouble for swimmers and fishermen alike. You can say that's bizarre but it's a delicacy and enjoyed by many people. As for me, I rather eat jellyfish anytime than turtles!
Ok... I don't know which species of jellyfish I'm eating but I guessed it's edible and not endangered (?) species right? :-D This batch was given to me by my neighbour. I think I got the tentacles part. Almost all the whole jellyfish parts can be eaten as mentioned by foodie blogger Melting Wok.
Jellyfish And Kyuri (Japanese Cucumber) Salad
300 g Jellyfish (already prepared and cleaned by seller :-D)
1 pc Japanese Cucumber (kyuri)
1 stalk Spring Onions
3 tsp Rice Vinegar
3 tbl Sesame Oil
4 tsp Shoyu/Light Soya Sauce
1 tbl Fish Sauce (Optional)
3 tbl Sesame Seeds
4 tsp Sugar
Some water to blanch the jellyfish
Method
1. Wash jellyfish in fresh water. Drain and set aside.
2. In a pot, boil some water. When water boiled, pour the jellyfish into the hot boiling water. Blanch the jellyfish in few seconds (you will see that the amount will shrink in size) and quickly plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking. Drain the jellyfish.
3. When jellyfish is cold enough to handle, slice the jellyfish into smaller pieces. Set aside.
4. Wash the japanese cucumber: cut into halves lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice them thinly. Set aside.
For the dressing
1. In a small pan, roast the sesame seeds without any oil until fragrant and golden yellow. Crush lightly the seeds a bit to release the oil. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, shoyu until the sugar dissolves. Add in the sesame oil and sesame seeds. Stir the dressing well. Set aside until needed.
To assemble the salad; Mix the jellyfish and the japanese cucumber together. Pour in the dressing and mix well. Adjust the taste to your liking. Garnish with sliced spring onions. If you intend to serve the salad later, don't add the dressing too early or you will end up with watery salad. Few minutes before serving is better because you also want the jellyfish to absorb the dressing...
Variation: You can add on to your sushi or top it up on Donburi meals. You can also add some chopped fresh chillies or chilli flakes to give that extra 'kick' :-)
Jellyfish is one of sea turtles main food and that helps keeping the jellyfish in control but now with the dwindling of sea turtles population these jellyfish is back with vengeance! In countries that were badly hit with the surge of jellyfish population had cost lost of income to the fishermen. Only way to control this situation is to stop eating sea turtles (also their cousins) and their eggs or else we all end up eating jellyfish as food or the other way round!
Enjoy!
Pixen, I would not have any problem eating jelly fish. It sounds like a great recipe.
ReplyDeleteHi Ivy... :-)
ReplyDeletePlease do try this recipe. It's not spicy or hot at all. I like jellyfish because it's texture and the cucumber added extra crunch to the dish. This recipe is great addition if you're going to have seafood theme buffet or like what I participated before a Roll Your Own Sushi gathering where each participant have the chance to make their own makizushi (rolled up rice with seaweed) with their choice of fillings. It's also great filling for Gunkan Sushi.
Wow Pixen! It's so great to have a recipe for this. I see it in the shops sometimes, but the packet just says "serving suggestion : open packet and serve" and that always seems too strange!
ReplyDeleteHI Tom,
ReplyDeleteGlad this recipe helps you.. :-) I think the one you saw could be ready made jellyfish mix or just plain jellyfish? You can find them in Japanese supermarkets for the marinated jellyfish. OF course, if you can find jellyfish that not marinated is best; you can have fun making your own mix. I had once eaten the entrails of pickled/marinated squid :-P My japanese friend gave it to me...LOL. That's one of the things I avoid and then last month I got UNI sushi..burghhhh!!! Uni is on my numero uno FOOD TO AVOID listing :-D
Funny that you mentioned the jellyfish has already been cleaned and prepped by the vendor.
ReplyDeleteHow would you even do that? haha
Hi Jude,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, I'm not going to catch live jellyfish even though jellyfish has no brains, neither heart nor blood :-P These vendors I went to would clean whatever that's been inside Jellyfish (whatever it's eaten and wherever it had been) and also to get rid of grits,etc. They would also cut up the jellyfish to several parts so you can choose which part you want at different prices. Some jellyfish even drenched with sea salt, either you clean and soak it yourself or they will do it instead. They also sell sea cucumber already gutted or soaked dried sea cucumber. Not forgetting, soaked dried squid. I'm sure you can find such vendors in Philippines or other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand for example. Important for me, I don;t want to see how the vendors cut/trim the jellyfish :-|