Disgusting Food Museum (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

Ttongsul is a traditional Korean medicine with a 9% alcohol content. The poo of a human child between 4 and 7 years old is refrigerated for 3-4 days, mixed with water, divided into smaller pieces, and fermented overnight. The vat with the poo starts to smell incredibly strongly of feces, even worse than the first day of fermentation

The poo/water mixture is poured through a sieve and is mixed with 70% boiled non-glutinous rice, 30% glutinous rice, and yeast. The non-glutinous rice contains a lot of protein, important for the fermentation process. The glutinous rice is there for its supposed anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, as well as to improve the taste. The fermentation process activates the good bacteria and kills the bad bacteria.

The resulting mixture is left to ferment for at least seven days in a clay pot, wrapped in a blanket to maintain a temperature of 30 to 37 degrees Celsius. If not fermented enough, it’s dangerous to drink, but when perfectly ripe, this alcoholic drink is claimed to cure pain, broken bones, bruises, inflammation, and even epilepsy. The yellow-brownish liquid is strained and looks like a combination of sewer slime and vomit, potentially with small pieces of poo still floating around.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Young boy’s urine is collected in schools and markets around the city in buckets placed there by street vendors. Eggs are boiled in the urine until hard. The eggs are then cracked and continue to boil for several hours to let the urine soak into the egg. The golden eggs smell strongly of urine but the taste has been described as delicate, salty, and addictive.

The eggs boiled in the urine of young boys, mostly peasants, under the age of ten. It’s named “tong zi dan” (Chinese: 童子蛋; pinyin: Tóngzǐdàn), translated to boy eggs. The preparation is a spring tradition and and is listed as part of the Dongyang, Zhejiang local intangible cultural heritage.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Jugo de Rana, or Frog juice. A frog smoothie. The frog is killed, usually, by banging its head against the counter, the frog is then skinned and cleaned, and put in a blender with water and other ingredients such as quail eggs, honey, spices, and local plants. The blended frothy green goo is then strained to remove any bone fragments. Street vendors tote the drink as a healthy aphrodisiac energy drink. It’s considered almost a spiritual beverage, the recipes having been passed down through the generations. The Titicaca frog it’s made from is critically endangered.

It’s commonly given to children and adults alike as a health boost, claimed to cure anemia, bronchitis, asthma, impotence, osteoporosis, and many other ailments. It is, of course, an aphrodisiac.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The octopus is killed just before serving and immediately served sliced into smaller pieces. Since the nerves still have activity after death, the arms continue to move on the plate when eaten. Two-thirds of the nerves of the San-nakji are located in the arms so they are capable of coordinating complex movements even after being severed from the brain. If not properly sliced, the octopus suction cups can stick to the inside of the person’s throat. On average, six deaths per year occur due to suffocation. Eating live octopus is rumored to be good for your blood sugar levels and contains high levels of energizing taurine.

 

[Madmarsha]

Gomutra is claimed to treat psoriasis, leprosy, fevers, liver ailments, and cancer……

I sort of believe in Ayurvedic medicine. Please, God, do not give me psoriasis, leprosy, fevers, liver ailments, or cancer.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Quite a few countries like to dabble in scatalogical cuisine

And if today you’re making a dish with “the poo of a human child” tomorrow you will be a serial killer

That’s just a fact

 

[Madmarsha]

Thanks to CBS News Sunday Morning, I now want to taste akutaq. Inuit ice cream which uses pike -- that's the fish -- as an ingredient. Anybody ever had it?

 

[Optimus Prime]

Odori Don

 

[Optimus Prime]

Japanese Company Sells Placenta 'Health Drinks,' Leads To Wild Speculation From Gadget Labbers

The Placenta 10000 drink from Nihon Sofuken is a popular new drink in Japan. It’s supposed to taste like tender peaches. Yet, despite the fact that I’ve never tried it, my imagination and previous experience with Placenta products has already made it revolting. Fellow Gadget Labber Rob Beschizza...

www.wired.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Shirako (sometimes spelled shiraku) is perhaps Japan’s weirdest dish. While this white paste may look like mayonnaise, it’s actually fish semen. Served on top of rice, fried in tempura batter, or even on top of custard, this dish is revered for its rich, velvety texture and mild sea-like taste.……

Shirako - Detailed Guide On Japan's Weirdest Delicacy

Shirako (sometimes called milt) is a pretty unique food. It's edible fish semen. Learn how it tastes and how to enjoy this delicacy.

onthegas.org

 

[0rion]

Read a few of these....pretty sure I'm going to have nightmares now.

 

[Optimus Prime]

There are plenty of fish in the sea, but when the sea isn’t in reach, there are plenty of ants in the sand. They, too, lay eggs, and, like fish egg caviar, “the caviar of the desert” is very expensive.

Ant pupae and larvae, called escamol, is considered an opulent treat in Mexico. The name derives from the word azcamolli, a portmanteau of the Nahuatl words for ant and stew. This land-locked delicacy, which resembles pine nuts or corn kernels, has a nutty, buttery taste and a cottage cheese–like mouthfeel.

Due to their delicate, palatable flavor, escamoles are often prepared simply, fried in butter with onion and chili, and then wrapped in corn tortillas and served in tacos.

This prized egg is produced by the Liometopum apiculatum, or the velvety tree ant. However, the odor of their nests has earned the insect another nickname. Locals refer to them as la hormiga pedorra, “the farty ant.”

Escamoles are collected from the high plains of Central Mexico, where the velvety tree ant tunnels its home among the roots of mezcal and tequila plants. The difficulty involved in acquiring escamoles only adds to their prized reputation. Furthermore, collection season is short. A nest produces eggs about four times, exclusively between February and April.……

Escamoles: Caviar of the Desert

The eggs of "the farty ant" have long been a Mexican delicacy.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Mongolian warriors carried what little they owned on horseback. They couldn’t be weighed down by porcelain or clay cookware. These armies fit food preparation into their nomadic lifestyle by using an animal’s carcass as crockery. The unlucky marmot or goat that got stuffed with its own meat and cooked over an open flame came to be known as boodog.

To prepare boodog (pronounced “baw-dug”), a butcher slices the animal, neck to groin, and carefully removes the meat and bones while keeping the rest of the skin intact. He then seasons the meat (including the liver and kidneys), stuffs it back inside with hot stones and vegetables, and reseals the neck.

Then it’s barbecue time: While ancient Mongolians roasted boodog over a fire, modern cooks use a blowtorch. What fur doesn’t come off in the flames gets scraped away with a knife. When the seal around the neck starts to drip with hot fat, the animal is ready to eat. But before digging in, diners must first pass around the hot stones. It’s a common belief that holding the warm, smooth rocks reduces stress and fatigue.…….

To Make Mongolian Barbecue, Grab a Goat and a Blowtorch

Boodog dates back to when nomadic warriors used carcasses as crockery.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

The raw blood of ducks, geese, or pigs comprise tiết canh, a traditional Vietnamese dish known as blood soup.

To make tiết canh, cooks first blend the blood with a saline mixture or diluted fish sauce to keep it from coagulating too quickly. Then they season the mixture, add baked or fried meat, and set it aside. Once the blood coagulates into a cool, silky pudding, it’s topped with basil, mint, or onion, and peanuts for an added crunch. Strong alcohol, usually rice wine, accompanies the final product. Tiết canh’s biggest fans rave about it, declaring it at once buttery and sour, with a gelatinous texture. Critics, however, describe a metallic taste.

The bright colors of blood soup give it a festive feel, which is why tiết canh often finds its way onto menus for celebrations such as the Lunar New Year and weddings. At the latter event, pigs are typically slaughtered at the host’s home. Outside of formal occasions, tiết canh makes for a protein-rich breakfast, sold in shops and markets.

Popular belief holds that tiết canh has “cooling” properties that can regulate body heat and cure mouth ulcers. Many also believe that due to its key ingredient, blood soup might prevent anemia.……

Vietnamese Blood Soup Is Sour, Cool, and Gelatinous

Tiết canh blends congealed blood from ducks, geese, or pigs with meat, spices, and peanuts.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Thanks to CBS News Sunday Morning, I now want to taste akutaq. Inuit ice cream which uses pike -- that's the fish -- as an ingredient. Anybody ever had it?

Every spring, before their annual whale-hunting feast, groups of Native Alaskan women gather to vigorously stir bowls of caribou fat and seal oil into a special treat.

They are making akutuq. From the Inupiaq for “to stir,” it’s made by mixing fat and oil—and sometimes a bit of water or fresh snow—into a texture similar to whipped frosting. Although some people now turn to their electric mixers, the traditional method is by hand.

Meat-based varieties, which use dried fish or ground caribou, often taste salty and gamey, while berry-based versions (salmonberries and blueberries are favorites) have a sweet, yet briny flavor from the seal oil.

Akutuq is an undeniably Alaskan dish, with variations dictated by local flora and fauna. If you’re in the North, you might get hints of caribou, bear, and musk-ox fat. If you live on the coast, you’ll taste saltwater fish; if you live inland, you’ll find bits of freshwater varieties.

And if you sample akutuq from the Southwest, you’ll probably encounter candlefish mixed with oil and fresh snow—a delicious but ephemeral take that lasts only minutes before collapsing…….

This Frosty Treat Features Dried Fish, Seal Oil, and Berries

Native Alaskans whip akutuq's ingredients by hand into a gamey, yet sweet treat.

www.atlasobscura.com