Tuding jelly, which is processed in different parts of the country, is characterized by a variety of meat qualities. However, many gourmets believe that the ones made along the coast in Haibaishi, Fu'an, eastern Fujian province, are better.
After the fall harvest every year, when the sea ebbs, the townspeople around Huoyu in the town of Haibaishi in eastern Fujian start to get busy. They pick up a small fish basket, holding a small wooden hoe with a short handle, balking at the seashore beach, head down and concentrate on looking for the "earth Ding". "Tuding", commonly known as sea ding, soil bamboo shoots, also known as sandworms, sea worms, is a wild in the coastal salt and freshwater junction of the mudflats on the links of the mollusc-like animals. "Tuding" and mud on the mud of the beach is similar in color, it is difficult to recognize. But this thing likes to hedgehog living, and is living in the surface layer of the mudflat, so once you find, it is a large pile, can be full of basket and return.
"Tuding" is earthy brown when it is dug out of the ground, and grayish white when it is washed with water and pressed clean. Fishermen dig to fresh "Tu Ding", first rinsed with seawater to remove the surface sludge, fished out and drained, placed in a ceramic jar, with both hands repeatedly rubbed and squeezed, to remove its intestinal sediment mucus. And with a thick bamboo sieve repeatedly rubbed, so that the skin molt, revealing the white tender flesh, washed and cut into an inch long and short, with the right amount of water together into the casserole to boil, constantly stirring, so that the body's rich gelatinous dissolved into the soup, and then add the appropriate salt and mix well. Because of its rich collagen, so boiled a pot of sticky, thick soup, the soup out of a small bowl, placed in a cool ventilated place to be naturally cooled.
After cooling for 8-12 hours, a bowl of soup will freeze into a bright as agar, like amber "Tuding jelly". The good finished jelly is silver gray translucent, without any impurities. It is eaten without other condiments except for a little oil and salt, so it is light and fresh, smooth and tasty.
Tuding Jelly is usually eaten with condiments such as soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sweet sauce, or wasabi sauce, sriracha, and garlic paste. Duding in the Haibaishi area is small, with elastic meat and a salty flavor. To eat it, simply pour a little soy sauce on top of the jelly and spread it out. At present, there are several professional households in Haibaishi that process the jelly, which is quite large in scale. The process is done in a large pot, and the jelly is wholesaled in batches to restaurants or small vendors. The professionally processed "tuding jelly" is a crystal clear round flat body, as if it was created from a crystal palace. (Zheng Wang Lin Yao Lin)
Source: People's Government of Fujian Province