Cannonball jellyfish are bland at best. In China, where slivered, dry jellyfish are commonly served before banquets and strewn across salads, cooks don’t use the cellophane-like strips without first dousing them in soy sauce or sesame oil.
Tabasco works too, said University of Georgia food safety professor Yao-Wen Huang, who in the 1980s earned the nickname “Cannonball King” for his work developing a jellyfish processing system.
According to Huang, the allure of jellyfish is its distinctive texture, suggestive of a cross between a potato chip and a stretched-out rubber band. “We call it crunchy-crispy,” said Huang. “It’s like when you eat chitterlings, you’re not really hungry that you want food. You want that mouthfeel.”
“It’s like when you eat chitterlings, you’re not really hungry that you want food. You want that mouthfeel.”
Hmmm. I’ve ordered shredded jellyfish at a Chinese restaurant, just because I could, and wanted to know what it’s like. The only taste was the sauce. But, I did not like the mouthfeel one bit.
Of course, I don’t eat chitlins, either.
Those who scuba-dive know what pests jelly fish can be. They are also beautiful creatures to observe in the water.