CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Where does jellyfish come from? What dishes can you make with it?

The scientific name of jellyfish is jellyfish. It belongs to the genus of jellyfish, family Rhizostomidae, and family Jellyfish. It looks like an umbrella, and its body is divided into umbrella and wrist. After the jellyfish is pickled, the umbrella is called "jellyfish skin", and the mouth and wrist are commonly known as "jellyfish head". In my country, the export history of jellyfish skin is long. Since the 1960s, it has developed into an export commodity with an export volume of more than 3,000 to 4,000 tons, which is very popular abroad. In recent years, due to the pollution of the sea area, the production of jellyfish skin has dropped significantly, and the export volume has also dropped significantly.

Jellyfish are widely distributed, from Liaoning in the north to Guangdong and Hainan in the south. Currently, they are mainly caught naturally. The annual production period is divided into spring and autumn. In spring, from April to June, the jellyfish are tender and small, with high water content, and the yield rate is low after dehydration; in autumn, from July to September, the jellyfish are large, mature, with low water content, and the yield rate is high. The water content of jellyfish is above 90%. The jellyfish caught are generally pickled and processed, and can also be eaten fresh.

The skin of jellyfish is a layer of gelatinous substance with high nutritional value. The head of jellyfish is slightly harder, and the nutritional gelatin is similar to that of the skin. China is the first country to eat jellyfish. The "Natural History" written by Zhang Hua in the Jin Dynasty recorded the consumption of jellyfish. Today, jellyfish has become a delicacy at banquets.

Jellyfish contains a variety of nutrients needed by the human body, especially iodine, which is lacking in people's diet. It is an important nutritional food. It contains substances similar to acetylcholine, which can dilate blood vessels and lower blood pressure; the mannopolysaccharide colloid contained in it has a certain effect on preventing and treating atherosclerosis. Jellyfish can soften and disperse nodules, remove stasis and accumulation, clear away heat and resolve phlegm. It is beneficial for diseases such as tracheitis, asthma, gastric ulcer, rheumatoid arthritis, and has the effect of preventing and treating tumors. People who are engaged in hairdressing, textile, grain processing, etc. who are in contact with dust often eat jellyfish to remove dust accumulation, clean the stomach and intestines, and ensure good health.

Four ways to eat jellyfish

⒈ Cold jellyfish salad: Take the jellyfish skin, soak it in clean water for 4-8 hours, then wash it thoroughly, cut it into thin strips, wash it with cold boiled water 1-2 times, put it in a basin, add appropriate amount of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and a little MSG to season, mix well, and it is ready to eat. Its characteristics are: it is cool and delicious when served with food and wine.

⒉ Tomato jellyfish: Heat the cooking pot and add vegetable oil. Pour the soaked, thoroughly rinsed and sliced ​​jellyfish into the pot, add a little ginger, sugar, rice wine, chopped green onion and appropriate amount of soy sauce to season and remove the fishy smell. Then, add the washed and sliced ​​tomatoes (or tomato sauce), stir-fry for 3-4 seconds on high heat, then add a small amount of wet starch and stir-fry evenly. When the juice is thick, it can be eaten. It has the characteristics of strong fragrance and rich nutrition.

⒊ Sweet and sour jellyfish: Cut the washed cucumbers, radishes, etc. into strips or small pieces (about 25% of the jellyfish), rub them with a small amount of refined salt to remove moisture, then rinse them with water 1-2 times, drain the moisture, and soak them in sweet and sour sauce for 1-2 hours. Take them out and pour them into a hot pot with sweet and sour sauce, cucumbers, and radishes, stir-fry them for a while over high heat, and finally add starch to make a paste, and serve. It has a refreshing taste and is suitable for all ages.

4. Crispy jellyfish skin: First, soak the jellyfish skin in clean water to remove odor and debris, put it in a basin, and use boiling water to reduce the area and increase the thickness. Take it out and cut it into shreds, rinse it once or twice with cold boiled water, put it in a basin, add appropriate amount of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, minced ginger, a little sesame oil, and seasonings such as onion and garlic, mix well and eat.

[Flowers, Birds, Grasses and Insects Series] 1. Jellyfish

"You will end up with your old skin if you come back", this line of poetry often reminds me of the time when I first learned about jellyfish skin as a child.

There was an old man in the village who loved to eat jellyfish. His skin was wrinkled, so he was nicknamed "jellyfish skin". Once, when we had a dinner party at home, we also had a dish of jellyfish skin. I didn't know what it was, so I asked the adults what it was. When I learned it was jellyfish skin, I almost dropped my chopsticks on the ground. I watched the adults chewing it "crunching", and I was really terrified: What's wrong with the adults? Why did they eat that old man? I didn't want to eat a single bite, and I ran out immediately. I saw that the old man was safe and sound, and I felt relieved.

Since then, I finally know that there is such a thing as jellyfish.

When I grew up and played in the sea, I often saw piles of small jellyfish floating in the water. These jellyfish are usually not eaten, but played with. Carefully pick them up with both hands and hold them on the sand on the shore. After a while, they will turn into a pile, because more than 90% of the jellyfish body is water. You can also use it to fight, throw it on your partner and it will bloom - but if you are not careful, you will be stung by the jellyfish, which is very uncomfortable!

After catching the jellyfish, the jellyfish heads are usually cut off first (fresh jellyfish heads are crispy and delicious when mixed), and the rest are put into a large basket, with a layer of jellyfish, a layer of salt, and then more, and then salt. When it is full, a large stone slab is added to press it - this way the water can easily escape, and a jellyfish becomes a thin jellyfish skin.

When you buy dried jellyfish skin from the market, you need to soak it first, that is, soak it in cold water, not hot water. Change the water once or twice in the middle, and generally soak it for several hours until most of the salt inside is dissolved. Try not to buy pre-soaked jellyfish skin from the market, because it often contains something to make the soaked jellyfish skin look better or increase its weight.

Cut the soaked jellyfish into strips, add cucumber and ginger strips, mix with mashed garlic, vinegar and sesame oil, wow! It's delicious!

In fact, the soaked jellyfish skin is far less delicious than the fresh one. Cut the fresh jellyfish into strips with a knife, similar to jelly, and put them in a large bowl. Mix it in the same way as above, and it will be better if you add some coriander and fried sesame seeds. Don't add salt. After mixing, stir it slowly a few times, and it's done. Because most of the jellyfish is water, after mixing it, it will be a large bowl with soup and water. Generally, we say: Come, drink a bowl! Friends who have never drunk it, please pay attention, be careful not to get a stomachache from the spicy garlic after drinking it!

The best dish is the jellyfish head, which has a special bite, crisp and crunchy. Usually, a plate costs 30-50 yuan. But once I saw a plate of jellyfish in a hotel in Tianjin for 488 yuan. I was shocked and asked the waiter, who said it was their signature dish and the portion was large. I told him that I paid for his trip to Yantai, where it was better and more delicious, and it didn't cost that much. Do you believe it?

Now that I am not in Yantai, I rarely eat jellyfish, let alone drink jellyfish soup.

[Flowers, Birds, Grasses and Insects Series] 2 Grasshopper

In the countryside, when autumn comes, the fields become lively with all kinds of insects, flying, jumping, and crawling. I don’t know what word to use to refer to them all, so let’s just call them grasshoppers.

The most common is the locust, which we call meat grasshopper. Most are green, but there are also earthy brown ones. They are very strong, with a thick head and neck, and a pair of big teeth that can bite off grass sticks. They have two thighs with sharp barbs on them, and if they kick your fingers, they will bleed. They have two pairs of wings, the outer big wings are green and very hard, and there is a pair of small pink wings inside.

Whenever the autumn harvest was over and the corn was cut, it was the happiest time for the children. Just kicking the corn stalks twice would scare the locusts away. The locusts were too fat and could not fly far. Several people chased them separately and caught them in a few steps. There were so many locusts that sometimes both hands were too busy to catch them. When they caught too many, they would find a straw stick and pass it through their collars one by one. In a short time, they could string several bunches together.

When you have caught almost all of them, find a place that is sheltered from the wind, get some dry wood, light a fire, and when the fire is about to die out, throw the locusts in. After a few minutes, you can dig them out and eat them. At this time, the wings of the locusts are all burnt, and the whole body is red and black, and hard. When eating, you must first pull off the head and put it aside, which will also take out the dirt in the stomach. The rest is stuffed into your mouth and chewed, which is more delicious than anything else. Especially the locust seeds, which are oily and golden, and crispy.

There is a kind of earthy brown locust, we call it coffin head, and we don't eat it. There is also a kind of grasshopper, with a long body, a pointed head, two antennae like the pheasant feathers on the helmet of an ancient general, and two big eyes, we call it "double-eyed armor", and the taste is average. These are taken home to feed the chickens, which can lay more eggs if they eat them, and they are also big pieces of meat.

The most exciting thing is to catch katydids. The male katydid has a long needle on its tail, which is called an egg case in books, right? If you catch it and put it in a cage and feed it some cabbage, it can be kept for a long time. Every day you can hear its pleasant chirping (actually, there is something similar to a flute membrane on its wings that rubs against each other), which is much more beautiful than wind chimes and music boxes. Besides, we had never heard of these things when we were young. Female katydids can't chirp, so we roast them and eat them. They have a belly full of seeds.

The katydid loves to hide in the jujube bushes. You can hear its call from a distance, but before you get close, it will notice you and stop immediately, either staying still or jumping to the ground and running away. It can't fly. There are brown and green katydids, which are almost the same color as the surrounding environment, so it is very difficult to find. After finally seeing it, you should carefully put your hand in, and be careful not to get pricked by the jujube thorns. But often, even if you get pricked by several thorns, it will still escape eight out of ten times.

Crickets (we call them oil gourds) look a bit like katydids, black in color, full of oil, and very delicious when fried. We also catch mantises (a bit like aliens from an alien planet), which taste a bit sour and not tasty.

That’s basically it. These things were delicacies for children back then, but now they have become wild delicacies in hotels.

Jellyfish are the tentacles of jellyfish and are usually only used as cold dishes.