Written by: Grace Debora C.O. (016201200028)

Previously, we have covered several food that some of us will find weird to be eaten in the East Asia region. Now, we move on to the region where I live, South East Asia! Without further ado, here is the list which I compiled from people’s experiences.

1. Durian

This is known as the king of fruit and has a very strong smell with spiky fruit skin, but the taste is sweet with a soft texture. I personally do not like durian (I can only tolerate Bangkok durian). But, most people like it for its distinct taste.

2. Insects

This is the specialty ingredients of Thailand and Cambodia. You can find all kinds of insects being made into street snack in Bangkok, and spiders like tarantula fried as snacks in Cambodia. You might  find these disgusting, but I have personally tasted it in Bangkok, and it actually tastes good like crunchy snacks if you get past the disgust and the shape of the insect itself. Worth trying.

3. Fried Bat

This one is another unique food from south east Asia, and you can find it almost in all regions. I personally never try it firsthand. But, I heard that if cooked correctly the bad smell of the original bat would be removed. Someday, I’ll make sure I try this one.

4. Kopi Luwak

This one is the specialty of Indonesia, my home country. This types of coffee has gained popularity abroad and the price is quite expensive. What makes it unique then? It is called luwak because it is made out of an animal called luwak or civer cat in English, particularly its feces. The breeder feeds these animals with coffee berries, and processes the undigested coffee berries out of the feces. Imagine that!

5. Balut

This one has a fertilized duck egg as the main ingredient. It is usually grilled or boiled and a Filipino street delicacy.

Written by: Grace Debora C.O. (016201200028)

Asia is known for the ability to use everything as the ingredients for food. Some of the weirdest food can be found here in Asia. But first, we will focus first on the bizarre food in East Asia region. Here are several food that will give the word “appetite” a new meaning. Bon appetite!

1. Beondegi (Silkworm Larvae)

Where to find: South Korea
Literally meaning “chrysalis” or “pupa” in Korean, the Silkworm Larvae are a popular snack in South Korea. They are either steamed or boiled, and then seasoned before serving. If you can get through the subtle, nutty aroma, these little guys are crunchy with a unique, strange texture inside.

2. Drunken Shrimp

Where to find: Shanghai
Our first thought of Drunken Shrimp might be the usual style of steaming your shrimps in a healthy dose of wine and alcohol. It gives the shrimp an additional dash of sweetness. The actual Shanghai Drunken Shrimp however, is an entirely different experience – most notably because of the absence of steaming, or any kinds of cooking whatsoever. The shrimps are not only raw, but live! They are served bathed in strong liquor, which helps to make the shrimps less feisty, and you eat the still twitching body right away after you decapitate the poor fellow.

3. Tuna Eyes

Where to find: Japan
If you can handle your food staring back at you, feasting on tuna eyes should come as a pleasure. Except for the bizarre situation of having to look at your food in the eye, they are actually pretty tantalizing for its fatty, jelly-like tissues around the eyeballs. Some prefer to eat it raw, albeit the fishy taste, others would rather steam or fry it alongside garlic or soya sauce to spice it up. Selling for less than 100 yen (approximately US$1) in Japan, this is a popular local delicacy worth trying out!

4. Baby Mice Wine

Baby Mice wine is a traditional Chinese and Korean “health tonic”. This amazing concoction consists of rice wine mixed with fermented baby mice. According to local folk medicine, this stuff can help cure all kinds of ailments from asthma to liver disease.

To make it, days old mice babies who don’t even have hair or open eyes are dropped into a bottle of rice wine and left to sit for about a year. The finished product has been described as tasting like “roadkill mixed with gasoline”.

5. Horse – Basashi (Japan)

You may well have had sashimi at a Japanese restaurant before, but perhaps not like this. Raw horse meat is served with the sashimi and a drizzle of soy sauce on the side. If you go to a local bar around Japan, you could get this as finger food with your beer. And if that doesn’t scare you, the sweet and smooth meat is also used to make basashi ice cream.

6. Dog – Bosintang Soup (South Korea)

This highly prized dish is still served in traditional South Korean restaurants, despite a ban on dog meat in the country. Pieces of dog are boiled and mixed with green onions, leeks, ginger, garlic and Taro stalk. A particular mint herb known as perilla is also added to disguise the intense smell that dog meat produces when cooked.

7. Chocolate / Ice Cream Ramen Soup

The Japanese candy maker Lotte teamed up with Ghana, the popular chocolate manufacturer to introduce the first ever chocolate flavored Ramen. If you've ever had Ramen noodles, you probably know there's nothing sweet about the spicy soup meal. The chocolate flavored Ghana Miso is nothing short of a bizarre combination of sweet chocolate with salty Ramen soup broth. Some Ramen Shop in Tokyo also serves other startling ramen, such as Vanilla Ice Cream Ramen, Green Tea Ramen and even Yoghurt Ramen.

You might find that some of these food either normal or disturbing to be eaten. Indeed, what is “normal” is different in different culture, especially when it comes to East and West. Probably some will find it disgusting eating insects. But, in Thailand, for example, they make a very delicious snack. Well, if you have a chance, maybe you can give some of the food a try. who knows you might like it after all.

Written by Grace Debora C. Ongkowidjojo (016201200028)

Talking about cultural diversity, we cannot deny it from our present reality, especially with the presence of the globalization. Globalization and the rapid advancement of technology have made the contact among people from all over the world easier and higher in frequency. Because of the frequent and easier contact, people are becoming more tolerant and open to the cultures of others. That is why people often call our society now as a global community, living in a global village. Though the statement is moot, it is a fact that we learn about each other, try to understand others, even sometimes adopt each other’s culture and try on new things.

One of the best examples of this is the development in culinary world, which is called food fusion. Food fusion is taking the best out of unique traditional food into a union that creates another food. Food fusion is raging everywhere. Unlike adapting a type of food into local style, food fusion tries to maintain the original uniqueness as well.

In the example below, we have these cute sushi donuts. They keep the palm-sized sushi to form sweet donuts.

Next, is a ramen burger, making the ramen and the beef filling still the highlight point of the food itself.

Then, there is this taco with Korean fried chicken.

There are many other example of food fusion; and maybe you can try to make one yourself, too! Through food fusion rage we can see how people are trying to make the best out of their own culture and introduce it to others. Instead of fighting over our differences, we should celebrate our uniqueness and rich culture. And if you are creative enough like these people, you can also enrich our culture as a global community.

Pictures are taken from Pinterest.