9 weird Asian foods to try in your lifetime
Even though the words ‘bizarre’ and ‘unusual’ are a matter of perspective, Asia has some of the most unusual delicacies that might make your stomach churn, however if you have a stomach made of steel, you’d find this list quite fascinating! So, are you up for some weird Asian foods?
1. Nattō, Japan
Natto is a traditional Japanese breakfast consisting of fermented soybeans, that is served with Karashi mustard, more soya sauce, and Japanese bunching onions. This gooey texture surely isn’t for everyone, since it has such a strong smell that some foreigners even compared it to dirty socks. If 70% of Japanese people find the taste of natto to be pleasant, it couldn’t be too bad, could it?
https://www.tsunagujapan.com/natto-the-japanese-soybean-super-food-with-a-very-unique-taste/
2. Sannakji, Korea
This dish is certainly “to die for,” if eating a meal that sucks (in the literal sense) is your forte, the Sannakji delicacy would do the trick for you. It consists of octopus pieces that are served immediately after cutting it from a live octopus. Upon serving, the suction cups are still moving and you must be careful when eating to avoid them sticking to your mouth or even worse, your throat.
https://stock.adobe.com/za/images/sannakji-octopus-korean-food/108557777?as_campaign=ftmigration2&as_channel=dpcft&as_campclass=brand&as_source=ft_web&as_camptype=acquisition&as_audience=users&as_content=closure_asset-detail-page
3. Drunken Shrimp, China
Although it might sound like these shrimps like to get the party started, it’s everything but that. The drunken shrimp is, as its name suggests, a bunch of shrimps stunned in strong alcohol and they are eaten alive. They do have a more “humane” alternative where they keep the shrimps in alcohol after boiling them rather than serving them alive.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/drunken-shrimp-with-succotash
4. Snake Soup, Hong Kong
According to traditional Chinese medicine, snake meat is a good source of positive ‘Yin.’ This dish is usually consumed in the winter but barely anyone eats in the summer because they believe that this dish might be counter-productive when combined with hot weather. As far as appearance goes, this dish doesn’t look as exotic as you might think; the tiny pieces of snake meat can easily be mistaken for a chicken.
https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/restaurants/hong-kongs-best-snake-soup
5. Pig’s Blood Cake, Taiwan
This might sound like something straight out of the Carrie horror film. Pig’s Blood Cake is another seemingly gross but actually edible street food snack from Taiwan. As its name suggests, this snack is made of pork blood, soy broth, and sticky rice. The mixture gets fried or steamed and coated in peanut flower before being served on a stick at street food stalls in every corner of Taiwan.
https://www.justaiwantour.com/blog/2020/08/27/%E3%80%90taiwan-food-tour%E3%80%91taiwanese-bizarre-food-collection/
6. Cobra Heart, Vietnam
Speaking of unusual food in Asia, we must mention this extremely bizarre Vietnamese delicacy. The name of the dish is pretty self-explanatory but the consumption process is even more bizarre. The whole experience begins with choosing your own snake. The vendor then proceeds to behead the snake and cutting into its body to extract the heart with a pair of surgical forceps. The heart is then placed in a glass of rice wine and is to be consumed right away while the heart is still warm. Talk about heartless!
https://www.tripadvisor.in/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g293924-d4587353-i259606890-The_Hung_Ha_Noi_Snake_Restaurant-Hanoi.html
7. Deep-fried Tarantula, Cambodia
This delicacy has quite a sad origin story as it dates back to the Khmer Rouge era, when unfortunately for the tarantulas, times were so difficult that a lot of people were forced to eating anything they could get their hands on. Cambodia is probably the only country in the world that breeds tarantulas for food purposes. In cities like Skuon, it has even become a popular tourist attraction.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/deep-fried-tarantula-spider-51184810
8. Stomach Butter, Mongolia
Stomach butter is exactly what it sounds like; butter left to rot in a yak’s stomach. If that isn’t enough to scare you off, the pungent smell alone is enough to put most travellers of from coming near this dish. This dish is certainly not for the faint hearted but this is one of the most beloved snacks in Mongolia. A leftover from the good old nomadic days when preserving food was a real challenge.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62809807@N02/27617148791
9. Beshbarmak (Five Fingers), Central Asia
Let’s not get a-head of ourselves with this one! Beshbarmak is the national dish in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The dish name translates to ‘five fingers’ and it consists of boiled horse, sheep, or lamb meat served with large noodles that look like lasagne in an onion gravy broth. Oftentimes, the dish is served with the head of the animal. The traditional serving procedure includes giving different pieces of meat to people belonging to different age groups, with the prime meat pieces being given to the oldest person out of respect.
https://www.alamy.com/a-waiter-serves-beshbarmak-and-koybas-a-boiled-sheeps-head-at-the-essyk-traditional-restaurant-in-almaty-october-18-2006
If you aren’t completely repelled by these foods yet, which one would you like to try?