Spicy Jellyfish with Bell Peppers and Eggs (Ceng1 Ziu1 Caau2 Daan6 Hoi2 Zit3,青椒炒蛋海蜇)

I had dinner with my sister not too long ago and we went to one of the local Chinese restaurants in the area and ordered Jellyfish in XO Sauce. The dish was very good and it’s a dish that I had never eaten before. Jellyfish (hoi² zit³, 海蜇) is normally not the main ingredient in a cooked dish, so this was rather unusual. Jellyfish is usually prepared as an appetizer or as part of a cold dish, such as the Cucumber and Jelly Fish Salad recipe that I posted earlier.

I was looking for a dish to make with the package of salted jellyfish that I had and while this recipe is not that dish, it was inspired by that meal. If you search for jellyfish recipes on the internet, you’ll find that many include chicken. Since I wanted to have jellyfish as the main ingredient, I figured that eggs would be a good addition while keeping the dish centered on jellyfish. You want to use the salted jellyfish rather than the instant variety because you want large pieces of jellyfish in the dish rather than the strips you get with the instant.

XO sauce is a combination of many ingredients, including, but not limited to dried shrimp, dried scallops, hot peppers, garlic, and shallots. I decided to make my own sauce (not XO) by including the previously mentioned ingredients, minus the dried scallops. I also used red bell peppers and green Thai chilies from my garden.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

14 oz. package Salted Jellyfish (hoi² zit³, 海蜇), hydrated and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 oz. Medium Dried Shrimp (haa¹ mai⁵, 蝦米) (about ½ of a 3.5 oz. package)

3-4 Red or Green Bell Peppers (ceng¹ ziu¹, 青椒), cut into 1-inch pieces

3-6 Green Thai Chilies, sliced diagonally

3 whole Shallots (cung¹ tau⁴, 蔥頭), diced

½ inch knob of Ginger (goeng¹, 薑),  diced finely

2 Garlic Cloves (syun³, 蒜), diced finely

3 Eggs (gai¹ daan⁶, 雞蛋), scrambled

Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

1 tsp. (or to taste) White Pepper (baak⁶ wu⁴ ziu¹, 白胡椒)

1 Tbs. Soy Sauce (si⁶ jau⁴, 豉油)

1 Tbs. Soy Paste (see notes)

1 Tbs. Shaoxing Rice Wine (siu⁶ hing¹ zau², 紹興酒) or Dry Sherry

1 tsp. Hoisin Sauce (hoi² sin¹ zoeng³, 海鮮醬) (see notes)

1 tsp. Sesame Oil (maa⁴ jau⁴, 麻油)

Water or Chicken Stock, may be needed if there isn’t enough shrimp soaking water

Preparation Instructions

1. Follow the instructions on the back of the package to hydrate the salted jellyfish. The instructions for this brand include pouring boiling water on the salted jellyfish for 3-5 seconds, draining the water, and pouring and draining cold water on the jellyfish 4 times over 4 hours. I do this the night before and leave the jellyfish soaking in water in the refrigerator.
2. Remove the jellyfish from the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking (if soaked overnight).
3. Pour boiling water on the dried shrimp in a bowl and soak for at least 1 hour.
4. Separate the hydrated shrimp from the soaking water. Reserve the shrimp soaking water to add to the sauce later.
5. Cut the jellyfish into 1 inch pieces.
6. Wash and cut the bell peppers into 1 inch square pieces. Set the bell peppers aside.
7. Wash and slice the Thai chilies on the diagonal. Set the chilies aside.
8. Dice the shallots, ginger, and garlic. Set the diced pieces aside.

Sauce Preparation Instructions

1. In a small bowl, add the white pepper, soy sauce, soy paste, Shaoxing Rice Wine, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil. Mix together and set aside.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat the wok or pan over high heat before adding oil.
2. Scramble the eggs in the wok and set aside in a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat, add more oil, add the bell peppers to the wok, and stir fry. Transfer the cooked bell peppers to the bowl with the eggs.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat, add more oil, add the Thai chilies, shallots, and ginger to the wok, and stir fry.
5. Add the shrimp to the wok and stir fry with the chilies, shallots and ginger.
6. Add the garlic to the wok and stir fry with the other ingredients.
7. Add the jellyfish to the wok and stir fry with the other ingredients.
8. Add the contents of the bowl with the cooked bell pepper and eggs back into the wok and stir fry the ingredients together.
9. Add the sauce to the wok and combine the ingredients. Add the remaining shrimp soaking water (or any other liquid) to the wok to make the desired amount of sauce.
10. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish.
11. Serve with steamed rice.

Notes

1. Soy Paste is bottled by Kimlan. Regular soy sauce can also be used if soy paste is not available.
2. Hoisin sauce is a thick sweet bean sauce and is almost black in color. Brown sugar or regular sugar may be substituted if you don’t have hoisin sauce.