Another Mystery in Chinatown
By Dyske April 19th, 2009
Here is another one from Chinatown. I have no idea what this could be. It somewhat resembles Japanese yuba, but I have a feeling that it’s nothing of the sort.
By Dyske April 19th, 2009
Here is another one from Chinatown. I have no idea what this could be. It somewhat resembles Japanese yuba, but I have a feeling that it’s nothing of the sort.
Frank Luo says:
April 19th, 2009 at 6:35 pmThese are jellyfish. Jellyfish bodies to be exact — the part that looks like the cap on a mushroom.
There is not much flavor to these things and they are usually served as an appetizer or snack, not as an entree. They are sold wet here but are more frquently sold dry, in which case you would have to rehydrate them first.
The most common way to eat these is to cut them up to a suitable size for eating with chopsticks (shredding to about 1/4″ strips is a popular way to do it), boil them, and toss them with vinegar, a little sugar, and usually some other spices — chili peppers, Szechuan pepper powder, and sesame oil are popular — so that you end up with something like a pasta salad with an Asian dressing, except you’re eating jellyfish bodies instead of pasta.
Like I said there is not much flavor to them, except a tiny little hint of sea brine, which is often wiped out by the drying and rehydrating process anyway. You eating these things mostly for the crunchy texture and the effect: prepared in a salad like I mentioned, it appeals to and teases your palate with multiple flavors — sour, sweet, salty, and piquant, accompanied by the smell of vinegar and possibly Szechuan peppers and sesame oil — to whet your appetite in anticipation of the main course.
Tanya says:
April 20th, 2009 at 12:49 pmRolled up pig skin?
Julia Shengqi says:
April 21st, 2009 at 10:55 amFrank Luo is the expert :B
I never thought of jellyfish.
Jellyfish instead of pasta? Unbelievable. Even when I’m chinese.