Jellyfish Salad (해파리냉채)

I remember the first time I went to a Korean restaurant. It was January 2015. I was in downtown Vancouver for a series of medical appointments at St. Paul’s Hospital. I was staying at a hostel in downtown Vancouver, and although I was on a tight budget, I also wanted to treat myself to one special meal.

I was a frail, lonely soul at the time, ambling down the chilly streets of downtown Vancouver alone, a pair of toothpick legs supporting a large bundle of shabby sweaters, winter accessories and a tattered fur-lined wool coat. I was, however, filled with a sense of freedom and adventure, after having been confined for many weeks due to illness.

My destination that evening was Sura, a Korean restaurant I had picked out for its favourable reviews, and a shy burgeoning interest in Korean culture that had been spiked by the stories recounted by my brother after a trip to Seoul.

I gratefully entered the warm, animated restaurant after a long walk in the cold, and after a short wait, bashfully announced to the host that I wanted a table for one. I seldom went to restaurants on my own, and the restaurant was populated with gregarious groups of young, mostly Korean, diners. I sat quietly at my table, still ensconced in my wool coat, meticulously reading every entry in the menu with my shaky hangeul literacy skills.

There were a lot of familiar dishes, familiar, that is, to my intellectual sensibilities, not to my taste buds. Dishes like japchae, bibimbap, kalbi, jiggae and tang, that I had heard and read about but never tasted. But my mind was drawn to something else entirely. Haepari nengchae — jellyfish salad. Was this merely a symbolic name, much like Japanese kitsune (fox) udon does not contain any fox, but rather pays homage to its mythology? Or did the dish contain actual jellyfish? I excitedly hoped for the latter.

I’ve always been a very picky eater with rather idiosyncratic tastes. Unusual foods attracted my interest, especially if they came from the sea.

After munching on rice and some delicious banchan (side dishes), my salad arrived, beautifully plated and decorated with a ring of finely sliced cucumber half-moons. I picked out one of the translucent yellow strips with my chopsticks and placed it inside my mouth. I was instantly pleased with my decision. The jellyfish had a delightful texture, light and chewy, infused with the flavour of the tangy mustardy dressing. I ate the rest with gusto, sipping on milky makgeolli (Korean rice wine) and quietly observing the bustle around me and secretly wishing I also had friends surrounding me, with whom to share laughter and this elusive thing called belonging.

Years have passed since that memorable, bittersweet meal, and in my recent forays into cooking, I came across packs of salted jellyfish at my local Chinatown. I felt ready, both in terms of my mental state and my cooking skills, to revisit the past, so I dropped a couple in my shopping basket.

Joëlle

Jellyfish Salad (해파리냉채)

A beautiful Korean salad that emphasizes colour and texture (but doesn't skimp on flavour!). The jellyfish has a delightful texture, light and chewy, infused with the flavour of the tangy and nutty mustard dressing. Surrounding it is a rainbow of fresh julienned vegetables and strips of egg whites and yolks. Delicious!

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Ingredients

• 1 salted jellyfish
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 small cucumber, cored and julienned
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 Asian pear, julienned
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/2 tsp ascorbic acid
• 1/3 sweet Asian carrot, julienned
• 1 tbsp shio koji
• 1 scallion, cut into thirds and julienned
For the Dressing
• 1 tbsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp warm water
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
For Garnishing
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 shiso leaf, chiffonaded (optional)

Instructions

1. Rinse salted jellyfish well, cut it into strips and soak for a few hours in a bowl of cold water.
2. Rinse jellyfish strips again at the end of the soaking period and place in a colander.
3. Bring a few cups of water to a boil on the stovetop and pour it over the jellyfish pieces. They should shrink slightly, which gives them a lovely crunchy texture.
4. Put the strips in a glass container, mix in rice vinegar and mirin and store in the fridge for a few hours, or preferably overnight, to allow the jellyfish pieces to absorb the flavours.
5. Sprinkle cucumber with salt and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse and squeeze the water out. Place on a platter.
6. Combine carrot and shio koji. Add to the platter.
7. In a small bowl, combine mustard powder and warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes, then mix in other dressing ingredients.
8. Separate egg whites and yolks into two bowls.
9. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites, and beat both egg whites and yolks with a fork or small whisk.
10. Heat a non-stick pan on low heat (I used cast iron), and add a splash of avocado oil.
11. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and swivel the pan around to distribute the liquid around the pan before it solidifies.
12. When the yolks are no longer runny, lift the edge of the yolk pancake with a spatula or chopstick and flip it over.
13. Cook a few seconds more, and remove from pan.
14. Add another splash of oil and repeat the same process with the whites.
15. When both egg pancakes are cool, slice them into strips and add them to your platter.
16. Dissolve ascorbic acid into a bowl of cold water. Slice Asian pear into strips and immediately place them in the bowl, to keep them from browning.
17. Add scallion strips and jellyfish to the platter. Pour dressing over the salad.
18. Just before serving, drain Asian pear strips and add them to the platter.
19. Garnish with black sesame seeds and shiso (optional).
20. 잘 먹겠습니다!

7.8.1.2

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https://www.joellegaudet.com/2019/01/30/jellyfish-salad/

Guidance and Inspiration

Maangchi — Jellyfish Salad

❤ Thank you Maangchi!