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Culture shock is probably the strongest when you have to sit down and eat someone’s traditional
food.
Nobody’s weird centuries-old recipes are good.
The animals we choose to eat, the plants we garnish them with, and the condiments we add
flavor with - they all depend on what’s around the people cooking.
Probably the most obscure cuisine to western people is the food of the Chinese.
Check out these top 10 disgusting foods the Chinese eat that we westerners can’t understand!
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section, tell us what the weirdest thing you've ever eaten!
10.
Pi Dan The Century egg!
It’s called this for a reason.
It’s an egg that looks like it’s been fermenting for a hundred years!
Usually, it’s a duck or chicken egg that goes through a particular process, preserved
in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, and alkaline material.
The yolk can either look yellow, green, or brown, but always soft.
It’s actually said to be really delicious.
What’s crazy is after the process, the egg can be preserved for up to five months with
the shell intact.
They’re eaten in salad or with soy sauce and even green chilis.
This egg is a traditional gift during the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival in China.
I like eggs as much as the next guy but the idea of eating an egg that looks like it’s
a hundred years old might be out of my league.
9.
Sheep Penis The Chinese can be incredibly practical about
their medical problems, even if they’re in the bedroom.
Having issues with your libido?
They know just the cure.
You should eat a sheep penis.
That’s not the only kind, though.
Sheep and other animal penises and testicles are served as a remedy, especially at one
restaurant in China in a place called Guolizhuang.
Their specialty is “penises of the animal kingdom” serving sheep gonads and penises
with curry, or steamed.
Its clients are mostly men, coming in to increase their sexual health.
8.
Stinky Tofu At the night markets in China, you’ll find
a variety of foods you might enjoy.
The weird smell, though?
That’s stinky tofu.
It’s regular tofu, fermented in milk and vegetables, a meat and fish-based brine, or
a combination of both.
They’ll prepare it either deep fried in vegetable oil and serve with chili soy sauce
or steamed, stewed, and in soup.
The texture, they say, is like cheese and on its own is not that flavorful.
However, the sauces allegedly make it better.
I say allegedly because the only thing I like fermented is grapes.
7.
Bird’s Nest Soup This is a swiftlet.
It’s a Southeast Asian bird that lives in dark caves like a bat.
This is a swiftlet nest.
It’s made with their saliva which hardens when exposed to the air for a while.
Doesn’t all of our saliva do that?
Not that I’ve tried or anything.
Just wondering.
In China, they’ll cook this bird’s nest by steaming it after soaking it in water.
The texture ends up being soft like jelly, without much taste.
However, this is not a delicacy as much as it is a medicine.
It’s believed to help people stay young and healthy.
What does a bird’s nest have to do with health and youth?
I’m not quite sure, but if you know, please tell us in the comments.
6.
Balut Before you berate me in the comments, hear
this.
Balut was originally Chinese and then adopted by the Philippines in the 17th Century.
Now, it’s a Filipino dish, but still a Chinese food, right?
Well, whichever.
But what is Balut, exactly?
It’s a fertilized egg boiled for about 25 minutes and served warm.
What do I mean by fertilized?
Well, this isn’t just a throwaway, non-chick kind of egg.
This is an almost-chick-until-it-was-boiled egg.
The yolk is supposed to be rich and creamy with a mild taste, but often, it has feathers
and bones inside of the almost chick.
They’re edible and the local belief is that when men eat this they appear more masculine.
So, men can look forward to a diet of sheep penis and half chick-half eggs in China, I
guess.
5.
Silkworms Worms are nothing new in food.
People eat worms all over the world.
Like in Ecuador, with their chontaduro worms that apparently taste like buttery popcorn.
In China, it’s the silkworm that takes the stage.
The flavor is supposed to be like shrimp or crab with a chewy consistency.
They’re made in local night markets but also sold frozen or canned to be cooked at
home.
You can add them to a stir-fry with veggies, seasonings, vegetables.
And for the tourists?
Chocolate-covered silkworms.
Ok, you had me at chocolate.
4.
Chicken Testicles Sure, why not.
Just like eating sheep penis, chicken testicles are supposed to increase male...maleness..
and for women, improve their skin tone.
You can get both pink and black testicles and in a variety of sizes.
They’re kind of like little sausages and are cooked to be served tender.
Once you chew, there’s a juice that oozes into your mouth with mild flavor.
You eat it with rice or noodles.
And for me, regurgitated back into a brown paper bag.
3.
Seahorses The lines we draw for which animals we will
or won’t eat are really vague.
Cows?
Yes.
Fish?
Yes.
Seahorses?
Blasphemy!
Not in China, though, where seahorses are fried and served on kabobs at night markets.
They’re also served with herbs and boiled as tea for asthma.
Want to give them a try?
Watch out!
They have sharp pieces that might get caught in your gums or teeth.
However, the Chinese don’t really eat them for the taste.
It’s said that eating seahorses can keep a grandpa young.
It’s also supposed to boost your energy and sexual performance.
The sad part?
Seahorse populations are dwindling thanks to their popularity as food.
2.
Turtle or Tortoise Jelly - Guilinggao A jelly-like dessert.
Several types of turtle shell and herbal products are used to make them and the most common
turtle species are used to keep the dessert cheap.
It’s black or brown and bitter, but sweetened to help the flavor.
You can also find expensive ones too.
To be fair, some jelly desserts in China don’t have turtles anymore but the purpose for eating
them is to improve circulation, assist muscle growth, and restore kidney function.
If you eat it a lot, they say, it can improve your skin complexion.
Is this that different from how we eat marshmallows and gummy bears and stuff, all made from animal
products like hooves?
Probably not.
1.
Bats We have to lead with the fact that bat soup
is by no means confirmed to be the reason why the current pandemic happened.
However, bat soup in China is a rare but traditional soup with an entire bat boiled in chicken
broth.
To eat it, the bat has to be dissected with a knife and fork and you eat the broth and
the innards with a spoon.
The whole bat is found inside, hair and all.
Even the membranes of the bat wings.
It’s supposed to be delicious, but for us Westerners, seeing an entire bat inside a
soup is the best reason to go on a no-food diet until we can get rid of the image.
Thanks for watching!
Wow, you have a strong stomach to have watched all the way through - either that or weird
tastes!
Which is it?
Let us know in the comments.
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