Jellyfish, Daikon & Chicken Breasty Salad
Submitted by kammy
Chinese-style cold salad of rehydrated jellyfish shreds, crisp salted daikon and velvet-poached chicken breast, dressed with sesame oil, sherry and scallions.
YIELD
3 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
5 minREADY
9 hrsThis is classic Chinese banquet territory: a cold, crunchy salad built from three contrasting textures. Dried jellyfish, after a long cold soak and a quick boiling-water rinse, turns into translucent noodle-like shreds with an addictive crisp snap. Salted daikon adds a peppery bite, and velvet-poached chicken breast brings mild, silky protein to balance the minerality.
The chicken technique is worth learning on its own. Mixing raw shreds with egg white, cornstarch and a drop of sesame oil before a brief off-heat poach produces meltingly tender chicken that stays moist. It’s the same velveting step that makes stir-fried chicken in Chinese restaurants feel so different from home-cooked versions.
The dressing is surprisingly simple: salt and sugar dissolved in dry sherry, splashed into hot peanut and sesame oil, then poured over chopped scallions. That sizzle releases the scallion aroma and cools into a fragrant finishing oil.
Chef Tips
- Change the jellyfish soaking water at least twice to leach out the saltiness. Lazy soaking gives you inedibly salty strands.
- Blanch jellyfish only 15 seconds in boiling water. Any longer and it turns rubbery and shrinks.
- Wring the salted daikon thoroughly before adding to the bowl. Watery daikon dilutes the dressing.
- Don’t let the oil smoke when you add the sherry mixture. Smoking oil tastes acrid and burns the scallions.
Variations
- Add finely shredded carrot or cucumber for extra color and crunch.
- Use shredded crab or poached shrimp instead of chicken.
- Stir in a teaspoon of Chinese black vinegar for a sharper, more savory dressing.
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the jellyfish in a large bowl of cold water for 24 hours, changing the water a couple of times.
Peel the daikon with a vegetable peeler; slice thinly; stack slices and cut into matchstick shreds.
Put into a mixing bowl, toss with the 2 teaspoons of salt and let stand 1 hour.
Meanwhile, drain water from jellyfish.
Pour boiling water over the jellyfish and let stand for 15 seconds.
Drain and run under cold water.
Set aside.
Bone the chicken breast and slice thinly; cut slices into shreds.
Mix chicken with the egg white, cornstarch and teaspoon of sesame oil; refrigerate for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, cut jellyfish into the thinnest possible shreds by rolling up each sheet and slicing it thinly.
Place in a large bowl.
Wring most of the moisture from the daikon shreds; add to the bowl with the jellyfish.
Heat 3 cups water in a saucepan.
When boiling, turn off the heat and add the chicken shreds, stirring to separate the pieces.
Simmer for 1 minute.
Drain and rinse under cold water.
Drain and add to the bowl with the jellyfish.
Blend the salt and sugar with the wine until they dissolve.
Heat the oils in a saucepan and add the seasoned wine.
It will sputter and evaporate.
When the oil is hot don’t let it smoke turn off the heat and add the scallions.
Cool. Toss with the salad just before serving.
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