I'm the Culinary God

"Uncle Qiu, what is Sea Floor Pine?"

Before Qiu Yaozu mentioned the name of the dish, Lin Xu thought he knew quite a number of dishes. But upon hearing the name Furong Sea Floor Pine, he realized how little he knew.

This dish, he had really never heard of.

"Sea Floor Pine is aged sea jellyfish head, quite rare. It provides unexpected magic in soup making. However, it appeals to too few and has become a dish that only a few can taste."

So Sea Floor Pine is aged jellyfish head?

Lin Xu thought about the aged vinegar jellyfish head and chilled jellyfish skin at the night market stalls and couldn’t see what was so precious about this ingredient.

Qiu Yaozu opened a special box in the kitchen, equipped with temperature and humidity control. He used a pair of clean chopsticks to take out several pieces of brown block ingredients that looked like old tree bark, and said with a smile:

"These aged jellyfish heads have been preserved for over three years, suitable for entertaining distinguished guests."

Is this the aged jellyfish head?

Lin Xu looked at it, and it was clearly different from the white transparent jellyfish head he had in mind. These jellyfish heads looked more like brown white fungus, clustered together.

Qiu Yaozu closed the box and proudly explained the preciousness of these jellyfish heads to Lin Xu.

The jellyfish comprises jellyfish skin and jellyfish head. The upper part of the jellyfish is umbrella-shaped, referred to as jellyfish skin; the lower part is the oral arm part, commonly known as the jellyfish head.

Freshly harvested jellyfish are divided into two parts by fishermen, separating the jellyfish skin and jellyfish head.

At this time, the jellyfish head cannot be eaten. It needs to be pickled with salt and alum to remove toxins from the jellyfish and extract excess water, making it consumable.

However, after the first water extraction, there is still a lot of moisture in the jellyfish head, and the texture has not reached a perfect state.

So, continue water extraction, and jellyfish heads after the second extraction are called Second Alum Jellyfish, and the third are called Triple Alum Jellyfish.

Freshly harvested jellyfish heads are not valuable, but after three water extractions, the size shrinks significantly, and the price increases more than tenfold.

Some high-end aged vinegar jellyfish heads use Triple Alum Jellyfish.

But this jellyfish head is not suitable for making Furong Sea Floor Pine because it is too fresh and lacks sufficient flavor.

The dish Furong Sea Floor Pine requires preserving the Triple Alum Jellyfish for over a year to convert fresh jellyfish head into aged jellyfish head.

However, preserving jellyfish heads is extremely difficult, requiring a temperature and humidity-controlled environment, avoiding any contact with raw water and grease, keeping it away from light, and preventing insect bites.

Such preservation requirements cause the price of jellyfish heads to rise several times again.

Qiu Yaozu said:

"The top-tier ingredient is jellyfish head preserved for over three years. Such jellyfish head is a treasure among jellyfish, a rare and precious ingredient that cannot be bought with money."

Looking at the cabinet with the box preserving the aged jellyfish heads, a thought flashed through Lin Xu’s mind.

So, are you flaunting your wealth now?

Qiu Yaozu placed the jellyfish head in a bowl and said to Lin Xu:

"Even after shrinking three times, it’s still fist-sized, and before division, it almost had to exceed face-basin size. Unfortunately, the current severe marine harvesting means that recorded jellyfish were as large as beds, and jellyfish heads made from them might taste even better."

Lin Xu, who hadn’t interacted much with jellyfish, wasn’t deeply moved by overharvesting. Instead, he felt more about prawns—those legendary large shrimps thicker than a child’s arm are now rare, almost mythical.

Qiu Yaozu began preparing Furong Sea Floor Pine with the jellyfish head.

The method of making this dish is not difficult: blanch the jellyfish head to make it shrink again, cool it, cut into slices, and then soak in clear water.

Meanwhile, whip the egg white, steam it into a soft paste in a pot.

Finally, season the thin slices of jellyfish head with salt and pepper in a clear soup, garnishing with chopped egg white and some finely diced ham bits, and the dish is complete.

Furong Sea Floor Pine is a summer soup dish.

The summer is sultry, diminishing appetite, and sweat loss demands hydration while also boosting appetite, hence the creation of this dish.

Unlike the famous Three-in-One Duck, Furong Sea Floor Pine does not have a big reputation nor related anecdotes and celebrity stories—not even knowing who the inventor was.

From inside out, it exudes mediocrity.

Yet, this seemingly mediocre dish represents the culmination of Huaiyang cuisine’s soups.

Using common ingredients and simple combinations, it creates the most delicious dish imaginable, one so tasty that not even the most discerning palate can find fault.

This is the charm of gourmet cuisine.

While Qiu Yaozu was busy, Lin Xu kept watching and occasionally asked some related questions:

"Uncle Qiu, what dishes can be made with these aged jellyfish heads?"

"Plenty. Jellyfish Head Clear Soup paired with Furong Egg is called Furong Sea Floor Pine; paired with pigeon egg, it’s called Sea Floor Moon Capture; with Clear Stewed Chicken, it’s called Coral Stewed Chicken; with liver sauce Furong Egg, it’s named Flying Swallow into the Sea; with pork lung, it’s called Sea Floor Pine Stewed Silver Lung... There are many related methods. You should research them when you have the chance."

As one of the eight treasures of the sea, jellyfish head itself is flavorless, only outstanding in its crispy yet tender texture.

The clear soup method maximizes its crispness, and combining this texture with the visual effect of clear soup makes jellyfish head an indispensable hot dish.

All around the country, jellyfish is almost always prepared cold, but only Huaiyang cuisine chefs creatively make it into a hot soup dish and daringly use clear soup, adding freshness and elegance to an originally common dish.