30 Exotic Foods I've Eaten
30 Exotic Foods I've Eaten
Some of my favorite exotic eats
Random Observation/Comment #841: I live to eat, not eat to live.
Generated with DALL-E representing some exotic foods
Why this List?
Off of the Try Guys list of 30, I wanted to eat a new food. In order to figure out what I could eat, I needed to share what I've already tasted. I decided to ask some co-workers on our topic-food channel what I should eat. Through a lot of suggestions, it seems like I've definitely tried a lot of weird things.
When I lived in NY, I would join the Gastronauts (when it was Curtis and they were still a small group from 2010-ish) and we'd try a bunch of great meals with free alcohol. I honestly don't even remember all of the random things because phone cameras sucked and Google Photos didn't save my life history. The food from this list was mostly from travels or childhood.
Note: My wife would probably never eat these things. She doesn't even like tomatoes. More for me. Here's some of the weirdest foods and my review of them:
Balut - NY - There was this exotic food Yelp Elite party where I had this. The soup was manageable, but I couldn't really eat the bird head. The fact that I looked at it before eating it really got me a bit uncomfortable.
Kangaroo - London & Australia - I had these as burgers with some weird fig jam at a street fair. It was like a venison or bison burger. A little lean and dry, which is why I think it had some fig jam and a crumbly cheese.
Live octopus - NY & South Korea - They're cut in front of you on the street and don't really taste like anything. The suction cup on the cheeks and tongue is super strange.
Scorpion - China - This was a street food adventure in Beijing. I probably shouldn’t have eaten this because it was only for pictures.
Snake - China - I had this fresh and fried and it was pretty delicious. Sweet and reminded me of a cross of a flakey fish.
Blood sausage - I've had different versions of this, but I've enjoyed.
Fugu (Puffer Fish) - Osaka - Sashimi style and hot pot. It didn't really taste like much except it numbed my tongue a bit.
Shirako - Japan - I had this at a ryokan and it was strange. I am less bothered by texture, but this was a bit slimy.
Horse Sashimi - Japan - These were thin slices and extremely deep red. For some reason there was a stringy-ness to it with a very lean meat. I'd try it again.
Natto - Japan - I honestly don't know why people eat this. I tried it multiple times and even know how to mix it to get those connective strings of snot together. It can be slightly bearable with hot rice, but there's just so much delicious food in Japan that this is low on my eating list.
Chicken Hearts and Gizzards - Japan - This is standard izakaya fair. The skewers are so crunchy and usually very well seasoned with that coal char taste.
Hakarl - Iceland - It's a bar food which just smelled like ammonia and tasted like mushy meat ammonia. It was ammonia. I had a fermented fish from Siberia which tasted fairly similar.
Puffin - Iceland - I had this in a sashimi-like form at a high-end restaurant in Reykjavik. It was beet red with a very irony taste to it. I'd pass.
Minke Whale - Iceland - These were in skewers and actually tasted pretty good coming out of the cold.
Crickets (Chapulines) - Mexican - They're just salty crispy treats. I had them recently in Carmel by the Sea.
Ant larvae (Escamoles) - Mexico - These are also surprisingly gushy. Everything goes well with rice and beans.
Beef tongue - This is an excellent delicacy for Mexican tacos braised and thinly sliced. I would eat this regularly.
Snails (Escargot) - France - This is usually just salty and buttery with a fun toothpick stab and swirl. Growing up in Long Island, I had no shortage of shelled yumminess.
Crocodile - This is the one meat that really does taste like a cross of chicken and white fish. I loved it as a stew.
Rabbit - Spain - My favorite way to prepare is in a paella. Tiny bones, but full of flavor.
Head cheese - Italy - The smell of the street food cart of brains is definitely pungent. I saw it more like a butter spread on a sandwich.
Sweet bread - Italy - Goat organs that were mostly fried. I don't mind organs, but I found it a bit tough to eat all of it.
Coagulated pig's blood - Hong Kong - Dim sum delicacy wok tossed with some these long green shoots.
Frogs legs - Hong Kong - This was one of my favorite midnight snacks in the stalls. They're usually braised in a clay pot and packed with flavor.
Tripe - Hong Kong - I prefer this with dim sum steamed and crunchy.
Snapping/Water turtle soup - Hong Kong - This was a treat. I love soups, but it is pretty creepy when you see the shell or the weird looking snout of the turtle. The meat was off the shell already, but I don't remember loving it.
Bird's nest sparrow spit - Hong Kong - This honestly doesn't really taste like anything. There's a name of a flavor in Chinese for a golden-like taste. It's hard to explain. It kinda makes you salivate and has a marinated orange peel flavor.
Shark fin soup - Hong Kong - I've probably had this 5 or 6 times at weddings or special events when I was younger. Honestly, it's really delicious, but just super irresponsible from fishing practices. This was one of the first horrifying documentaries that got me to stop eating shark fin.
Sea cucumber - Hong Kong - My mom actually made this a few times. It just takes a long time to clean. The texture is slippery like jello on the outside with a bit of crunch in the middle.
Duck and chicken feet - Hong Kong - I've been known to just take a whole order of duck feet and bite off the toes. It's basically umami skin. The chicken feet marinade is also very vinegary and reminds me of childhood.
~See Lemons Nom on Exotic foods