Apropos of the silkworm video, I thought I'd compile the grand list of horrific food. My whole life, I've been interested in eating unusual foods, especially animals. I don't go in for endangered species, though. It's just too trendy here in China to eat the last of something. (The Yangtze River dolphin, for instance.) The closest I've come to orthorexy is giving up tuna.
I've had enough wretched pizza in my life to know that preparation is more than half the battle, and you can't assume that what you ate yesterday is the same as what you'll eat today. Tripe is an excellent example of a food that can swing from revolting to delicious, depending on the chef, so take my reviews with a grain of salt.
Insects and Arachnids-
Live Ants- Sweet, lemony flavor and a soft, grainy texture. Refreshing, but I did get bitten on the uvula once. Not painful, but gave me a rather dry, choking feeling. Eaten on a dare, they became a favorite stunt. I imagine they would taste differently if cooked.
Nacho Cheese Flavor Mealworms (Larvets)- Novelty snacks, look and taste almost exactly like Cheetos, but with that musty flavor all novelty food seems to have. Mom got me these for my birthday one year.
"French Style" Crickets with garlic and parsley- Delicious. A faintly sweet seafood flavor, like soft-shell crab. Ellen and I just went to the pet store and bought a bag of these guys ("They're for our turtle.") It is tragic, though, to throw a handful of live jumpers in the pan. Recipe from Calvin W Schwabe's fabulous Unmentionable Cuisine.
Deep Fried Bee Larvae- Flavorless, they needed a good dose of hot pepper salt to make an impact. Like slightly soggy puffed rice. Served to us at the very mediocre Middle 8 restaurant here in Beijing. There are more appealing descriptions here.
Grilled Silkworm Pupae- Lacquered poop on a stick. A thin flavorless shell surrounds a juicy, fecal inside. The hot-pepper sauce didn't help at all. Like shellfish, I have to suspect that freshness is key to getting good bugs. Gotten at Wanfujing night market, Beijing.
Fried Grasshopper- Delicious, crunchy, like half-popped popcorn. Could snack regularly on them. Also at Wanfujing. Also kosher.
Grilled Scorpion- A less tasty variation of the locust. The stinger was nice, but the body had a slightly liverish flavor. It failed to confer any mystical powers on me, either. Gotten at Wanfujing again.
Grilled "Diving Beetle"- Rather bitter, with too much husk/body ratio. A waxy, unpleasant nibble. Wanfujing night market.
(They have delicious chuan'r and other snacks at the night market, but the whole point of the trip was to eat bugs. That's Beijing has a little feature here about a chef at a similar snack-street...)
Other Exotics-
Raw Urchin- Salty iodine flavors predominate. Like my friend Josiah said about Laphroaig Whisky: "The Floating Hospital." Got one on the halfshell at the Oyster Bar a long time ago, and disliked it. I love urchin roe sushi, though.
Deep-fried Starfish- Unpleasant. A crunchy, gritty carapace surrounding a firm iodine paste. The one I ate had quite a bit of sand still in it, but that might be simply indigestible bits of the carapace. Also eaten at Wanfujing, on the merits of having an uneven number of legs greater than four.
Whole Grilled Baby Birds (or Sparrows?)- 马马虎虎 ("mama huhu", aka mezza-mezza, nishkoshe). The preparation was lacking; simply grilled on a hot plate, and sprinkled with "Xinjiang" spices, mostly hot pepper and cumin. With finesse, it could be good, but as it was, it was simply unpleasantly rubbery and crunchy. Got these at a restaurant in the Quianmen neighborhood whose name escapes me. (The only endotherm on the list!)
I invite you all to top this list in the comments section.
Love and kisses,
Will
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7 comments:
I can't top your list, but, then, I suppose one woman's bee larva is another's fried chicken.
To that end, things I have eaten and/or really like that more pedestrian eaters may find strange include:
Pork shank - this is my new favorite part of the pig, especially the little bits of meat in between the tendons.
Squirrel - I ate this a few times as a child. Sadly, I have no recollection of it.
Durian - not exactly unusual, except for us Americanos. I fell into the camp who hate it. It tasted (and smelled) like chicken that's gone a day or two too long. It also proceeded to give me gas for the rest of the night, and I couldn't stop burping dead, rotting chicken for the next 6 hours. Every time I would, my brother, not realizing what was happening, would turn to the potted plant next to him and say, "I swear a cat peed in this plant." I could not make this up if I tried.
Blood - unpleasantly strong tasting.
Snails - I was extremely nervous to eat these, in spite of the fact that the majority of people in the world enjoy them regularly, so I was very pleased to discover they are quite delicious.
Alligator, frog legs - more common childhood dishes. I had these quite a few times growing up in Texas. And, yes, they really do taste like chicken.
Turtle - I was a little sad when I was presented with turtle at a wedding dinner, given that whole "endangered" thing, but since I had not ordered it I could hardly bear to see it go to waste. On top of that, everyone else at the table was too weirded out to eat it, which immediately made it a challenge for me. Unfortunately, I cannot give you a summary of its flavors, because the ginger in the dish was so strong it was the only thing I could taste. Today, in my mind, turtle tastes like ginger.
Hi, Alexis. I have to say that I fall into the durian-lover category, myself. But de gustubus non est disputandem. One thing you should try in the states is "Chairman Mao's favorite Dish", in the vein of General Gao's chicken. It has a real name, but everyone just call's it Mao's Favorite. It's super-fatty pork braised with sweet potato. It's a Hunan dish, where Mao was from, and you can proably get it in an American joint somewhere...
You inspired me. I went to the store Sunday and picked up some chicken legs, which I proceeded to steam with a soy-ginger concoction. Tasty.
Oops. I mean feet. Chicken feet.
Love chicken feet. Chinese bubblegum.
Hey Will!
SLC's PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals) once served up a delicious Kangaroo--very spicy and enjoyable.
Also, I never ate them, but I had to dissect Rocky Mountain Oysters in 8th Grade--pretty gross, but I wouldn't be averse to cooking one up.
PS> Congrats on joining the company of the Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, and the Rolling Stones by getting banned in China.
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