Jellyfish Cold Salad Recipe: A Pungent Winter Delicacy

Cold salad is a chilled dish made by mixing seasonal vegetables with ingredients such as shrimp, abalone, or sliced boiled meat, then dressing them with mustard or a sauce made from pine nuts or walnuts. One of the easiest places to find cold salad is at a restaurant specializing in jokbal, or braised pig's trotters. Even many people who have never tried cold jokbal salad will have heard of it. Cold salads come in many variations depending on the ingredients used, including cold jokbal salad, chicken breast cold salad, grilled eggplant cold salad, and imitation crab cold salad. The best-known variety, jellyfish cold salad, is popular with food lovers for its distinctive texture and spicy, tangy yet sweet flavor. Here is a simple recipe for this appetite-stimulating jellyfish cold salad.

Jellyfish Cold Salad Recipe

Ingredients: 200 g jellyfish, 1/2 cucumber, 1/4 Asian pear, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar

Sauce ingredients: 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon mustard-vinegar sauce, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil, a little salt

1. Soak the purchased jellyfish in water to remove its salty taste, then rinse it thoroughly.

2. Pour boiling water over the rinsed jellyfish to blanch it. Rinse it in cold water, drain, and leave it to chill.

3. Toss the chilled jellyfish with the sugar and vinegar.

4. Cut the cucumber into 4 cm sections, julienne it, rinse it in cold water, and drain it in a sieve.

5. Julienne the Asian pear, soak it in sugar water, and drain it in a sieve.

6. Combine the sauce ingredients to make the sauce.

7. Toss the jellyfish from step 3 with the sauce and place it on a plate.

8. Arrange the cucumber and Asian pear around the jellyfish on the plate to complete the dish.

About Cold Salads

Cold salads are known as a dish suited to hot summer weather, but after eating only warm foods during the cold winter, a refreshing cold salad can be a welcome delicacy. One advantage of cold salads, including pungent jellyfish cold salad, is that they can be prepared with ingredients that suit your taste. In addition to the cold salads introduced above, they can be made with meats and seafood such as beef, duck, pork, shrimp, abalone, and squid. They are also delicious when cucumber, bean sprouts, or seaweed is used as the main ingredient. Cold salads are most commonly served with mustard sauce, but walnut sauce or garlic sauce may also be used. When your appetite wanes in winter, revive it with a healthy, refreshing cold salad.

[Fam Times = Reporter Joo Na-rae]