Can You Eat Jellyfish? (Yes, I can and I did!)

Last April, we went to a small island that was only a few meters away from my parent's home with the whole family to take a dip in the sea.

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We noticed that there were some jellyfish in the water about 1-2 inches diameter in size. My youngest son was very happy taking some and putting it into a plastic cup. He said he wanted to put it in my mother's aquarium together with the fish. 😅 I told him that jellyfish won't survive in freshwater. But still, he wanted to take them home.

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Anyway, I remember my Lolo every time I saw a jellyfish. I remember him eating jellyfish together with raw fish.

Have you tried eating a jellyfish too?

Jellyfish are not really fish but are invertebrates having no backbones. These umbrella-shaped jelly with tentacles are most closely related to corals, sea anemones, sea whips, and hydrozoans as they share a distinctive body part – a harpoon-like stinging cell used to capture prey. (Source)

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There are only 2 species of jellyfish that I had seen in real life. One is the white-spotted Lagoon jellyfish that my Lolo used to eat and the black-colored jellyfish that would give you an itchy and burning sensation on your skin after touching its tentacles. I may never experience it myself but I heard numerous news about the effects of the black-colored jellyfish. So every time we saw some of them, we immediately fled away from the water. Unfortunately, I didn't find on the internet what kind of species this black-colored jellyfish belong to and don't have a picture of it.

What species of jellyfish can be eaten?

There are so many species of jellyfish. Some are venomous and might kill us in a matter of minutes, but there are also species that are safe to eat.

So before you consider eating a jellyfish, make sure it is safe for human consumption.

My Lolo used to eat this white-spotted lagoon jellyfish which is commonly found in the Philippines during the summer season.

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As far as I remember, after he removed the tentacles of a jellyfish, cleaned it with water, leaving only the bell-shape body, and sliced them into cubes, he will then mix it with the sliced raw fish, stewed in vinegar, and spices. And that was the only jellyfish recipe I knew then.

It has a delicate flavor that my Lolo loves to devour. So I tried it one time. Eating them is like eating some "nata de coco" only it has a salty flavor and is a bit chewy.

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In addition to being safe to consume, certain species of jellyfish are also a good source of several nutrients like protein, antioxidants, and minerals such as selenium and choline. (Source)

While I was looking for facts about the jellyfish that can be eaten on the internet, I saw some recipes you can make out of it. Some of them are Cold Jellyfish Salad, and Sesame Jellyfish.

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So the next time we will be seeing a bunch of jellyfish, I know what recipe we will be trying. Hope you find my post interesting and informative. Thank you and God bless everyone.

Love lots,
Jonalyn