Jellyfish Processing

A visit to jellyfish factory in Grigat, Sarawak, Malaysia.

White jellyfish will turn to yellow after the process and keeps well for six months. Good quality product cannot be torn easily.

刘先生向我们展示加工完毕的海蛰丝强调:“经氧化后颜色带黄，新鲜的海蛰可保存六个月，用手捏也不会断。”购买海蛰时记得捏一捏喔！

These narrow barge-like boats goes out to sea at the crack of dawn, returning around midday with their catch of jellyfish.

清晨就出发捕捉海蛰的渔船，到了中午就满载而归，海蛰即是有“水中保母”美称的水母。

The fisherman loads the white jellyfish into metal boxes. Red jellyfish can be a rarity.

船夫将捕获的海蛰抛入铁箱内，我们所见的属白种海蛰，红种海蛰较为罕见。

A pulley hauls up the metal boxes.

钢索将装满海蛰的铁箱拉上.

Contents are spilled on the runway, a wooden panel constructed at a sliding angle.

白晰晰的海蛰倒在木制输送槽内。

Jellyfish drifts its way down with some baby fish still stuck to their mothers' bodies.

The fish is mixed with alum and rinsed. Next, it is washed with salt and baking soda. It is next soaked in salt and alum. All steps must be done quickly or the protein is lost and crunch gone.

Jellyfish being transfer to the factory at the background.

海蛰顺着输送槽慢慢地流向加工厂，表层凹凸不平的是幼儿，小海蛰成熟后就会脱离母体。

A view of the factory.

Jellyfish needs a soak of two days in the mixture of salt and alum.

捕获海蛰后，用白矾（礬/明矾/明石）清洗.

Salt is used too. Then it is drained on the floor board for 2 hours. Five kilos of jellyfish will render to only half kilo after all liquid being drained.

放入混合了盐与苏打的水中搅打，之后还要泡在盐与白矾中，此过程分秒不可怠慢，未经此过程的海蛰，其高蛋白将在第二天流失而失去韧性。

Jellyfish needs a soak of two days in the mixture of salt and alum. Then it is drained on the floor board for 2 hours. Five kilos of jellyfish will render to only half kilo after all liquid being drained.

正用盐与白矾腌制的海蛰，两天后就放在地板上脱水两个小时，经过几天加工后，海蛰的重量将由五公斤减少至半公斤。

海蛰加工厂

早上在一阵“啾啾”声中逐渐苏醒过来，偶尔传来一两声“呜”，没有熟悉的回教堂传来的祷告声，到底身在何处？

原来是在诗巫！声音来自在蓝天下翱翔的燕子，不远处拉让江的快艇在催促乘客上船。这里的空气好清新，这种情况醒过来的感觉真好！

今天与钱学芬老师约好到离开诗巫两个半小时车程的鱼鳞甲（GRIGAT），一间传统海蛰（水母）加工厂参观。七点半离开酒店，途经数个小镇时我们停留下来，到当地巴杀感受这种久别的朴素生活。

中午到达鱼鳞甲，一个在地图都找不到的海边小村庄。一间小杂货店前，老板刘用才先生热情地出来迎接我们。踏着在沼泽上以木板搭成的小桥，刘先生带领我们到岸边，码头下有数艘满载海蛰的小艇等着卸货。

船夫将海蛰抛入铁箱内，再由钢索拉上倒在木制输送槽。迅间，整个输送槽被白晰晰，比面盆还大的海蛰填满，慢慢地流向海蛰加工厂，甚为壮观。刘先生在加工厂内向我们讲解及示范腌制海蛰过程，同时向我们分析如何分辩海蛰的等级。

过后，我们在刘先生开设的餐馆兼小旅社用餐。刘先生样样皆能，亲自下厨为我们准备午餐。除了螃蟹咖喱饭、螺煎、魔鬼鱼皮羹等独特海鲜之外，当然少不了凉拌海蛰。在海风轻拂的大自然环境下，每道食物变得更加可口。

My visit to A Jellyfish Processing Factory

With domestic visitors, many acknowledged Sibu in Sarawak as a seafood destination. Today, Vickie Chieng is guiding us to a small fishing place known as Grigat. Try looking up the map, you see nothing listed. This little dot of a place needs a drive of two-and-a- half hours by road. We left the hotel at 7.30a.m as the early bird catches the worm. Indeed, there are many off-the-beaten track open-air markets along the way. The scene has a simple countryside atmosphere and many value buys.

Grigat is also the place where jellyfish is being processed. At noon we arrived and met the boss of the processing factory. Mr. Lau is very friendly and explained all the gritty notes on jellyfish as I stood on the wooden bridge, listening in awe.

He took us to his little eatery cum mini hotel. This little capacity space is where business rubs shoulders with good food. Mr. Lau is an amazing figure as he wears many hats. He could cook and yes, he transformed beautiful seafood into wonderful dishes, like Curry Crab Rice, Fresh Oysters Omelette, Stingray's Skin Broth and even concocted a dish of Jellyfish Salad. A big plus point goes to the freshness of ingredients used. Simple rustic charm is such a rave factor as you enjoy your meal.