Jellyfish chips | Luxury restaurants only?
Due to factors such as global warming, the jellyfish has experienced an exceptional population growth in recent years. Also in The Netherlands you’ll see them more often, especially after stormy nights where they get washed ashore. There is a fair chance the jelly fish population will keep on increasing due to overfishing. The jellyfish don’t lay long on the beach, most of the time the jellyfish on the beaches are eaten by birds or cleaned up.
A scientist from the University of Southern Denmark came up with another idea rather than cleaning them up, he developed a method of turning them into a potato chip-like food. Jellyfish can be dried, as they do in Asia where dried jellyfish have actually been eaten for centuries.
Jellyfish chips
The drying process takes 30 to 40 days, which involves using salt and alum to extract the water. The Danish scientist Mie Thorborg Pedersen came up with an idea to do this more quickly. He doesn’t use salt and alum but uses alcohol instead. He soaks the jellyfish in alcohol and which ultimately evaporates. After evaporating the alcohol, nothing but a thin, crispy slice of jellyfish chips remains.
Although the dried jellyfish doesn’t have much flavor, Thorborg Pedersen states that, “The mouth feel and the aesthetic appearance in particular have gastronomic potential.” It could be a fine addition to a dish. The crisps could be mixed with seaweed for example. This could be a good idea for one of the luxury restaurants on the coast in Zeeland, The Netherlands.
Website: SDU
