Photo by Harry 棟樑
Eating in Asia requires a certain degree of guts and a wild sense of adventure.
1. Thailand’s deep-fried grasshoppers
Right in the heart of Bangkok’s red-light district, street vendors peddle a huge array of deep-fried bugs – from ants to hornets, caterpillars to grasshoppers. Anything that hops and bites is fair game for the palate. Add some chili powder, and you’re in for a sizzling, jumpy ride.
Photo by avlxyz
2. The Filipino Balut
The boiled half-hatched egg is exceptionally crunchy as you sink your teeth into the partially-formed fetus, complete with feathers, eyeballs ,and translucent skin. The locals like to dip it in vinegar and soya sauce. The down side- you might find feathers stuck between your teeth! Mangababaluts (balut-makers) can be found in the district of Pateros, Manila.
Photo by Hanoi Mark
3. Dog meat in China
Have you ever thought about why only the Chinese eat dog meat? Try it for yourself and you might find out why. Hugely popular in Southern China, namely Guangdong and Sichuan, stewed dog meat is offered by most restaurants in winter, while some are even dedicated to selling only dog platters. Even along the bustling Meishi Street in Beijing, there are a few posters advertising dog meat for sale.
4. Singapore’s turtle soup
Though they’re close to extinction, turtles are cooked with Chinese herbs and made into soups in the eastern world; the Chinese believe turtles are aphrodisiacs and are excellent for health. Despite all the traditional sayings, modern Singaporeans love the medicinal soup for its thick texture and herbal taste.
5. Oriental chicken feet
Sharp and thin chicken feet are a common delicacy in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and China. As a popular dimsum (steamed snacks in bamboo baskets), chicken feet are stewed in black bean sauce and steamed for a long time before the soggy skin crumples and the cartilage becomes chewy. Be careful of the chicken’s toenails though: you don’t want to choke on them!
Photo by epup
6. Rooster’s testicles in Taiwan
Bouncy balls bigger than you’d imagine, with thin veins and a tight plump texture, these testicles are only suitable for the daredevils with the balls to try them. The male chicken testicles are usually boiled and eaten simple and plain, but you can always ask for spicy stewed or garlic stir-fried.
With a tight skin like a sausage, the interior of the testicles taste soft and tofu-like. Be sure to find some in the famous Snake Alley Market in Taipei.
7. Hong Kong’s home-grown Chau taufu
There is nothing exotic about tofu (bean curd), unless it’s of the overwhelmingly strong variety! ‘Chau’ means stinky in Cantonese and the dish literally lives up to its name, smelling like a bucket of human dung left out for 2 weeks. Locals hunt down this fermented and deep-friend goody in the Mongkok Night Markets, where you can definitely smell it from afar.
Photo by kudaker
8. Isaw Manok in the Philippines
Barbecued chicken intestines are a national dish for the Filipinos, who have a soft spot for internal organs. Chicken gizzards, liver, and heart are all grilled on bamboo skewers, garnished with sweet and spicy sauce, and cooked to perfection. Not enough to satisfy your senses? You might just prefer the barbecued chicken head or pig’s ears.
9. Malaysia’s durians
Known as the king of fruits in Southeast Asia, the durian’s prickly green appearance and exceptionally strong and odd (some say vomit-like) smell have led it to fame. But that’s not all there is to this quirky fruit; its yellow, soft, and tasty meat has earned durian its crown in Southeast Asia.
Most foreigners frown at the thought of savoring this bitter yet sweet fruit, but soon enough, the heavenly taste is sure to win them over. Don’t forget to try the best species, D24, for the fleshy and juicy meat!
10. Indonesian bats
Besides flying off the back of a vampire, bats can be eaten as well. Sold in Malioboro Street of Jogjakarta, bats are often smoked to crispiness. They might look gory, like skeletal brown mice, but taste like beef jerky, especially the stiff wings! Locals in Manado love their specialty – the Fruit Bat Soup, where an entire bat is cooked in coconut milk, and the soft meat on its feet and wings is savored.
Community Connection
What’s the most exotic dish you’ve ever eaten? Where’s your favorite place to eat it? Share your experiences in the comments below!
About the Author
Related Posts
43 Comments... join the discussion!
-
-
Deep fried snake on a stick in Tokyo. It was… chewy.
↵ -
Are chicken feet really that weird anymore? I mean, pig knuckle is pretty accepted now right? Or am I the only one that loves to eat both ha.
↵ -
I had snake soup in Taipei! Tasted much like fish and had way too many little bones to pick out.
↵ -
Oh yes, Pig knuckles make me go weak in the knees too! As an Asian, chicken feet is literally 'chicken feet' (if you know what I mean – nothing weird about it). But from the not-overly-enthusiastic response of my foreign friends, Chicken feet seems a little too exotic for them to handle.
↵ -
Frog uterus, served in a melon. A Chinese delicacy.
↵ -
Cow intestines in Turkey. Kokoreç is basically the very end of the cows poop shoot grilled to a crispy on the outside – chewy in the inside rings. Served with dried oregano and chili. Great to prevent a hangover.
↵ -
Yea I getcha. It's probably the nails that freak them out haha. What other "exotic" foods do you like? What about chicken heart? Duck blood? I think my mouth is watering…
↵ -
Chicken heart – yes, popular in Singapore too! the Spanish Morcilla (dried and cured cow's blood) – is one of my favourite. It's just too bad that many people stay away from these foods just because they're not the norm.
Steve, I would definitely like to try Frog uterus!
↵ -
In Taiwan they serve just about everything in their "Hot Pot" I have had Intestine, Stomach Lining, of course Chicken Feet, and lots and lots of Squid on a Stick,
↵ -
Yep, I had all sorts of internal organs, and saw even more passing on plates in Beijing. I remember walking into a restaurant in Houhot, Inner Mongolia, where there were tubs of beetles, frogs, snakes, scorpions, cockroaches, turtles…live. You picked your dinner then and there and they fried it up for you. The menu they handed us had a picture of two giant smiling frogs on a plate. Unfortunately, we weren't bold enough to go for it. I don't know if it was the smiling frogs or the hundreds of cockroaches, but… They do fried grasshoppers in Mexico, too–in Oaxaca the legend is that eating them means you'll come back to the city someday. They also do pigs' feet in vinegar. The jars almost make me heave but my friends love 'em. In cantinas, they serve bull's penis, as if the machismo factor weren't high enough already.
↵ -
Woo hotpots are one of the best inventions in Asia – exotic food aside, anybody loves the Taiwanese ´Mala´(hot and sour) Hotpot as much as I do? Pig's feet in vinegar – my mother cooks that on a daily basis- trust me it´s orgasmic! Bull´s penis.. THAT is hard to swallow. I guess like they say, if you´re man enough for it.. In Spain, they stew Bull's tail (Rabo de toro) as a type of tapas, and yumm… the strong taste mixed with flavoured spices – one of my favourites! Moroccan Sheep's brains are also interesting, taste more like tofu than anything thou.
↵ -
Nice idea for a list. I'd love to see a poll to see the number of Americans who would eat dog. Any westerners for that matter.
↵ -
Dog meat is not only consumed in China. Korea has a long and proud tradition of eating dog meat. While it may be illegal(done so to avoid Western critics during the 88 Olympics), no laws against it are really enforced. In fact there is a small farm just down the road from me that sells dogs for meat. I think they may eat it in the Philippines as well. Also while in china you can try scorpions on a stick.
↵ -
hey you're right – I remember reading somewhere that they eat dog meat in the Philippines as well, but never knew about Koreans eating it. Thanks for sharing the info! Do they also hang dog's heads on the stores like in Sichuan?
↵ -
Hey Nellie I got the email notification of your reply but i do not see it posted here. Anyway to answer you question, I have never seen the dogs head being hung anywhere. The most popular cut seems to be the ribs with paw attached. They seem to remove the feet most of the time. Its hard to get a picture of becuase when the sellers see a Westerner with a camera we just get brushed away. They can get very aggressive if you actually take the picture. Can't say that I blame them. I'm sure they know we only take the pictures so we can say how gross it is. Who wants their culture talked about in such a way? There is also a very very small chance that they could get fined or arrested for selling the meat.
↵ -
Erm, #9 should be renamed to Singapore's Durians and whereas Singaporeans are not really into turtle soups nowadays.
↵ -
Chicken gizzards and hearts are quite good. Boil them for a bit to tenderize them, then roll in corn meal or flour and bake with some onions. Good stuff. But you can buy those at your local grocery store in the US. More of a southern thing. Since I moved up north I rarely see it in the supermarket, but if you ask, they have them. My boyfriend loved them till I told him what they were. My grandma cooked some awesome ox tail and turtle soup. I was to young to cook them and didn't learn before she passed on.
↵ -
Yeah, dog meat is widely eaten in Korea (though somewhat clandestinely, as Kenny points out). I had it there…it was interesting, I'd eat it again. Another peculiar Korean food is silk worm larvae, a snack most preferred by kids.
↵ -
Hey Pu, truth be told, Singaporeans do love our durians (I'm a Singaporean by the way) – but the BEST ones are still from Malaysia – especially D24 – the best breed of durians, are all found in the Segamat area of Malaysia. Turtle soup is still a popular dish among Singaporean families, like mine, but perhaps you're right, the young people are slowly steering away from the traditional recipe to MacDonalds and Carls' Junior. It's a pity really.
↵ -
Kenny, to be honest I didn't see any dog heads hung on stores, but google it, and you'll see tons of pictures. I did see lots of dog meat stores in Beijing, with the big Chinese word on it – 狗…just couldn't bear to eat it. There is this market in Sichuan, called Xi Chang market, where dogs are butchered in 5 minutes and sold for their meat. (dogs” target=”_blank”>http://www.chocolatecity.cc/blog/wp-content/uploa...(dogs hung outside foodstores).
↵ -
I tried durian several times in Malaysia and it always tasted to me like bubble gum. Weird, gummy, sometimes slimy bubble gum. I didn't particularly like it, as in, "Wow, I'm really craving some durian," but I didn't mind it. They used to sell it every night in Kota Kinabalu in the night markets. There were also many places, particularly buses and hotels, that had big signs forbidding durians. The forbidden fruit…that made it all the more appealing…
↵ -
Similar to the The Filipino Balut , in Vietnam you can find semi-developed duck eggs to eat quite easily. This list certainly shows that there are more parts to the animals we eat than just the meat.
↵ -
I tried Bat cooked a few different ways when I first moved to Indonesia – Pretty much every way is cooked with a ton of sambal (hot chili relish) so it is so friggin hot you cant even taste the bat wings. But I thought it was pretty nasty Some of the other odd foods in Indonesia I have tried: Guts Soup – It is exactly what it sounds lik, the guts chopped up and boiled Snake – About 3 blocks from my first apartment was a snake joint. The reason I noticed it was because I kept seeing these drop dead gorgeous women going in there – apparently Indo women believe that eating snake is good for skin problems. It does NOT taste like chicken (the snake, not the Indo babes) Deep Fried Chicken Skin – They sell this in the grocery stores, it tastes like the chicken skin at KFC, frigging delicious.
↵ -
"Barbecued chicken intestines are a national dish for the Filipinos" – So NOT True. Yes we consume BBQ Chicken Intestines but to go as far as saying its a national dish is just pushing it too far.
↵ -
…i agree with that, most Filipinos do eat isaw but not all do. i for one don't, since isaw are chicken intestines and god knows what toxins lie on those intestines for all i know… but balut, perhaps. however, you can only find feathers on baluts that are already old and stale, so the chances of eating balut with feathers stuck on your mouth is when you get conned buying stale ones…
↵ -
Fried tarantulas are eaten in Cambodia. The arms are crunchy and the bodies are soft and mushy. Rat is eaten as well. During the rainy seasons people will gather around common rat dwelling areas to collect the scurrying creatures to take home and cook.
↵ -
I’ve lived in Singapore most of my life but haven’t had turtle soup in twenty years! Most people i know wouldn’t touch turtle soup with a ten foot pole.. it’s not a popular dish.
↵ -
Some still do eat dog meat in the Cordillera region of the Philippines however this is not usually done openly as it is already prohibited. Eating of dog meat or animal offering ritual is only legal if you are a member of one of the ethnic groups in the Cordillera region, who have been practicing the ritual for centuries.
Balut and chicken intestines is not only native to the Philippines but other Asian countries as well. There are more exotic foods in the Philippines such as “Ibuk” (ant eggs) and “tamiloc” (woodworms from decaying mangrove trees).
Every country has their own set of exotic food but there’s abundance of unusual meat in Asian countries. We may even call it “taboo” but depending on the geographical areas where people live this is their only access to protein/meat thus this could also be a reason for “nothing should go to waste”. Variety is the spice of life.
↵ -
There’s also a dish from the Philippines called “dinuguan” that consists of pork blood with pieces of squid. Haha, be slightly wary when a Filipino offers you “chocolate meat”
↵ -
LOL. Natalie, you’ve been punked. Those “squid” in “diniguan” is not seafood. It’s pig innards and intestines.
↵ -
“Have you ever thought about why only the Chinese eat dog meat? Try it for yourself and you might find out why.”
I’m not sure what you mean.
Like other commenters have pointed out, dog meat is eaten in other countries as well. I’ve had it several times in Korea, and it can be really good and really bad. It depends on how it’s prepared, just like any food.
The reason “only the Chinese eat dog meat” is not something you would discover by trying it. Most Westerners cringe at the thought of dog meat because they love dogs. Many Koreans don’t eat dog meat because of how they are sometimes killed, by beating beaten or tortured to death.
↵ -
in the philippines name it all,and you can find everything from frogs, ‘papaitan”dog intestine or cow intestine with bile, pig’s blood,ant’s egg, fermented shirmp,bat’,turtle,cow’s skin,and many more.
↵ -
Do I have to be horrified? or Do I have to be proud for the varied food in Asia?…Well don’t know. I know food is food. We have to respect the culture revolving around foods…Even Koreans eat dog meat with which I also enjoy^^
However, my favorite foods (Asian) are Peking duck, Sujebi, Chicken Teriyaki, Vietnamese summer rolls, etc..lots of foods in Asia.
I can say that, with the food posted here, Asian foods are good for our health…↵ -
I thought I was daring when I ate rocky mountain oysters….now I seem like a wimp
↵ -
Has anyone here ever tried fried silk worm? its delicouse ilove canada’s whale blubber taste the best with inuit garnish and spices
↵ -
I love the smell and taste of Oregano when added in some recipes.*.”
↵ -
Morcilla is actually made with pig’s blood, not cow’s blood, and it is absolutely delicious! Of all the strange foods that I love to eat, Spain’s morcilla is my absolute favorite. Grilled mollejas (’sweetbreads’ – thymus glands from lamb or beef/veal) with garlic and parsley are also amazing. Spain is unquestionably the best place to enjoy pig in all its glory… having said that, the babi guling (BBQ suckling pig) in Bali is something I would go back for again and again!
↵ -
Chinese herbs do work because it is time tested..;:
↵ -
I agree. I’m an expat living in Hong Kong. I’ve tried a lot of ‘weird’ foods here but the one I won’t try is dog meat. The reason: the way the dogs are killed. If they were killed humanely I would try dog meat. But they are not. Mostly, they are stabbed in the chest, in front of all the other dogs and left to die on the concrete, howling and writhing. Not my cup of tea.
↵ -
Dogs are intelligent as a 4 year old, feel pain and are long human beings best friends and protectors. Many dogs “eaten” are stolen from their owners and it is like eating someone’s grandchild. The way they are killed it usually brutal and hidden in dark alleys due to the fact that people in restaurants stopped eating dog when they actually saw them beaten and hacket to death while still alive.
Eating do IS NOT an Honored Korean tradition. Dogs were only eaten during the war as a last resort since they were considered honored companions, as they are today.
Before you eat a dog, make sure it is not someones companion and then insist on viewing the actual killing. If you can still stomach it, then good luck.
↵
