We all know that throughout history, people have been eating everything they could find to survive. That's also why every country has some of the weirdest foods that are strange and unacceptable to others. But this article will not be about eating cats and dogs around Asia. This top ten will not be listing chicken feet, crocodile meat, frog legs, and snails, as we have something far stranger. Prepare to be on the verge of vomiting while reading about the top ten weird foods around the world.
10. Black Pudding
If you wish to know how to make a black pudding watch the video and start cooking
Black pudding is a type of blood sausage from England and Ireland and one of the oldest sausage recipes. Way back, people have come up with the idea of using livestock's blood so it wouldn't go to waste. There's a lot of variation of this meal worldwide, mainly in the former British colonies. However, we'll stick with the original from the UK. To prepare black pudding, you only need a livestock's blood, some cereals, and pork fat.
Adding spices like mentha pulegium is unique for the UK's black pudding. You can eat this delicacy cold, fried, grilled, or baked, and it's available in grocery stores. Black pudding is full of proteins, iron, and zinc, so people often call it a superfood.
9. A Slice of Penis and a Slice of Testicles
Wanna make rocky mountain oysters from scratch? Watch the video!
Dragon in the Flame of Desire or yak's penis meal comes from China. Prepared from the yak's penis, it's considered to be an aphrodisiac. Firstly, the organ is steamed, then fried, and at the end, flambéed. If you wish to try it, you should check out the Guolizhuang restaurant in Beijing. While there, if you are into penis dishes, you can try bull's or deer's penis.
From China, we are moving to Canada and the USA. Here you can try rocky mountain oysters, but we must warn you that this isn't seafood, but a deep-fried bull's testicles. This recipe is mainly created not to waste testicles after castration, as with many other old meals.
8. Southern Fried Rattlesnake
Making a southern fried rattlesnake. The video includes the skinning of the snake
A favorite and a bit deadly dish in the Southwestern United States is a rattlesnake. Like other reptiles, they often have salmonella bacteria, so wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly while preparing it. If you want to prepare it from scratch, firstly, you need to go out and catch some rattlesnake, kill it, and skin it.
Nevertheless, you can skip these three steps and buy rattlesnake meat from the grocery store. Secondly, season the meat, dip it in the mixture of milk and eggs, and then in the flour and breadcrumbs fusion. Finally, put it in the hot oil and deep fry it, and you're good to go. Some say that this meat tastes like an alligator or a fish. However, they all say it's a bit chewy. Oh, and this isn't the only type of snake meat that people eat.
7. Shirako
Making shirako and tasting it for the first time!
Shirako, or a cod's sperm sac, is served both raw and cooked. Popular in Japan, it's considered an acquired taste by locals. The fish semen is anti-aging, as it's rich in vitamin B.
Shirako texture depends on the preparation. Mildly heated sperm gets a more chewy texture like a runny soft cheese with a bit salty and fishy flavor. It's served as an entrée or as an addition to some meals, for example, sushi topping.
6. How About Some Worms?
Harvesting, preparing and eating a favorite snack in Zimbabwe, mopane worms
Mopane is a popular snack in Southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe. A big fat worm full of meat tastes like chicken barbeque and is usually prepared by drying out in the sun or smoking. However, it's not unusual to soak them in the water and then cook them with the vegetables.
While in Africa they love their mopane worms, in South Korea, they enjoy beondegi or silkworms. Beondegi literally means pupa or stage between larva and mature stage. However, boiled or steamed, beondegi is favorite street food for Korean people. During the preparation, they are salted and seasoned. Add a bit of sugar, and you'll get a sweeter version of beondegi.
5. Let's Eat Some Bugs!
A great recipe for cooking grasshoppers, so yummy!
Sometimes we can't even imagine what people can eat, and one of these things are bugs. Just the thought of spiders gives some people chills, but a fried spider is a delicacy in the Cambodian town of Skuon. Firstly the spiders are marinated in a mixture of salt and sugar before being fried with the garlic - yummy!
Grasshoppers could be cute, and according to some people, they can even be quite tasty. Just add chili, salt, and pepper, fry them, and your snacks are ready. And for the end, we have a boiled treat - stink bugs. Some people compare the taste with apples, but still, no thanks!
4. Tuna Eyeballs
Preparing the tune eyeball dish
Apparently, fish eyeballs are very nutritious and often eaten in Russia, Island, and Norway. They stimulate brain cells and stave off memory loss since they contain DHA and EPA fatty acids.
Nevertheless, tuna eyeballs is a delicacy in Japan, and it's not an expensive meal. Some compare the taste to squid or octopus. However, when ordering tuna eyeballs, expect someone to be staring at you from your plate.
3. Khash
Wanna know how to make a khash? Watch a video of making a traditional khash soup
In the Middle East, East Europe, and Turkey, when you order khash, you'll get stewed cow's head and feet. It's considered a delicacy, but it's quite creepy when you get the meal with the skull and dead eyes staring at you. After looking at the poor dead cow's head, you might wish to change the order.
Khash is a typical winter dish, with some variations depending on the region. It's mainly made from cows, but some recipes include the sheep with optional sheep's or cow's stomach. Even though we think it's disgusting, it's up to you if you'll try it. Still, Turkey has so much better food!
2. Goat Head Anyone?
Preparing a goat's head might be disgusting, but some say it tastes delicious
We are taking you to a scary part of the world, at Monterrey in Mexico. Joking aside, Monterrey has a big problem with crime, but that's another topic. Our interest is cabeza de cabrito, a meal scarier than the city. This is literally a cooked goat's head cut down in the middle. When you order this nasty food, you'll eat the cooked brain directly from the head, as well as the tongue sticking out of the mouth.
If you're lucky, you'll see a cook cutting the head with a saw and preparing a meal for you. This is an interesting experience, and according to many, it's quite a tasty dish. Still, to us, it looks a bit too disgusting. This is even more repulsive than the previous one, as here we have the head and feet mixed together.
1. Balut
A proper way to eat balut. If you are disgusted easily, you might wanna skip this video!!
Finally, our number one is the most stomach-turning and cruelest meal. Balut is a duck embryo boiled or steamed alive in its shell. A fertilized egg has an incubation period from 14-21 days before it's used as the meal's main ingredient. The longer the period, the more developed an embryo is, so this is a brutal way to kill little ducklings before they can spread their wings. Balut is served and eaten directly from the eggshell.
The meal originated in the Philippines and spread to China, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and today it's street food. We needed a bucket just looking at this meal's pictures.
Listing most gross food was a hard pick as sometimes we can't even imagine what people are willing to eat. We don't say that some of the meals on our top ten list are not tasty, but the thought of eating them is horrifying for most. You may feel different; after all, the taste is unique to every person. Still, how about some lovely Italian dessert?
What was the most disgusting food that you have ever tried? Which of these meals would you try? Please write to us in the comment section, as we would be happy to hear your impressions.
Cover photo: Krzysztof Niewolny/unsplash.com