Bizarre Foods, Local Style!
By Melissa
A few months ago, I did a story on local bizarre foods for Metromix.com. Like Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain, I had people show me some of their favorites.
One of the winners was, of course, the balut--a delicacy in Southeast Asia. It is a fertilized egg with its embryo in various stages of growth (depending on what day you buy it). Much mahalo to Art Visaya for coaching me through the whole experience!...but here are a couple of outtakes that were too much to post on Metromix.
I got reactions like,
"You're so gross, Melissa. You couldn't pay me to eat that stuff!"
"Ewww! I think I threw up a little in my mouth!"
"Yeah, that's hot. No wonder you're still single."
Well, I get the last laugh...I think. The gallery was so popular, people have been begging me to show them more. Like a bad accident, people just can't look away from my eating certified delicacies that picky diners can't stomach.
So what suggestions do you have for "Bizarre Foods, Part 2?"
Is natto really bizarre? What about tripe stew? I consider these to be mainstream, but maybe the general population doesn't think so.
I've already tried tongue prepared various ways, so I'll probably show you one of those. Not sure which photo will make he final cut, but I want you to see how hard I work to get the product our readers want to see.
Here's a Narcissus Princess showing me the raw product, left. On the right is my plate of boiled tongue, no sauce. It was NOT done the way my mom used to make it!
Fellow Metromix reviewer Mari Taketa recently made me eat both fish eyes out of a steamed uhu--that photo will probably make the next gallery.
What else? Post your suggestions here, and where I can find it! It has to be a LEGITIMATE dish and something I can purchase. Check out the last Metromix gallery so we don't have repeats!
Urban Mix Plate
February 1st, 2009 at 8:18 am
Hi Melissa, I don't think anything is a bizzarre food locally. I have eaten everything you mentioned. I eat anything and willing to try anything I haven't eaten before....
February 1st, 2009 at 8:51 am
"Bizarre" is so subjective, yeah? Being Chinee, like da oddah Melissa, we grew up eating tripe stew, beef tongue (yeah, my Mom cooked it in shoyu, star anise and some other stuff and we'd make sandwiches out of the leftovers), duck feet, chicken feet (mmmmhh!), pei dan, gup dai jook (intestine). I remember fighting the family to get the fish eyes served at dinner.
How about the fat behind the eyes of fish? Or those whole salt pepper or garlic shrimp that you chew the shell and slurp out the head. Or whole crab, and you grab the fatty stuff in the shell and put some hot rice and eat it out of the shell?
Sweetbreads? (not the portuguese kine, but thymus or pancreas).
OK, going to go eat b'fast now. Worked up an appetite here.
February 1st, 2009 at 9:57 am
What about mountain oysters? i believe they are bull testicles and i would like to see you eat that...or those hissing cockroaches they had on fear factor.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:31 am
You'll probably have to delve into the realm of Filipino mystery meats to really do something bizarre. You can review your choices at Pacific Market in Waipahu in the pork section. They have EVERY part of a pig you can think of.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:31 am
All I can say is "EEEWWW!!!!" Never ever will I try those bizarre foods. I must admit that my Filipina grandma ate some weird things including fish eyes and the head. I don't think she was a fan of balut at any stage though.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:33 am
BTW, Micah said a bottle of char siu sauce was so not worth it for eating tongue. He's pretty grossed out that you tried balut. You're his hero!
February 1st, 2009 at 12:19 pm
M, I think I am jaded. Many local things seem "normal" to me, too! But some people think I eat gross stuff.
TwoFish, I eat everything you mention except the duck feet. I will, however, eat them in the name of this story. BUT...try look at the gallery from last time, I've already done some of the others.
Leilokilani, I'll take mountain oysters! If I can find them cooked locally, I'll do it.
Fran, I did some Filipino treats last time...dinaguan was OK; I actually enjoyed the dinakdakaan. Any suggestions for stuff that won't get me in trouble with PETA? hee hee
Shawn, I'd like to invite you & your family to Neenz's home this next time round. I think her dad has some Samoan "surprises" for me. hmmmmm
February 1st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
i'll eat tongue, fish eyes, raw sea cucumber and my favorite breakfast, durian! but what i find really gross is RAW SPAM. too tame?
February 1st, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I had rocky mountain oysters on a ranch in Kamuela and I thought it was okay, I would eat it again. Being chinese we eat all kinds of stuff some people may call it weird or bizzare like chicken feet, cow tongue, pig intestine, tripe, fish eye, pig feet, balut, it seems all normal to me....
Ige's makes a great tripe stew, so ono...
February 1st, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Chitterlings and/or haggis? I haven't personally eaten either but it would qualify for bizarre foods, right? Not sure if you can find it in Hawaii, tho.
February 1st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
so long as I am not allergic to the food I eat I WILL TRY IT! BUT I THINK I WILL CLOSE MY EYES FIRST! If the food smell stinky then maybe I will plug my nose first!
February 1st, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I saw this special on tv where the Chinese (who else) ate rat as a delicacy.
February 1st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
papaya-yes, too lame! No! I can't eat sea cucumber! gaaah.
M, I might try the Ige's tripe stew....mmmmm
Islandgirl, I think we can find chitterlings in a different form (asian or southeast asian) in Hawaii. Haggis, being Scottish, may be hard to find.
Cindy! u would have me eat rat?
February 1st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
You should eat the balut with rau ram and salt & pepper...yum yum.
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:01 am
Aloha Melissa:
I was fortunate to have tasted your Mom's Chinese-Style beef tongue about 25 years ago. It was tender and delicious!
A suggestion for a bizarre food to sample: pua'a na'auo (I'm not sure I have the correct spelling or glottal stops) or Hawaiian-style pig intestines.
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
I've heard of people shooting the birds in the yard or down from the telephone wire, cooking them, and eating them. I feel that birds are the rats of the sky. I would never eat that.
I think that would be a fun story/experience for you though. You could dress like Elmer Fudd and "Go a huntin' fo boydies." I want you to eat a bird that you have shot. Or you can call my dad. Maybe he can hook you up with some peacock meat next time he ends up wacking one on the head with a shovel again.
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
Maybe we have found a different angle to this thing you have going. There is a limited amount of things that Hawaii people consider bizarre. Being a plantation based culture, many of us grew up on what was tossed out by the oppressors or could be bought with limited funds.
You could do a series on surviving in the wilderness of Hawaii. You could gather pipipi and wi, hunt frogs, catch prawns, and shoot a pig. How to prepare a truly green fresh meal with ingredients found in the wild. Document the whole gathering and preparation experience.
February 2nd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Mr. Orange - didn't Mat Kubo do an art project similar to what you mentinoed? Gleaning what he could, and catching what he could't glean. He shot birds in the yard that were eating from his garden.
ActionFunUrbanSurvivalism was the project, and the blog which was included in part of this connecting to others.
February 2nd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Mr. Orange - didn't Mat Kubo do an art project similar to what you mentinoed? Gleaning what he could, and catching what he could't glean. He shot birds in the yard that were eating from his garden.
ActionFunUrbanSurvivalism was the project, and the blog which was included in part of this connecting to others.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I googled Mat Kubo, sounds like a fun guy. I was thinking more of a Green Acres Melissa with her crystal beaded bra straps going pig hunting. Something more country than living off city food. Doesn't that sound like fun?
February 4th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Yo Mely,
You can get more balut at my work and even more heckling if you like. I am proud to say that I downed em. Can we html blog comments? I like send you pix...
February 4th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Mr. Orange,
I have the visual of Melissa in her manicure and pedicure, sporting her running shoes and exercise gear, with her beaded ba straps doing the bling bling. Yeah, I can see her chasing the pig, without a smudge in her mascara!
But let's make sure she doesn't go hunting and fall off off the cliff onto some ledge. I'd miss her blog. . .
Maybe she can go hunt the buta in the back of Manoa Valley, since they've started to go to the populated areas, from a few years back.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Sorry, you and the TV guys, who we watch all the time, can have that fun job! Not for me!