Jellyfish Recipes

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Brisbane

...One of Brisbane's most famous chefs, Lien Yeomans, says she's a fan of cooked jellyfish. But she says you have to be very particular about the type you eat.

"There's lots of kinds of different dishes but the two species of jellyfish that are used for eating are the Sua ro - Bizen Karuga (Rhopilema esculenta) and the Sua sen (Aurelia aurita).

"According to the Vietnamese, jellyfish is very good for people with high blood pressure or children who have stomach problems".

Lien says jellyfish aren't eaten fresh. "They usually just use the top part of the jellyfish and just dry them and then they fold them up in a piece of paper and sell it to you. When you get it home, you soak the whole thing in cold water; wash all the salt off and then cut them into little strips; then blend them in boiling water and they curl up and then you choose your favorite Vietnamese salad dish to go with it"!

"It's a very popular dish in spring and summer", adds Lien, "it's delicious and most people would like it if they didn't know what it was"!

Recipes 1 - Vietnamese jellyfish salad: (nom sua or goi sua)
Serves 4
200g salted jellyfish
1 green cucumber
1 large carrot
¼ cup sugar
50ml fish sauce
50ml lemon juice
1tspn finely chopped hot chilli
2tbspn crushed roasted peanuts
2tbspns crushed roasted sesame seed
100g chicken breast
100g pork butt
2 eggs beaten
2tbspns coriander leaves chopped

Method:
1. Wash, soak and rinse jelly fish in cold water. Drain well, roll up into a tight roll and cut into thin strips. Blanched in boiling water for 15seconds (until the jellyfish strips curl up). Leave aside.
2. Wash cucumber, cut into quarters lengthwise, seeded and cut into very thin diagonal strips, sprinkled with ½ sugar. Leave until sugar dissolves then squeeze dry.
3. Peel and shred carrot, sprinkle with the rest of the sugar. Leave until sugar dissolves, then squeeze dry.
4. Cut chicken and pork into thin slices, shallow fry; then cut into thin strips.
5. Grease a non-stick pan; make a thin omelette with beaten eggs. Let cool then roll up and cut into thin strips.
6. Mix prepared jellyfish, cucumber and carrot with fish sauce, lemon juice, chilli, crushed sesame seed and peanut and arrange the mixture on a platter and top with strips of chicken, pork, omelette and coriander leaves.
7. Mix well before serving. Adjust taste to achieve a balance of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and nutty.

Recipes 2 - Marinated jellyfish with green apple dressing
Ingredients (for 4)
400g salted jellyfish
1tbspn chilli oil
1tspn toasted sesame seeds
1tspn sea salt
Juice of 2 green apples
Juice of 1 lime
1tspn sugar
1 red Spanish onion, cut into thin slices.
100g snow peas cut into thin strips diagonally.
Coriander leaves, chopped

Method:
1. Wash, soak and rinse salted jellyfish. Drain well. Mix jellyfish with chilli oil, salt and sesame seed.
2. Mix apple juice, sugar and lime juice.
3. Mix snow peas and red onions; arrange this on a plate and top with jellyfish and coriander. Dress with apple and limejuice.