NFBE Chapter 211: Sand Jellyfish Salad
Chapter 211: Sand Jellyfish Salad
Many people go fishing in the early spring. After a winter of rest, the seafood is extremely abundant and several people return with full loads.
Li Yuer rested for a while, and then urged Li Meir to help her prepare something delicious.
While Old Lady Cai and Mrs. Zhao cooked meals for the construction site in the big kitchen, they tinkered in the small kitchen in the east wing.
Following Li Yuer's instructions, Li Meir cleaned the anemone, hollowed out its internal organs, and cut it into small pieces.
There are some tricks to handling anemones. They cannot be handled uncleanly, nor can they be handled too cleanly.
The inedible intestines and stomach must be cleaned up thoroughly, and the white fat on the inner wall of the anemone should not be scraped off completely, because this layer of fat is very important for enhancing the flavor.
In her previous life, she usually didn't order sea anemones in restaurants, because restaurants were under tight time constraints and would clean out the contents of the anemones' stomachs, making the food taste terrible.
"Sister Mei'er, this dish is very simple. The key to making it delicious is to use only soy sauce and stir-fry over medium heat, trying to preserve the freshness of the sea chrysanthemum as much as possible."
Li Yuer makes the fire and Li Meir cooks.
Heat oil in a pan, add scallions, ginger and garlic until fragrant, then pour the processed anemones into the pan and stir-fry.
After the anemone flower meat is fried and curled, continue to fry for a while. When the sea chrysanthemum flowers are added with the soup, remove from the heat immediately. Do not wait until the soup is dried up before removing from the heat, otherwise it will be overcooked by then.
Li Meir tasted a piece and said, "Mmm, so fresh! This, this, this, sea chrysanthemum can be so delicious."
Although she grew up by the sea, it was the first time that Li Meir ate sea chrysanthemum and she was immediately conquered by its delicious taste.
Li Yuer also quickly tasted a few pieces. The soy sauce was pure natural without any additives, and the fried anemones were very fresh.
"Sister Mei'er's cooking skills have improved. The food she cooks is getting more and more delicious." Li Yu'er instantly turned into a little flatterer.
Li Meir's mouth curled up, she took a small bowl and scooped some, and the two of them started making it.
The chef tasted it first, which was reasonable.
"I'll send some to the big kitchen later and we'll just eat it ourselves," said Li Meir.
The two sisters quickly finished a bowl of stir-fried anemones, and Li Yuer began to teach Li Meir how to mix jellyfish.
"Sister Mei'er, I've figured out a way to make raw jellyfish. Let's try it. First, wash the jellyfish, and then cut it into long thin strips. They don't have to be too thin, just as thick as chopsticks."
Li Meir's knife skills have improved dramatically as she has been helping Li Dalang cut vegetables. The jellyfish shreds she cuts are fast and even, and look no worse than those made by machines in later generations.
After cutting the jellyfish, soak it in clean water. On the one hand, it can slow down the melting of the jellyfish, and on the other hand, it can remove excess salt.
"Cut the coriander into large pieces." said Li Yuer.
"Snap, snap, snap!" Cut it and put it in the bowl.
Li Yuer grew coriander in pots. There weren't many, just a few pots, placed in the corners of the house. There were not enough to set up a stall to sell with seafood, but only enough for their family to eat.
Then there are minced garlic, chili peppers, and shredded cabbage. "Dried chili peppers can be added according to personal preference, and they are not mixed together."
The dried chili peppers are fried and are later called oil chili peppers. The fried chili peppers have a natural chili oil aroma and are very delicious when eaten with rice.
After all the ingredients are prepared, "put the soaked jellyfish into a bowl, add appropriate amounts of sugar, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil, and mix well with the shredded cabbage. Add less salt, or no salt at all. Add it when you eat it, the jellyfish will absorb the salt."
Li Meir did as she was told and quickly prepared the shredded jellyfish.
Serve the coriander and chili separately so that everyone can add it according to their preference.
"Yu Bao'er, isn't it a little dry? Do you want to add some water?"
"Don't do that! Sand jellyfish will go into the water on their own. Jellyfish water not only contains salt, but also tastes naturally delicious. There is no need to add water separately."
The mixed jellyfish shreds give the impression of mixed jelly. The jellyfish shreds are crystal clear, the cabbage is white and moist, and the emerald green coriander makes people hungry just by looking at it.
The two sisters each took a small bowl and ate it with the second-cut corn flour pancakes that had just come out of the pot.
While eating, Li Meier praised: "It's so delicious and refreshing."
The taste of raw jellyfish is completely different from that of pickled jellyfish. From the appearance, it looks like mixed jelly, but the taste is stronger, chewier and more delicious.
The soft and chewy texture of sand jellyfish is suitable for eating raw, while the crispy texture of flour jellyfish is suitable for eating after being pickled.
The fresher the sand jellyfish is, the better it tastes. After melting, the sand jellyfish becomes less hard and less tough.
Li Yuer thinks that sand jellyfish is better when mixed, and tastes better than noodle jellyfish. In her previous life, when it was the season to eat sand jellyfish, she would always buy some every now and then, freeze them in the refrigerator, and then mix them into a dish, turn on the air conditioner, and slurp them while watching TV series.
At noon, Li Erlang and Li Laosan came back to get meals for the workers. Li Erlang habitually went to see what Li Yuer was doing.
"Okay, you two sisters are giving us some special treatment!"
Li Meir knew that he was a hypocritical person, so she scooped out a bowl of cold jellyfish and put it on the table in front of him.
"Then, eat it yourself, so that people won't say we're eating alone."
Li Erlang took the bowl with a smile, and started slurping it up without asking what was in it.
"Hmm~ delicious, what is this? Yu Baoer, you have come up with a new dish again. If you keep going like this, we can open our own restaurant."
Li Yuer took a look at the jellyfish that had just been put into the soup and said, "You know how to keep time. The jellyfish is at its most delicious when it is just put into the soup."
"Jellyfish? You said this is a jellyfish?" Li Erlang was surprised. How could that soft jellyfish be so delicious?
Li Yuer took the bowl back from the windowsill outside. There was a layer of ice on it. She took out the ice and put it into the cold jellyfish.
This is the boiled water she froze. Adding ice can slow down the melting of the jellyfish.
Li Meier said proudly: "Of course it's jellyfish. Why, I didn't expect that the jellyfish I hated the most before could be made so delicious."
Jellyfish are seasonal marine creatures that appear in groups in late summer and early autumn. If fishermen accidentally encounter a group of jellyfish, their nets will be filled with these creatures as soon as they are cast. They are very heavy and can easily damage the net.
Not only is there a lot of this stuff, but no one buys it, especially the sand jerky. The noodle jerky can be pickled and eaten, but the sand jerky will melt soon after being caught on shore.
Besides, salt was a government-controlled product in this dynasty, and the salt-making technology was limited, so salt was not cheap. Fishermen naturally would not waste salt on jellyfish that were not shipped. When they encountered jellyfish, they would just throw them back into the sea.
There are plenty of fish and conchs, who would eat this?
In a short while, Li Erlang finished a bowl of cold jellyfish.
"Erlang! What are you doing? Go away quickly!" Li Laosan didn't see Li Erlang come out for a long time, so he stood at the door, holding his waist and shouting for help.
"Uncle San! Come in! There are delicious foods."
Li Laosan wondered what delicious food could be. They usually ate from the same pot as the workers, so why did Li Meir and her sister have their own special meal today?
Soon, Li Laosan held the bowl and started slurping it up. In a moment, he had finished the whole bowl of cold jellyfish.
"This stuff is good and very refreshing." He pursed his lips, holding the empty bowl, and almost drank the soup.
He really wanted to eat another bowl, but he held back when he thought about having to deliver meals to the construction site.
"Mei'er, leave one bowl for your uncle. I'll have another bowl later."
Li Meier smiled and said, "Hurry up, this thing won't last long, it will definitely melt by evening."
"Okay, we'll send the rice and come back to eat, and ask my cousin's mother to serve us a separate meal."