Sometimes traveling the world isn’t enough for the boldest among us. There are a rare few that demand more than just exotic sites and foreign coasts. We have a taste for the extraordinary and crave the bizarre foods of the world. Whether it’s for bragging rights or just some need to push your boundaries, we’ve got you covered.
China?is a great bastion of wild foods you might never have heard of. If you’re on the prowl for something that you won’t find in your local market, take to the streets in China. Most are lined with vendors hawking?scorpion or seahorses on a stick. Imagine a standard shish kabob skewer, full to the hilt with gently squirming scorpions or lightly salted seahorses. Both are even crunchier than you would imagine. Scorpion, however, has a pop of flavor, vaguely citrus and lingering. Seahorse is a little meatier and much saltier.
Perhaps both of these street treats are too tame for your bold spirt? No problem. There are other vendors in?China, though considerably less common, who sell bright yellow eggs from steaming pots. These precious treats are?twice boiled eggs. They hard boil them once, remove the shell and boil them again. The secret is to boil them in urine. Yes, urine. Some even say that the best way to boil these eggs is to use urine from prepubescent boys. Collection buckets are passed from school to school to gather this urine, which is then used to boil the eggs. The eggs themselves have a powerful taste of ammonia and brine that locals swear by. You’ll have to judge for yourself.
There is a strong chance that Chinese pee eggs might not be your cup of tea, so to speak. Just across the water in the?Philippines?is another unusual street food that locals adore after a long night of drinking. It’s called?balut?and is prepared by taking a fertilized duck egg and soft boiling it. You eat it as you would a normal hard boiled egg, by peeling the shell off and dipping the inside in salt. Some people recommend vinegar. If you can get past the rather strong image of the duck fetus, the yolk is quite good and has a strong but savory taste. The white of the egg is often very tough and rubbery and isn’t eaten.
Staying in the exotic food triangle, just across the way in?Hong Kong?there are several shops selling?bird’s nest soup. Bird’s nest soup is made from the nests of the South East Asian Swiftlet. This breed of swallow makes its nests not from twigs but from its own saliva, which hardens when exposed to air. When the nests are harvested they are thoroughly cleaned and soaked in a broth, and crab or beef is usually added. Be prepared though, noble adventurer, bird’s nest soup can cost up to $10,000 for a perfect bowl. There are several other options ranging from $10 to $40 a bowl, but these might have rice noodles cooked in to mitigate the cost. Be sure you ask beforehand.
Not far away in?Korea?there is a great appetite for octopus. There are a few though that prefer their octopus to be even more exciting than usual. For these elite few, there’s a dish calledsannakji, which literally translates to “raw octopus.” The trick is that the tentacles are removed but the octopus continues to move. It’s served with a dish of sesame oil and dipping will help you eat it. Otherwise some of the succors can grab the inside of your mouth while you’re chewing. Despite this epic struggle to subdue them, the taste is extraordinary. If you’re in any way a fan of sushi or raw fish, this will be a crowing jewel in your culinary life.
If however you want a variation on your fish dishes, head over to?Venice?for a black pasta that is all the rage in town.?Seppie nere alla Veneziana?is the city’s signature dish that adds some color to traditional pasta. The plate is served with angel hair pasta cooked in a double dose of cuttlefish ink. While some people compare it to chewing on a ballpoint pen, others insist that it is the pride of Venice. You’ll just have to try it.
If you’re into the new flair on old European recipes, then you’ll die for?casu marzu, or maggot cheese. This elegant cheese is made from the milk of?Sardinian?sheep. However, it isn’t the sparse and salty grass that the sheep graze on that gives the cheese its fame. Nor is it the traditional copper kettles that locals use to render the curd. The cheese is famous for the process in which it is prepared. After the outer rine hardens up, the cheese mongers cut the top off and let flies nibble on the soft core. As they begin to lay their larva inside the cheese they put the top back on and let the larva eat. At this point the larvae convert the fat of the cheese into a fermented liquid and the whole of the wheel softens up. Once this process has gone on for a couple weeks, they remove the cheese from the shaded area it has been stored in and serve it up, worms and all. While some people remove the larvae first, others insist that it adds to the flavor — a flavor that it sought after the world over, and one that is said to linger for up to 10 hours on the tongue.
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Source: Captain and Clark (2014). The world’s weirdest foods for brave travelers, USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/experience/food-and-wine/best-of-food-and-wine/the-worlds-weirdest-foods-for-brave-travelers/6963523/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28USATODAY+-+Travel+Top+Stories%29 published Mar 27, 2014. Viewed Mar 28, 2014.