Chuka Kurage – [Sushi/Foodlore]

Description

Chuka Kurage – [Sushi/Foodlore] – 海蜇, 涼拌海蜇, (chilled jellyfish salad.)

• About this roll: No, its not noodles! – These are thinly sliced strips of seasoned, Edible Flame Jellyfish; usually marinated in soy sauce or other spices! its often garnished with sesame seeds and served as an appetizer served chilled (usually along with a salad) or wrapped in nori as a Gunkanmaki! – Various jellyfish foods & Medicines are available across Asian markets (It’s especially common in Chinese cuisine, so its believed that this roll was invented by Japanese-Chinese fusion restaurants!) They’re eaten mostly for the unique, (surprisingly crispy!) mouth feel (The shredded noodle-length flesh is notably not sticky or slimy and has little in the way of flavouring hence (the usually spicy) seasoning!) You can buy pre-packaged jellyfish at most markets, and you are most likely to find this served as sushi at either Japanese-Chinese fusion restaurants or rarely at Kaiten Sushi (Conveyor sushi restaurants!) (Incidentally; You can also often find edible jellyfish salads served with Dimsum in Vancouver!) Jellyfish is often said to help with arthritis and bone pain!

A very old Japanese folk story called; ‘Why the jellyfish has no bones’ aka: ‘The Tale of the Monkeys Liver.’  has it that Jellyfish (along side flounders) were once guards working at The Dragon Kings undersea palace “Ryugujo” It’s said that he punished both the jellyfish (& flounders) for leaking important secrets which put his daughter in danger. He punished the two fishes entire species by splitting all of the flounders in half & removing all of the jellyfishes bones! – Hence why flounders can only gaze upwards and why the jellyfish is forced to bob up and down with the waves ‘ever more!

[an edo period jellyfish painting by kurimoto tanshuu. naional diet library]

[Art sticker and bite sized biography by samkalensky (yo thats me!) part of my foodlore/sushi collections!!]