Anna Mckay shares a recipe perfect for celebrating Chinese New Year
Ding Huang demonstrates the art of paper cutting
A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
Laura Reynolds looks at the habits of exam-weary students
Most of the time, jellyfish spend their lives wandering the oceans looking for food. Often, men spend their lives wandering the ocean looking for food. Sometimes, that food is jellyfish, but rarely does it end up on your plate in a Parisian restaurant.
The sun shone brightly, the air was fresh, I walked along the streets of an unknown mind-boggling quarter of Paris accompanied by a charming girl. Little could have been better! I noticed as I strolled nonchalantly down the streets, that this vibrant, bohemian migrant quarter had a Chinese restaurant done every alley.
Inspired by charming company and gorgeous weather, over we went to an authentic Chinese restaurant, as I leapt into the culinary unknown. All would have been fine, had it not been for my desire to impress.
What I was assured was a Chinese gourmet dish appeared above a pile of mixed stir fry vegetables, carrots, soy beans and broccoli; the entire plate sprayed with an unknown brown sauce. Although an attractive and graceful creature in its natural habitat, it was strangely unappealing on the platter. I feel that you never ought to judge purely on the first bite, unless it bites back. It wasn’t quite bad enough to stop at the first bite.
The slightly sweet sauce compensated for the overcooked vegetables and added a certain flavor to the otherwise somewhat bland piece of cartilage, which wore my back teeth out somewhat. Despite being mostly composed of water, the ‘head’ of the jellyfish is oddly chewy. If you are a chewing-gum addict but your friends and girlfriend are tired of your eternally minty breath, then move on to jellyfish tops.
Unfortunately, this interesting texture was wholly different from the second kind of jellyfish morsels. The bottom tentacle-part of the jellyfish was disagreeably slimy. Almost impossible to bite into, it slid down your throat, a vaguely tepid slightly more consistent elongated bogey. These two different textures compensated each other superbly - not agreeably, but superbly. Having marinated for weeks, months and possibly years, the only taste the jellyfish itself had was vinegary.
Had it not been for the usual Chinese spices, the dish would have been rather bland. Except for giving your teeth something new to chew on, and the experience of a new texture, the jellyfish is, in my opinion, simply a dish to impress. So for those of you feeling brave, in need of a vague thrill, or simply a change, order the jellyfish. Myself, and I expect most people, will take pleasure from the jellyfish in one way and one alone - watching it elegantly swim in an aquarium.
You must log in to submit a comment.
