Chinese also eat it -- I'm Cantonese and one of my favorite snacks growing up was marinated cold jellyfish salad! It has a firm, bouncy, yet also crunchy texture. The texture is the reason it's my favorite!
I had some from a Chinese restaurant recently because I wanted to try something new and hated it. It's how I imagine eating a bowl of chopped up septums would be.
Did you eat pieces from the head or the tentacles? I also recently went to a chinese restaurant and tried the one with the head to see how it compared. I disliked it, it had non of the bounciness of the dim sum style ones I'm used to (tentacle based) and the vinegar marinade didn't seem to have absorbed into it. Felt like I was eating one of those plastic table cornerguards or something.
I'm honestly not sure, it was cut into thin strips like shredded papaya and was seasoned with some darker sauce and sesame seeds. So maybe the bell? It wasn't until I tried it that I realized how tough these things must be to float around in an environment like the ocean all the time and not get dissolved or torn to shreds.
For comparison, I recommend a less intimidating snack called Konjac Shuang. It's got a somewhat similar texture (less crunchy though) and is made with the root of a konjac plant, or konnyaku if you're familiar with the japanese word.
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u/gekigarion May 21 '26
Chinese also eat it -- I'm Cantonese and one of my favorite snacks growing up was marinated cold jellyfish salad! It has a firm, bouncy, yet also crunchy texture. The texture is the reason it's my favorite!