China Romance

All About China => Photos From China => Topic started by: ttwjr32 on August 06, 2010, 09:28:31 pm

Title: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 06, 2010, 09:28:31 pm
here is some exotic foods
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Ricky on August 07, 2010, 07:25:56 am
now, on my trips to china, I have definitly widened my horizon as to what I have consumed.  However, I cannot fathom eatting anything from those pictures.  Well, maybe the bugs.  But yeah, big no to the rest.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Vince G on August 07, 2010, 07:35:25 am
Appetizing....  blaaaaaa
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Arnold on August 07, 2010, 06:30:58 pm
I'll skip Dinner today !!! :o
Fresh caught Rat's for sale ! Oh , I don't know what I would do .. walking into a shop like this ? I would be in shock and one
could Rob me blind and I would not feel it .  :-\
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 07, 2010, 06:50:27 pm
i wouldnt eat any of this either just saw the pics on a site and thought i would post them here for all to see.

before i eat anything here i ask  'what is it ''  as i am not into even trying some things at all here
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 07, 2010, 07:38:54 pm
For you newbies, here is the drill.  You ask your woman, "What is it?"  They will say, "I do not know in English."  That is warning number 1.  Then they will say, "But it is good for you."  Warning number 2. 

Now if you have made it past the first two warnings and you are still curious and asking but not getting and answer, look around you at your table, it no one else is eating it and they are all looking at you?  Remember you have been warned twice already.  They are all waiting to see your reaction to eating something they will not eat and if you knew what it was you wouldn't either.  You have just achieved warning number 3.

Then suddenly something will rise up in you and it says, "I'll be a man here and show my woman I can do it, I fear nothing."  I only have three simple words for you.  They are resist the urge.  You will find that once you have ate what ever it is that it does not taste like chicken, it does not have the texture of chicken, and if it were alive it would not even sound like a chicken.  You have passed warning number 4 and the woman two tables over has passed out because she really thinks you are going to eat it.

Once you have ate it you will be disappointed with the taste and texture.  As everyone ELSE at the table is laughing you will find that suddenly one person has found in the deep dark recesses of their memory the English name of what you just ate.

If you passed all of the warning and you ate it anyway don't worry, you were not the first person to do this and you will not be the last person either.  Looking at the philosophically, you will have a great story for years to come.

Mind came just two months ago.  I was in Guangzhou, our Ambassador had bailed on me...  He used some flimsy excuse like wanting to go be with his wife in Beijing so here I was in a restaurant with two beautiful women.  One on either side.  Yes one of them was Peggy and the other was a very good friend of hers.

Ted I am sure you know the restaurant... it is surrounded by water and some of the tables are boats in the water.  There are also statues of fish made of color sepia I think with lights inside them.  Quite beautiful.  I wanted to eat in a boat but the women didn't because it was to hot outside.

So the other woman, Wendy, was ordering the food and asked me if I would like to try this food.  I forgot the warnings and said sure.  Honestly it looked like a game hen.  Well it wasn't.  It was a pigeon.  I was doing OK, it didn't taste bad,  it was kind of good but I was struggling with what it was.  Then Peggy points at a part of the bird and says to me, don't eat that part.  I ask why?  She said I do not know the American word.  Then I made the worst mistake I could possibly make.  I handed her the pocket translator.  She typed in the word and it was rectum.  That wasn't so bad but as I looked at it, it was a little round circle with little burnt hairs all around it.  Then I remembered plucking little burnt hairs on another part.  Well that was it.  I was finished for the night.

Peggy was quite amused but she didn't eat a bite of it.  Wendy however polished the rest of it off. Including the head.  yech.

Two months have passed and now I can laugh about it.  My story isn't bad and I know there are worse out there.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Paul Todd on August 07, 2010, 09:24:36 pm
Hahaha that's exactly how it happens Shaun! Everyone looking at you around the table is a big giveaway. If it does not look like anything I can recognise I will usually try it just to be a good sport and break the ice with fellow dinners, but I do have some memories that I'd rather not have!
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 07, 2010, 10:03:23 pm
Paul, you need to share some.  We all need good stories.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 08, 2010, 06:00:57 am
if you cant tell me what it is then im not eating it and i am not a good sport  hahahahaha
if they dont like it then im sure they will get over it in time. my personal choices are my personal
choices and thats the rest of the story  hahahhaah

i have been adventurous at times but know more just eat what i like nothing more  hahaha
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 08, 2010, 07:08:03 am
Yes Ted I agree but one must look beyond dumplings.  ;D  Hehe.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 08, 2010, 10:41:39 am
Oh!  I forgot to include noodles.  ;D  You got me Mike.

I might try a couple in the photos on a dare or just to say I've done it but you can count out the rats, dogs, and cats.  Grasshoppers, ants, worms I might give it a go.

I ate soup from the most horrible looking mushroom you have ever seen.  I'll try to find a picture later.  It is black and brown.  When you purchase it is as hard as tree bark.  Once it is cooked in a soup it is still that hard.  The stuff I ate was cooked in pork broth with onions and a few other greens.  It was not bad.  I tried to bite into the mushroom itself but there was no way.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 08, 2010, 11:39:29 am
sorry some things i will eat some not and some i will not even try doesnt matter if it upsets them hahah
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: mustfocus on August 08, 2010, 12:25:21 pm
Shaun,

You probably mean 灵芝 (Lingzhi).  That's a medicinal mushroom...it's supposed to help purge your system of toxins, but the soup tastes terrible.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Bee964 on August 08, 2010, 03:20:21 pm
I can purge my body of toxins without the help of mushrooms. You just lean over a little, lift a butt cheek and push out the toxic gas! Just make sure you don't breathe for a little bit.  ;D

With a dietary change like this I will certainly have this problem. I experienced it in Singapore. I was alone in an elevator in a store. I felt the urge for a little fluff and released the gas. It was the most horrific smell I could remember having. As the doors opened I just put my head down and left for there was a crowd waiting to enter. I do not have a clue as what they were all saying to me, but the tone with which it was said was not nice. I just kept walking.  ::)

I am laughing my butt off right now recanting this story, but it is one of the fears I have about meeting my lady. I just hope that she is good humored about this. If we are alone I will be in trouble, but in a crowd I could just blame it on someone else.  ;)

Dave C
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 08, 2010, 06:40:29 pm
to much info for us dave lol!!1
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 08, 2010, 07:28:17 pm
Ted.  You know I'm joking.  I think we are all the same way.  If it doesn't look right I won't either.  If you ever want a slice of heaven try eating roasted ants from Columbia.  If you want to get an idea of what they taste like go to Walmart and buy a small back of Kingsford Charcoal.  Simply bit of a corner of a brick and chew.  Voila, roasted ants.

Mustfocus, that's the one.  I didn't think it tasted all that bad mixed with a little pork and onion.  It wasn't great but it didn't taste as bad as liver and onions.

Dave.  Peggy had me eating the mushroom soup about every three days.  One thing I notices is that the smell of my gas disappeared.  Maybe that is why she fed it to me.  I was back in the US almost two weeks and the noxious smell came back.  Peggy in two trips did not complain about the smell she just change my diet.  Within a couple of days all was fixed.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 08, 2010, 07:43:44 pm
so your now back to clearing out the place. lol!!!  good thing you dont get stuck in an elevator haha
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 08, 2010, 10:08:05 pm
Yes but tomorrow morning kids will get stuck with me on school bus.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: ttwjr32 on August 08, 2010, 10:13:43 pm
great the poor kids  have to put up with that. just tell them its coming from all the cars on the road
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on August 08, 2010, 10:21:37 pm
It is my not so secret weapon.  They behave, no problem.  They do not behave, in the immortal words of the woman in the Movie An American Tail, "Wee weese the sequet weapon!"   >:( : >:( :o ??? :)  Ahhh!!!!!!  ::) :P
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Martin on August 08, 2010, 10:41:30 pm
I have eaten the pigeon.  Maybe it was the same place as you Shaun...along the river.  I liked it myself, but was also aware of what i was eating.  I have also eaten bugs, wild mouse, dog, and turtle soup.  I can't wait for my next trip over...who knows what they will feed me next!
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Lain on August 13, 2010, 08:01:03 pm
Well I guess that I must be the exception here in this group.....I will eat anything, does not really matter to me. On my first trip to China recently I ate things that I have no idea what animal or part it came from and with only 1 or 2 exceptions...it was all excellent.

Had pigeon my second day...an third. Even had a huge bowl of frog soup....and NO it was not frog logs...these were whole frogs, skinned and gutted but whole from tip to toe...about 3 inches long and really hard to hold in chopsticks while eating. Not much meat, but good none the less.

The irony is that I got sick from eating a cooked crab which is "normal" by comparison to some of the things I ate....and let me tell ya, they call it "travelers diarrhea"....but it really should come with a better name, almost went to the hospital, thank god I had medication or I would have. On my return to live there I am having my doctor write me a prescription for 24 of the pills...not the 2 like I got last time. My thoughts are that after 6 months of living there my gut should build up the proper enzymes to keep me from getting sick... I hope  :-\ 
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on February 27, 2011, 10:31:07 pm
Tonight I was talking to Peggy.  She was all the buzz about a new food she wanted me to try because she liked it very much.  She tell me that she thinks I will like it as much as she does.  So of course I bite and ask her what it is.  She sends it to me in Chinese; 驴肉火锅.  I translate and get a horrible look on my face and she starts laughing.  I quickly find a picture of a donkey and yes smiles and says yes.

Now, I had just finished supper.  Suddenly things start backing up and I get real light headed.  No really I was laughing and making faces about the thought.

My question to you guy's is this, have you tried 驴肉火锅?   What did you think of the experience.

I told her I would try ir once but I am not sure I have the nads to do it at this point.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Vince G on February 27, 2011, 11:13:19 pm
I would imagine it's like horse meat? Though I haven't had it that I know of ? It won't kill you.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Arnold on February 27, 2011, 11:16:29 pm
Shaun , now this can't be too bad .. really . We in Germany eat Horse Meat ( In Cold Cuts ) all the time . If you ever go/been to a German Deli and tasted some of their Sandwhich Meat's ( not here in the Sates ) are mostly made out of Horse Meat and so much better then the Cold Cuts you get here  .. any day .
As I see it , it's for HOT POT and you get to cook it to your likking . haha
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Rhonald on February 28, 2011, 12:40:55 am
My question to you guy's is this, have you tried 驴肉火锅?   What did you think of the experience.

I would never ASSume anything about such a consuming experience.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: mustfocus on February 28, 2011, 03:26:43 am
驴肉火锅 is actually a common meat in Hebei.  As I remember it, it tasted a little gamey to me.  In Baoding, they're known for their 驴肉 burgers...
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Paul Todd on February 28, 2011, 05:56:12 am
Absolutely right, My students tell me that Baoding has the best Donkey burgers in China! Not that I have tried one. Donkeys remind me of trips to the seaside as a child too much to want to eat one. I have tried donkey unwittingly at a picnic once. You know the routine you are offered something to eat so you try it only to be told after the fact exactly what it was. I have since  worked out the signs of this, people tend to go a little quite and stare, a sure thing that what ever it is will cause them great hilarity when your told just what you have eaten!  ;)
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on February 28, 2011, 09:54:02 am
Paul, Peggy really enjoys giving me foods that I do not know what they are then watching my reaction.  :o  I'll react just to make them happy.   ;D  This began the first full day I was there.

I'll try just about anything but I;ll throw a fit when I find out.  I agree with your observation but will add one more.  I will ask them what it is and if they say that they do not know the English word for it then they all sit there and watch get ready you are about to eat donkey, dog, cat, rodent, pigeon, worms, etc...

I can't wait to get Peggy here and have her try cow tongue, tripe, pickled pigs feet, ox tail, of course this may be nothing to her.  :(
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Arnold on February 28, 2011, 11:00:07 am
Shaun , it's funny you mention cow tongue , tripe ( which she try'd in Menudo ) and ox tail .. but my LaoPo stays now far away from those . How dare she .. after all I been eating ! >:(
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Rhonald on February 28, 2011, 11:09:10 am
I can't wait to get Peggy here and have her try cow tongue, tripe, pickled pigs feet, ox tail, of course this may be nothing to her.  :(

When I was in Shenzhen at Seaworld, the restaurant on the boat had servers circulating offering different dishes. It was there that I first tried cow tongue. I took a lick at tasting it but I found the meat  cheeky to the pallet. The following 2 pictures is from Meizhou.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on February 28, 2011, 06:37:20 pm
Arnold, I have the same feeling.  Menudo isn't bad but I imagine she will pass.   I am thinking on my next trip I'll take a jar of pickled pigs feet.  Course she'll probably like it.   Really many of these meats like tongue is a texture thing.  There are certain texture that I just do not like.

Ron, thats funny.  As it says in the good book "the tongue has the power of life and death."  :o  Not sure what it means to this conversation but thought I'd add it.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Kiwi303 on March 01, 2011, 02:17:55 am
I wonder what would happen feeding you guys Huhu grubs?
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on March 01, 2011, 05:18:24 am
Hmmm.....    I'll bite!  ::)   I'd feel like a Huhu bird?    Your biggest worry would be if I flew away and I took a Huhu dump.  ;D

April 2010 when I was in China for the first time I ate some sort of worm.  I was surrounded by two lovely Chinese ladies, one of them being Peggy of course, and one well...  she was female and lets leave it at that.   They ordered several dishes there and when I dipped into the one that looked like worms I asked Peggy what it was and she looked at the other female whose English was quite good.  She told me that she didn't remember the English word for it.  All three of them sat there and watched me.  I did what any normal red blooded America man would do when facing beautiful women.  I sucked it up and ate them.  They all giggled and asked me if I liked it to which I replied by shoving more into my face.  They were white live worms with some kind of sauce on them and the taste was absolutely disgusting but I ate them with a smile on my face.  I did notice that Peggy didn't eat any of them.    Hmmmmm...........
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: David E on March 01, 2011, 06:45:54 pm
Shaun/Kiwi

I am not exactly sure what a " Huhu" grub is....maybe it is similar to the Wichetty grub which is a prized Aussie delicacy.....

Having also suffered numerous "food" experiments delivered by my new Chinese family, I will insist that Ming has a good feed of Wichetty grubs when she finally gets to Perth !!!

If she throws up...maybe I will get my face back  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Buzz on March 01, 2011, 06:50:04 pm
First visit, deer penis with coagulated blood;  second trip, raw snails;   third trip, silk worm cocoons.   all ate, but only once. 
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: shaun on March 01, 2011, 07:38:24 pm
David neither did I.  Before commenting about it I looked it up on Wikipedia and the picture of the Huhu worm looks like the worm in your picture.
Title: Re: yum yum foods from china
Post by: Kiwi303 on March 02, 2011, 01:39:08 am
Huhu and Witchetty grubs are broadly similar, both being the tree dwelling, wood eating larvae of an insect. However the Huhu grub is a lot smaller than the one shown in Shauns picture, and is the larvae of a beetle, not a moth.

The beetles themselves are bloody annoying, and have a strong bite with their pincers. A bit like an airborne stag beetle.

Huhu grubs taste similar to peanut butter, a nice nutty flavour :P