Gross things to Eat in Thailand

[TotallyOz]

What is the most disgusting food you have ever eaten in LOS?

 

My Aunts and I were discussing the trip I took them on a few years ago and the things they saw on the streets. They are VERY southern and picky eaters. I told them that I have tried just about all the things on the carts that roll around. Eating the grasshoppers were perhaps the most disgusting for me but only because I could tell what it was.

 

What is the most disgusting food you have ever eaten in LOS?

[Gaybutton]

Other than eating my cooking, I can't tell you the most disgusting foods I've seen because I can't tell what most of it is or what it is made from.

 

The three I can identify:

 

Blood - I mean pure raw blood. I've seen some of the rural people buy a hunk of beef, extract the blood into a bowl, and eat it as is just as if it was soup. All I could think of was Dracula.

 

Bats - I've seen them put up nets at fruit farms to catch fruit-eating bats. But waste not, want not. Once they catch them, they grill them and serve them, head and all.

 

The third one has a name, but I forgot what the name is. It's the roasted unhatched baby birds. Sometimes they eat it raw too. To me, that is the most disgusting of all. I can't even look at them eating it.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

The unhatched birds in the Philippines is called balut; I didn't know they ate them here too. They are disgustingly gross.

[Guest fountainhall]

I have had snake soup several times in Hong Kong and enjoy it. It tastes like a rather spicey chicken soup and is supposed to keep the cold out in winter (winter in the tropics ?). Far worse is seeing the snakes being prepared in the snake shops - I will say no more. I know this is not in the LOS, but I am pretty sure you can get it somewhere in Chinatown.

[Bob]

I avoid the bugs and other weird stuff I occasionally see and I also do my best to avoid squid which, to me, has the texture of a tire. On one occasion, I tried some of the dried squid you see hanging up various places and I would describe that experience as about as delightful as eating a paper bag.

[Gaybutton]

I tried some of the dried squid you see hanging up various places

Ohhhhhhh, you're supposed to eat it. Damn! I've been resoling my shoes with it.

[Guest fountainhall]

A McDonald's hamburger is pretty high on my list. As GB said, I have no idea what it's made from and it tastes like my idea of paper pulp with a pickle on top.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Squid is not rubbery unless it is overcooked. I don't mean that smelly dried stuff you see all over the place, but fresh squid. I make a Thai squid salad and I cook the squid in boiling water for only about 20-30 seconds.

[Gaybutton]

Squid is not rubbery unless it is overcooked.

I read somewhere that shellfish also get rubbery when overcooked. Do you remember the name of that unhatched bird egg thing? I seem to remember you posted about it once a year or so ago, but I can't find the post.

[Bob]

Squid is not rubbery unless it is overcooked. I don't mean that smelly dried stuff you see all over the place, but fresh squid. I make a Thai squid salad and I cook the squid in boiling water for only about 20-30 seconds.

 

I'm sure you're a fine cook but squid, however it's cooked, is definitely off my list. Reminds me a bit of how people have always tried to get me to eat liver - saying "oh, but it's delicious if cooked right!" No matter how they cook it, I gag.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I read somewhere that shellfish also get rubbery when overcooked. Do you remember the name of that unhatched bird egg thing? I seem to remember you posted about it once a year or so ago, but I can't find the post.

Check back to post #4 on this thread.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I'm sure you're a fine cook but squid, however it's cooked, is definitely off my list. Reminds me a bit of how people have always tried to get me to eat liver - saying "oh, but it's delicious if cooked right!" No matter how they cook it, I gag.

Fresh squid has very little taste of its own. It picks up the flavors of what it is cooked with.

[Guest gay_grampa]

Tastes differ, but I enjoy squid especially with local Thai vegetables and stir fried with oyster sauce.

 

However, if you are looking for food that is really rubbery (I suspect you are not) try sea cucumber. Usually served in Chinese restaurants across the region, it is sliced and served as a soup. It is utterly tasteless and cannot be cut by human teeth yet the pieces are too large to swallow whole.

 

It must have been at least 25years ago. I was invited to an expensive meal by an important client and he has pre-ordered the whole ten course meal including sea cucumber soup. Being the type who will try anything once and not wanting to offend I say 'Oh that looks delicious' and tuck in. Ten minutes of chewing later it is still the same size and consistency as when it went into my mouth!

 

Another strangely rubbery item is jelly fish which is usually shredded into small lengths and boiled up into a clear broth. The consistency is that of rubber bands but fortunately they are small enough to swallow whole.

 

 

 

Eating grasshoppers. They taste of the cooking fat and are crunchy. Don't eat the strong hind legs but pull them out of your mouth and pretend to use them as tooth picks. The boys in the bars love these insects and it's fun to buy a bag for them especially if they think you are too timid to eat them ... but then do.

 

Like GB, I will not try the bloody,raw meat items that are popular in the North East. I am sure it tastes 'interesting' but the risk of parasites is too great.

[Gaybutton]

Check back to post #4 on this thread.

Actually, it's post #3, but I missed it somehow. Balut, yes that's it. I can't think of anything much worse than that.

 

Yes, they do eat it here and I have never been to the Philippines. Fortunately it is quite uncommon in Thailand, but I was introduced to that fine gourmet delight at a Thai restaurant in Bangkok.

[Guest fountainhall]

Another strangely rubbery item is jelly fish which is usually shredded into small lengths and boiled up into a clear broth. The consistency is that of rubber bands but fortunately they are small enough to swallow whole.

I have eaten jellyfish hundreds of times in Chinese restaurants, usually with thin strips of pork and a mustard sauce. It is delicious. Oddly, I have never found it to be more rubbery or chewy than slightly undercooked spaghetti.

[Gaybutton]

I have never found it to be more rubbery or chewy than slightly undercooked spaghetti.

Maybe it depends on how it's cooked or what species of jellyfish is used.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Actually, it's post #3, but I missed it somehow. Balut, yes that's it. I can't think of anything much worse than that.

 

Yes, they do eat it here and I have never been to the Philippines. Fortunately it is quite uncommon in Thailand, but I was introduced to that fine gourmet delight at a Thai restaurant in Bangkok.

Oops! I have not been to the Philippines either, but have many Pinoy friends in the US.One guy brought some balut to my house for us to eat. I wouldn't touch it, but he stood over the kitchen sink slurping the juice and then chomping on the embryo. I had to leave the kitchen.

[Gaybutton]

I had to leave the kitchen.

Just think. Somebody had to be the first person to ever think of eating it. Maybe he was watching a vulture eat at the time.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

My bf told me the name is kai tua.

[Gaybutton]

My bf told me the name is kai tua.

Did he say what he thinks of it?

[ChristianPFC]

I quite enjoy the insects, exept the large water bug, it is not that tasty. A Thai friend never ate insects because he thought it was disgusting, so I had to convince and to show him that it tastes good!

 

I saw scorpion once on Khao San Road and watched a Farang eat it, but didn't try so far. Maybe the Thais make this up for tourists?

 

The unhatched chicken is on my "things to eat" list.

 

I had sea cucumber and 100-year-eggs in Malaysia, nothing special.

[Gaybutton]

I had . . . 100-year-eggs in Malaysia, nothing special.

Were they fresh?

[ChristianPFC]

LOL! They are not really 100 years old, but I guess you know that. Those I ate are in the picture.

The English name seems to be Century egg. My opinion: edible, but I can do without.

 

Century egg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Guest lvdkeyes]

My bf said he ate kai tua when he was young and it tasted good, but he wouldn't eat it now. He also ate bugs, rats and bats when he was young and his family was very poor and that's all they could get. Now he doesn't eat any weird stuff.

[Guest fountainhall]

LOL! They are not really 100 years old, but I guess you know that

Not sure what is in that dish along with the eggs. Looks like sliced banana. I have usually had them served with large slices of ginger when they are delicious!