China is an ancient and amazing country it's very different from the western
world culturally politically and spiritually
but one of the most unusual things about china is the food they have there
many of these dishes include animals you'd want to run away from
some of these are confusing others sound pretty gross but they're all scary
from a fish which if prepared incorrectly could take you out in
minutes 2 000 year old eggs which will make you
see food in a totally different light forever snake soup
snake soup is eaten all over china and also in hong kong
it's particularly popular in the winter that's because it's considered a great
dish to warm you up it's seen as a gourmet dish the soup is
served with snake shredded inside and many who've
tried it say it tastes like chicken to prepare this a giant snake chef first
washes a snake for many years only rich people in china
could have snake soon but now it's almost like a street food
and you can get it anywhere in china it's also used for medicinal reasons
many in china believe that snake soup can cure ailments it
apparently can help your blood circulation and also prevent arthritis
but for now you may want to avoid eating snakes from china
snakes are a delicacy sold in the wuhan wet market which is apparently where
coronavirus is from according to new scientists experts say
that the virus may have jumped from bats to snakes and then to humans
so maybe someone eating snake soup to cure one ailment caused a massive
virus talk about a plan backfiring black stinky tofu you may think i'm
editorializing here and calling this dish
stinky but no that's literally the name of this dish
black stinky tofu everyone already knows what tofu is
it's bean curd this is prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing
the curds into solid white blocks but stinky black tofu was sold in many
chinese street markets the tofu is fermented
which is why it has a very potent smell locals say that it smells like rotting
garbage but it apparently tastes very nice and
strong people who have been to these markets say that
you can smell it half a block before you even see it and in china many call it
the blue cheese of tofu that's because it's pretty much rotting
and fermenting so if you can get past that rotten
garbage smell you might get a delicious treat chinese chef henry
ku said that black stinky tofu smells like
smelly feet this is partly thanks to the science
behind the dish one chemical analysis found 39 volatile
organic compounds in stinky black tofu if you
live in the usa then you can find stinky tofu in some areas
however it won't be the same as in china because it needs to be made in
compliance with u.s food safety laws this is an area where
china and the usa differ massively blowfish
how much do you love seafood do you love it so much that you would be willing to
risk your life to eat it well if you head to china you can do
that exact challenge the pufferfish or blowfish is one of the
most dangerous fish on the planet that's because they
contain tetrodotoxin which is a poison this toxin is so powerful it can take
out 30 humans in one hit and there's also no antidote so if you
get this toxin into you then there's no way to get it out
that may make you assume that people stay well away from these fish but
not in china it's a very popular dish and chefs have to prepare for years
before they can prepare it that's because if they prepare it wrong
then they could risk taking the life of their customer many
restaurants tell you to sign a waiver saying that they're not responsible if
you pass away only specially trained chefs with years
of experience can do this but here's where it gets crazy some
chefs actually opt to leave some of the toxin in the fish
this will give you a tingling sensation on the lips and tongue but
they take out just the right amount so that you won't be affected by it
yeah i don't really feel like putting my life in the hands of a chef
grilled crocodile in the animal kingdom crocodiles are alpha predators they're
very high up in the food chain and could easily take out many humans
they're also something you would never see being sold in a restaurant in the
usa but head over to china and you can eat
crocodile that's right in china instead of
crocodile etu you eat crocodile these are normally sold at night food
markets and it's also quite a spectacle to see
it roasted on an open fire in a market much like the snake soup from before
it's said that eating crocodile can cure almonds it can apparently cure
respiratory illnesses so if you have asthma maybe you should
try eating some crocodile meat crocodile soup crocodile steaks and crocodile
curry are all popular dishes in china thousand-year-old eggs a century egg is
also known as a thousand year egg or a hundred year egg
now of course it does not take a thousand years or even a hundred years
to make these but it does take 100 days to make
thousand-year-old eggs are duck eggs coated with lime
ashes and mud they're then soaked in a brine for 100 days
by which time the yolk will have turned green and the whites will have become
like a dark brown jelly the eggs have a creamy cheese
flavor with a very strong and pungent smell
these are also very salty the ph level of these eggs is around
9 to 12. for many years people believed that these eggs would be soaked in
horse urine but it turned out this was a myth and they never did that
these eggs are often eaten at special events for example birthdays or weddings
just imagine kissing the bride right after she ate a century
egg no thanks giant octopus the giant octopus dish is known as
sanachi but be warned this dish might bite back
or at least slither back because that's what it does
when you eat it you see its tentacles receptors are still alive as you eat
this dish the octopus will wriggle around on your
plate or bowl that's because it's prepared incredibly
fresh i'm not sure if i'd want to feel something moving around in my throat as
i'm eating it you're supposed to be very careful when
you eat giant octopus as it could be a choking hazard
there's nothing worse than choking on a tentacle wriggling around inside your
mouth bird's nest soup if you read the name
bird's nest soup on a menu in a restaurant you'd assume it was some kind
of gimmick of course they wouldn't literally put a
bird's nest in soup right well that's not the case with this
chinese delicacy when they say bird's nest soup they
really mean it this soup is made with the nests of a small chinese bird
named the swiftlet the bird makes the nest from its own saliva
this then hardens when exposed to air chicken broth is then added to the
saliva and it makes an amazing soup much like many foods in china it's
famous for its health benefits but because these birds nests are so
small this is a very expensive dish the nests can cost around three thousand
dollars per pound but it's said to taste very nice and
according to chinese traditional medicine it's great
for your skin these birds nests have been used in chinese cuisine for more
than 400 years and they're created in gigantic nesting
factories all around china scorpions if you saw a scorpion in
the desert he would want to run away fast
but if you see one in china it will likely be impaled on a stick
that's because unlike in the usa where they have corn dogs in china they have
scorpions on sticks these scorpions are normally roasted or grilled
and sometimes they're even served alive but what do they taste of
well the answer is not too good food reviewers have said that these scorpions
taste like moist ground sometimes these
scorpions are even drank they're mixed with herbs to make
traditional liquors these scorpion stingers aren't even
removed but don't worry they're not poisonous as
the poison vanishes once they're exposed to heat these are said to have
high protein content and they're also used for medicinal purposes
as well roasted pigeons if you go to most busy cities like
london pigeons are a pest you want to get them away from your food
not make them into your food but in china roasted street bird or
whole pigeons is a very popular delicacy these birds are normally served on a
stick they're dipped in a marinade for flavor and then
they're roasted they apparently taste similar to chicken or duck
but they look a bit too lively for my liking
that soup okay this dish is probably the most
famous unusual chinese food right now there's lots of debate as to whether the
coronavirus was caused by someone eating bat soup
this dish can actually be found in many countries for example vietnam indonesia
thailand guam and china the bats are cooked in a
soup with green chili peppers but according to the new york times they
may not be behind coronavirus that is because science is yet to
confirm the exact cause of where this is from so maybe bat soup is totally
innocent even if it was though i think i'll give
it a miss next time i go to china but now it's time to make your voice
heard comment below which of these foods if any you would try if you want some
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