How to make delicious and crunchy jellyfish in fish sauce

How to Prepare Jellyfish in Fish Sauce

• 1

  Prepping the Jellyfish

  People often buy jellyfish packaged in supermarkets for convenience. This type of jellyfish usually has a salty taste, so it needs to be soaked and rinsed multiple times to remove the saltiness. First, pour the jellyfish from the bag into a strainer to remove the soaking liquid. Then place the jellyfish in a basin and rinse with cold water until submerged. Soak the jellyfish for about 15 minutes, then change the water and repeat this process roughly 10 times.

  During the soaking process, you can taste the jellyfish to assess whether the saltiness has completely disappeared. When the jellyfish has become less salty, immediately transfer it to ice water to enhance its crispness. This also prevents the jellyfish from shrinking as it is continuously provided with enough water to absorb.

  

  
• 2

  Prepare purple eggplant and green chili

  White eggplant is generally more common than purple eggplant. However, if possible, you can look for purple eggplant to make the pickled jellyfish dish. This type of eggplant has a high crunchiness and is not too bitter. This is one of the tips to help you achieve a well-rounded and visually appealing final product.

  To prepare purple eggplant, you need to have a bowl of diluted saltwater ready. It is advisable to use coarse salt because its saltiness can be more economical than regular iodized salt. After cutting off the stem, the purple eggplant should be halved or quartered depending on its size. An important note is that after this step, you must immediately place the eggplant into the saltwater to prevent it from turning brown and unattractive.

  For the green chili, you need to remove the stem so that the pickled product will have a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. During this step, be sure to wear food-safe gloves to avoid skin irritation!

  

  
• 3

  Grind chili, garlic, prepare calamondin, and extract the juice

  Essential ingredients for this dish are red chili and ground garlic. If you have a multifunctional meat grinder at home, you can use it to grind the chili and garlic. If not, you can buy them pre-ground from outside. This way saves you a bit of time, but if you only need a small quantity, it might be hard to find.

  For calamondin, cut it in half and remove all the seeds; otherwise, the pickled jellyfish will taste bitter. Next, squeeze some seedless calamondin to extract the juice.

  

  

  
• 4

  Mix the fish sauce

  When selecting ingredients, you need to pay attention to choose the right fish sauce. The fish sauce has a high protein content and will be the factor that brings richness to the soaked jellyfish dish.

  To mix the fish sauce, you should gradually add the ingredients including sugar, monosodium glutamate, chili sauce, ground chili, ground garlic, calamondin juice, and pitted calamondin into a large bowl. Then add the fish sauce and stir well, wait about 5 minutes for the sugar to dissolve completely and then taste it to make it just right.

  A good and proper fish sauce for soaking jellyfish needs to ensure a balance of sweet, spicy, sour, and salty flavors. Note that the soaking liquid should not be too salty, as it will make the final product harsh.

  
• 5

  Soak eggplant, calamondin, and chili in the fish sauce

  Eggplant needs time to absorb the flavor of the fish sauce, so it should be soaked for about 1 day before the jellyfish. At the same time, to enhance the color of the dish, don’t forget to add a bit of calamondin cut in half and pitted. In this step, you can also add green chili to the fish sauce so that its essential oils spread, making the soaking liquid more fragrant.

  
• 6

  Enjoy

  There are 2 ways to enjoy jellyfish soaked in fish sauce:

  • You can eat it directly by taking the jellyfish out of the ice water, pouring fish sauce over it, mixing well, and waiting 15 minutes for the jellyfish to absorb the flavor. While waiting for the jellyfish to soak, remember to keep the mixture in the refrigerator to make the ingredients crisper.
  • If you have leftovers, you can put both the jellyfish and fish sauce into a jar, seal it tightly, and store it in the refrigerator. Remember to finish them within a week!

  What goes well with jellyfish soaked in fish sauce? You can refer to one of the following ways:

  • Roll jellyfish with mustard greens and dip into the jellyfish soaking sauce.
  • Roll jellyfish with perilla leaves and dip into the jellyfish soaking sauce.
  • Wrap jellyfish with vegetables, boiled meat, vermicelli, and sesame rice paper.
  • Eat jellyfish with instant noodles.
  • Enjoy jellyfish with white rice.