Mud Crabs in sweet and spicy sauce @ Pantai Seafood Restaurant
A few weekends ago, I met up with some friends for a veritable seafood feast. After wrecking our nails picking at the crabs, and satiating our appetites with an assortment of goodies that included fried squid and tofu, we got round to discussing strange things we’ve eaten.
Believe me, some of it was very strange. But I was thinking and thinking and although I’m very adventurous with food, I could not think of one thing that might be considered strange.
At the end, I settled for Silkworm Soup. I saw it on the menu at a Korean restaurant, and ordered it. The soup was a little murky and tasted a little strange and musty. I think they added some herbs in there. The silkworms were at the bottom of the bowl and although I peered at them, I could not bring it anywhere near my mouth. My brother in law happily munched away at them and had an almost immediate allergic reaction, breaking out in hives which was quite scary. He’s an adventurous sort, but he’ll never go anywhere near silkworm soup ever again.
So that’s my story. What’s yours?
Your Say: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Oh before I go, here’s a gratuitous picture of a delicious appetizer we had too. I wish I’d had cleaned off my hands to take a picture of the salt and pepper fried squid because THAT is mouthwateringly good!
Deep Fried otak-otak (spicy fish paste) and tofu – delish! at Pantai Seafood Restaurant
Paris B
p/s I actually had this post prepped to go before I went on holidays, but I didn’t feel right posting a picture all about food during the Ramadhan month so here it is. Salivate!
Strangest I’ve ever eaten? Scorpions. Deep fried in Wangfujing, Beijing. Yum!
Err ok 😛 I’ve thus far refused to put the critters in my mouth 😛
The strangest thing I’ve ever eaten would be bat’s meat and monkey brains! :s
You sure not??!! Monkey brains?? Please tell me you aren’t kidding 😛 I had pig brains omelette as a kid but I was too wee to remember and to be grossed out 😛
My mom attempted to force a pig brains brew down my throat
to amp up my IQ before exams (apparently it “works” ~_~).
Of course, I threw up thereafter, and for all I know,
I may have become LESS intellligent due to the trauma! HA!
Haha! To my credit I never thought much about it as a kid when it was served to me (possibly also for the same reasons) I just thought “Yummy omelette!”
Yes I’ve had monkey brains when I was in Sarawak. My dad conned me into eating them +__+
You get the runner up prize after Xin 😛
I had tasted Vietnamese balut but it is chicken not duck. The balut is a very famous delicacy in Philippines. However, this Vietnamese balut is not wholely foetus yet.
I tried water crockroach and cricket in Siem Reap. It tasted like deep fried shrimp and crab with the shell attached..
Now my hubby is trying to dare me to eat live octopus in my coming trip to Korea!!@@”
Eeps! I think you win 😛 I was tempted to try the live octopus thing in Korea, but my hosts warned me that a few people have died recently from it – the octopus panics and sticks itself to the throat and windpipe essentially suffocating the person. So being a bit of a wimp, I quickly changed my mind.
Really!!! I have to share this with my hubby so that he knows of the consequences of trying to eat such live creature. I asked him to check with his Korean friends on the taste and feeling before I accept his dare.
It’s like a season of Fear Factor!!!
I’m told it doesn’t taste of much. You can dip it into the kochujang sauce anyway but yes, do be careful!
I bet it will be chewy!
Balut! Overrated IMO, tasted like a normal egg, but furry. That’s it =/
I was fine until the “furry” bit. OMG! No egg for lunch today O_o
As for me, deep fried larvae (I think) a friend got from Thailand.
Tastes great actually – just like…crisps…Potato crisps!
I have to agree with Sue Lynn, Electronicfly – like egg but furry??!!
Haha, I think you should try the one in Phillipines, I believe it would taste different from the one that I tasted in Siem Reap.
Please don’t tell me that tastes like duck with a hint of egg 😛 I probably would give Balut a go if I go to the Phillippines, but not without a shudder of horror 😛
Hahaaha, if I go to Phillippines, I will try the origin of Balut too. In my opinion, I don’t consider myself been to Phillippines till I tried Balut. It’s like a stamp of verification on the passport….
I know right? I’ve heard so much about it that its one of those must do things
Wow! You’d consider giving it a go?
Just watching it on AFC made me go “eeeww”.
I don’t think I can bear the sight of it in real life,
much less stomach AND keep it down! O_o
Kudos to the iron tummies out there ^_^
Yes I would give it a go. Not necessarily finish it or anything but at least taste it 😛
Yes, I will do so too!!
I’m probably the dullest person here, because the strangest thing I’ve had was turtle soup 😛
I LOVE turtle soup, with lotsa rice wine & pepper!
You can barely recognise the poor thing anyway
when it comes out piping hot in a claypot
(well, except for the giveaway bits of shell) :p
Haha! That’s a nice thing to say “You can barely recognise the poor thing anyway” 😛 The minute I hear it mentioned, my brain shuts down and I refuse to have anything to do with it.
aiyoooo pitty the turtle 🙁
I haven’t even had that – and I have no plans to 😛
We should partner up in those Reality Shows.
You handle the balut while I gulp down reptiles & insects ^_^
haha yes yes I can’t handle the creepy crawlies!
It has gotta be the fried locust i had in Thailand. Give me sago worms anyday!! I thought i would be more grossed out by the maggots, but staring at those huge eyes of the fried locusts just made my stomach churn!! UGH.
Next to that, jumping shrimps! I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. The nice worker at the restaurant then took the bowl away and fried it for us after hearing my squeals! *embarassed*
Eeee creepy crawlies! I draw the line at them, fried or not, tasty or not >.<
I lost count on how many strange food I ate! LOL I am all in for exotic foods!!yum!yum!
So which would be the strangest then?
Goat’s brain curry and deep fried flying fox. Both times I didn’t know what I was eating till I was full. I have to admit I was wondering why the fried “chicken” looked like roosting bats but didn’t think to ask because Tummy was in charge then, not Brain.
Erm… okayyy… bet you it wasn’t with Mr. TM then 😛
I’m no where adventerous when it comes to food so I stay away from anything strange or unknown. For me it was definitely smelly taufoo in Shanghai though some may not think that is strange enough.
Oh you’re braver than I am! I couldn’t eat smelly tofu at all. Took a tiny mouthful but spat it out 😛
aiks, everyone here sounds so adventurous! the most I’ve done is deep fried grasshoppers and worms from Thailand – they were seasoned with salt and pepper, and didn’t taste half bad…just crunchy! >.<
See, I won’t and can’t do creepy crawlies!
Wait, do strange Chinese herbs count? I had rhino horn for my eczema that my grandma bought for me too >.< Poor rhino. And Crocodile tail for asthma.
I have yet to come across a Chinese herb that isn’t strange 😛
Eh… I remembered during my younger days when my mom brought me to the chinese herbal shop, asking to pick some herbs to make soup to cure my asthma… I remember seeing cockroaches and sea horses… EEwww…
My dad used to eat crocodile and iguana meat too but then coz his asthma is cold so he needs something to warm his body… Later on I found out that I have bronchitis and a Chinese DR told me I cannot take in cold nor hot… so I cannot take any herbs at all…
When my mom stopped giving me weird herbs… I felt better on my own 🙂 So to those who has asthma or bronchitis [just sharing] better make sure you are hot or cold 🙂
so many adventures here! what i sort of tasted was definitely not worth mentioning compared to all these ><
Ah but yours is the best! You must tell! 😀
ok ladies and gentleman (if there is):
I ONCE TASTED AIRWICK HOME FRAGRANCE JELLY!
*proud*
It’s OK Xin, I don’t blame you. The peach one smells so good I’m tempted to do so myself too…
Oh, and canned dog food too…
Oh dear… my husband does that too!! He actually ate our dog’s kibble!! >.<
*applause* You win. Hands down.
Ahhhmmm….I think the strangest for me would be “Pig’s blood” that’s in solid form! we call it DINUGUAN! 🙂
I’ve eaten pig’s blood! :O We have them in soup here and its called… err… pig’s blood 😛 But I don’t like the taste so its not something I eat.
i call it pig jelly!
The weirdest thing for me would have to be snake soup and turtle and alligator soup. Might not be strange for some people but it is for me!
I have eaten crocodile too – tastes like fish LOL! 😀 Hey Denise, you’re in the Phillippines – how about balut? 😉
I’ve eaten ostrich, rabbit, crocodile, dried filleted frog and, to my shame and horror, dog. But in my defence I was very young and was tricked into eating it. Never ever again! 🙁
Eeks! Poor Fido 😛
Eating live octopus sounds creepy to me. Truly a fear factor!
Being a Filo, we normally eat balot, its nice with salt and vinegar but there was this one time when I ate it and the duck inside was too big and furry already, the beak got stuck in my throat just like fish bones. After that incident, I never ate duck.
Another one would be roasted farm frogs. Tastes like chicken!:))
Ooh you are sending shivers down my spine with the idea of a duck beak being stuck in my throat! >.<
Mine isn’t as exciting or scary…
Mine would be during my confinement, after I battled my way through a hairwash! yes, I just washed my hair, and I had to drink a “wine”. Tasted like Chinese medicated oil you use to rub a bruise… and I vomited after I saw the glass jar. In the wine were the usually Chinese herbs and dead baby mice, roaches and worms. Pickles anyone?
Eww! I’d throw up too! 😯 Was it meant to be medicinal?!
yes, meant to be medicinal… coz the elderlies believe washing our hair during confinement will cause us migraines later in life. Well. I’ve been doing my best to gather evidence that it does not happen!!
I’d heard about the no washing hair/showering thing but not this scary sounding medicinal wine eeks!
Wow…. So many interesting comments and I can’t beat that…
After reading all the above… i don’t think what I’ve eaten is weird… but I kinda want to stop eating them now coz they are just too cruel 🙁 like roasted piglet, frogs, shark’s fin, and many many more…
Good on you J3nny9irl 🙂 I’m not that good unfortunately 😛
It’s okay Paris. Different people has different options in life. Nothing is wrong or right unless to you it’s wrong or right 🙂 erm, I hope I’m making sense hahaha 😛
I love the soup inside of balut and the yolk part, but I can’t bring myself to eat the baby duck. More often than not it’s fully formed so it has light layers of black feathers, and a teeny beak and head and eyes… hence I never eat balut unless someone’s on hand to eat the baby duck, so that it’s not wasted. 😛
That’s one of the weirdest things I’ve eaten, but a close second would be ox tongue. Like balut I’m ok with eating it as long as I don’t see that it looks like a tongue, taste buds and all 😀
Eeks Kari! Your description of Balut made me shudder! >.< Methinks I have to make a trip to the Phillippines just once to try this once and for all 😛
not too sure if it’s consider strange…
but for me i’ve tried raw chicken meat and horse meat sashimi style. the horse meat was known as cherry blossom in japan. i was told by my japanese colls that it’s good for the skin… beauty wise…
but that didn’t entice me for the second helping, cos the texture was too weird.. lol
Horse meat! I’d read about people eating smoked horse meat in Mongolia or something, but not raw. What did it taste like? 😛
i don’t remember much on the taste … hahaha
but the texture was to weird for my liking.., mushy and slimy.
Erm… ok eww! 😛