Whether it's an appetizing old vinegar sting or a cool and slightly sweet cold sting skin, the icy taste always makes people want to stop.
However, have you found a problem? We usually eat jellyfish skin and jellyfish head. Where is the huge body of jellyfish?
0 1 What is the relationship between jellyfish and jellyfish?
Jellyfish, called in ancient times? Fish.
▲pexels
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, jellyfish appeared in related books. Yuejueshu records the daily life and customs of Wuyue people during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, among which it is recorded that "jellyfish shrimp is a good food for southerners."
In the next 2,000 years, many ancient books also recorded jellyfish, arguing that jellyfish "is shaped like a sheep's stomach, with no eyes for shrimp, no internal organs, and is condensed from green water foam."
Of course, with today's knowledge, we know that the ancients had many misunderstandings about jellyfish.
▲ jellyfish fish. Figure /obzhi
The water content of jellyfish is as high as 95%, but it has internal organs and is a real animal, not condensed by water foam; Jellyfish don't use small fish and shrimp as eyes either. They surround jellyfish just because they can act as umbrellas at critical moments.
But the ancients did not misunderstand or say anything wrong, that is, jellyfish can be eaten and delicious.
Of course, not all jellyfish are edible. We can often see all kinds of colorful jellyfish in the aquarium, and most of them can't be served on the table.
▲ A kind of jellyfish. Figure /Monterey Bay Aquarium
▲ "Pot" used by Tang Sanzang in Journey to the West.
There are about 250 species of jellyfish in the world, the most of which is the class Cephalopoda, which is named because its skull is like an upside-down bowl.
The jellyfish we eat are part of the genus Jellyfish-Rhizomatoidea-Rhizomatoidea.
Therefore, the relationship between jellyfish and jellyfish is clear at once: jellyfish is a branch of jellyfish, but not all jellyfish are jellyfish.
In China, we usually eat three kinds of jellyfish: jellyfish (yes, it is called jellyfish), sand jellyfish and macula jellyfish.
The most classic is jellyfish. In some places, fishermen prefer to call it "face sting" or "cotton sting" Its "umbrella" is very smooth, crisp and tender, and can generally grow to the size of a washbasin.
Jellyfish is a creature belonging to the family Cephalopoda-Cephalopoda. Its umbrella has many sand-like protrusions, which can grow to the size of a table. It takes several people to work together to get it ashore.
The number of sand jellyfish is far more than that of "noodle jellyfish", but the taste is not chewy, so the price is much cheaper.
Macular jellyfish is similar to jellyfish, except that the surface of its umbrella has many short and hard wart processes and yellowish brown spots.
The most common ones in the market are noodle jellyfish and sand jellyfish. The economic value of macula jellyfish is relatively low, and its market share is not high.
02 jellyfish outbreak, can you catch it?
In summer, we can see some news about jellyfish outbreaks in coastal areas.
Especially in the bathing beach, there are many jellyfish floating on the sea. If you want to swim in the sea, you have to carefully bypass it.
Whenever crayfish and freshwater fish broke out in any place in the world, China was teased to eat food. Now, there are so many jellyfish in front of our house. Can foodies do their best to catch them directly and eat them?
Be reasonable. I'm afraid that's not possible.
First of all, you can't judge whether this floating jellyfish is an edible variety.
Secondly, fishing jellyfish is a physical activity as well as a technical activity. One or two people may not be able to drag the huge sand jellyfish ashore. Moreover, if the jellyfish fished up are not released as soon as possible, they will soon dissolve into a pool of water, wasting their efforts.
Even if you meet an edible variety and it is the right size, I still don't recommend you to fish by yourself.
▲ Anatomical structure of jellyfish. Figure/Marine Invertebrate Zoology
On the one hand, the tentacles of jellyfish are coiled with hooked filaments, which can be sprayed out to pierce and anesthetize the prey, and then sit and enjoy the food. Of course, jellyfish can also sting humans, and if you don't get medical attention in time, your life may be in danger.
On the other hand, jellyfish itself contains toxins, and fresh jellyfish eaten in coastal areas will be soaked in alum water in advance to remove toxins and make jellyfish not easy to melt.
Therefore, if you encounter jellyfish at the seaside, I only have one suggestion, and you should hide.
How do we deal with the jellyfish we usually eat?
Since we can't fish it ourselves, what professional treatments do we have for jellyfish?
▲ Cultured jellyfish. Figure/Natural History
We usually eat the most jellyfish head and skin, which are all cut from jellyfish and processed by salt and alum.
After the jellyfish are fished ashore, they should be divided first, and the stinging jellyfish whiskers should be smoothed away.
First cut off the mouth and wrist of the jellyfish. This part is the touch of the jellyfish. The meat is thick and the taste is crisp. The fishermen call it "jellyfish claws", but at the dinner table, we call it jellyfish head.
▲ Old vinegar Shantou
Jellyfish head is commonly used to make cold dishes, and vinegar sting head is one of the most classic appetizers. In addition, it can also be used for braising in soy sauce or splashing oil, because the jellyfish head has a slightly lower water content and a strong taste, and with its cold and heat resistance, it can easily become a versatile ingredient.
The umbrella-shaped part above the jellyfish will become jellyfish skin after pickling.
Whether it is jellyfish head or jellyfish skin, it needs to be pickled before it becomes an edible ingredient.
Pickling jellyfish with alum and salt is the most traditional practice in China, and it continues to this day.
Alum can coagulate protein in jellyfish and accelerate dehydration. Besides being used for dehydration, salt can also be used for anticorrosion.
The most classic practice is "three alum and two salts":
1, prepare alum water and soak jellyfish for four to six hours;
2. Drain the jellyfish, spread a layer of jellyfish in the pickling tank, sprinkle a layer of mixed powder of salt and alum, fill it up, sprinkle salt and alum on the top to "cap" and marinate for about a week;
3. After a week, drain the jellyfish, and then repeat the second step, except that the amount of salt and alum should be reduced, and then marinate for eight to ten days to remove the water, which will become the jellyfish skin and jellyfish head on our table.
The pickled jellyfish skin is shredded, soaked in running water for a period of time, and the salt and alum are washed away. It is best to mix cold dishes.
Especially in winter, the sweet cabbage heart mixed with crisp jellyfish skin is definitely a clean stream in front of a greasy Chinese New Year dinner.
Fishermen by the sea don't waste any edible parts of jellyfish, they divide jellyfish to the extreme.
▲ jellyfish brain
Between the mouth, wrist and umbrella of jellyfish, there is a jelly-like thing, which fishermen call "jellyfish brain". In fact, it contains the gonad of jellyfish, which is the most abundant amino acid in jellyfish body and has a special flavor.
Jellyfish brains are difficult to preserve. If you want to eat them now, it will be difficult to eat them when you leave the seaside.
▲ jellyfish brain scrambled eggs
The most common way is to make soup, and the washed jellyfish brain is poured into boiling water. In a short time, it floats to the surface like eggs and flowers, and then sprinkled with ingredients such as shallots and parsley, and it can be cooked.
Jellyfish brain can also be used to scramble eggs. Beat it well with the eggs, pour it into the pot after the oil is hot, and turn off the heat after the egg liquid solidifies. It doesn't need any seasoning, and it is delicious enough.
The most expensive part of jellyfish is the membrane on the inside of jellyfish umbrella, which fishermen call "jellyfish lining". It must be torn off quickly while the jellyfish is fresh. After a long time, it can't be torn off.
▲ jellyfish lining
A jellyfish weighing about 500 kilograms can only produce three or four kilograms of jellyfish lining at most. Whether fried or stewed, jellyfish lining tastes like lean meat, but it has the flavor of the ocean.
Sauté ing jellyfish with cabbage heart is the most common practice in Jiaodong Peninsula. Two local specialties, jiaobai meets jellyfish, sweet and crisp cabbage and delicious jellyfish lining, make the taste of this dish far exceed its face value.
▲ Fried cabbage with jellyfish lining
For people who live by the sea, one of the coolest things in summer is to come to a bowl of fresh mixed jellyfish, which is the jelly that belongs to the sea alone.
▲ jellyfish jelly
Soak jellyfish in alum water or in running water for a day to remove toxins and bitterness from the body. Cut the soaked jellyfish into shreds, add garlic paste, vinegar, coriander and other seasonings, mix well, and then drink the soup with water.
Cold jellyfish with the smell of white vinegar and garlic across the mouth, in the hot summer, very refreshing.
Although jellyfish is good, don't drink too much.
Regardless of whether it is jellyfish skin or jellyfish head, the crisp taste with the sour and refreshing vinegar is really a kind of enjoyment in summer.
However, in the processing of jellyfish, a lot of alum and salt are used, which determines that the aluminum content and salt content in jellyfish skin and jellyfish head will not be low.
Excessive aluminum intake may induce Alzheimer's disease and lead to osteoporosis. Eating too much salt can easily lead to cardiovascular and kidney problems.
Alum is a substance that we often talk about when eating fried dough sticks. Its chemical name is "potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate", which can help jellyfish dehydrate and protein solidify.
According to relevant food safety standards, the aluminum content in fried dough sticks should not exceed 100 mg/kg, while the aluminum content in jellyfish should not exceed 500 mg/kg.
Is there any way to reduce the aluminum content in jellyfish, or to make "alum-free jellyfish" like "alum-free fritters"? I'm afraid it's difficult.
First, the treatment method of jellyfish is still the traditional "three alum and two salts". If the amount of alum is not enough, the taste of jellyfish will not be crisp, and until today, no substitute has been found to replace alum;
Second, under the condition that the technology remains unchanged, we just improve the safety standards, or the products on the market generally exceed the standard, or we can't eat decent jellyfish.
Therefore, jellyfish is destined to be a kind of food with high aluminum content. From the safety point of view, one should not eat more, and the other should be fully soaked and rinsed before eating to reduce its aluminum content as much as possible.