What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
Submitted by Megan.
That would have to be bat. That was back when I was in the Philippines, about 9 or 10 years old. It just so happened that one afternoon, my uncles were clearing out the eaves of our house since bats had been nesting in there. Those suckers had HUGE wingspans, and were completely scary looking. Another uncle would shoot them down with a BB gun; he brought down maybe 12? 15?
So they skinned and butchered the bats, and cooked it as bat adobo to eat as pulutan – finger foods and yummy things to eat while drinking massive amounts of beer. I, of course, got to taste the bat adobo. As far as I can remember, it didn't taste very odd; I just remember having a tough time eating it as it didn't have a whole lot of flesh.
But I ain't got nothin' on Steve. Please check out "Steve, Don't Eat It!" Who doesn't want to hear about his adventures with Potted Meat, Pickled Pork Rinds, Beggin(strips) Lettuce and Tomato sandwhiches, Breast milk, Natto, Cuitlachoce and SILKWORM PUPAE! Mnnn, I'm getting hungry even as I type this.
what's up with people in the Phillipines eating strange 'foods'?check out this response to the qotd that i unfortunately stumbled upon this morning.bat's nothing compared to _________.
Balut! You know, I used to eat that a lot when I was a sickly kid. My grandmother swore up and down that it was good for the body. It could be, I guess, great source of protein and what not. I do love the broth that's in it; it's like, Super Ultra Concentrated Broth.
A friend also served the vietnamese version ( Hột vịt lộn ), but what she gave me wasn't as developed as the filipino version – at least, not from what I remember. I had it with lime and chili salt. And I have to say, it was AWESOME.
haha balut strikes again! i've been seeing pictures of duck abortions for this QoTD everywhere. i guess we filipinos cornered the market on exotic / weird food. O_obat, huh? chi (the boyfriend) once ate bayawak adobo; it's a giant lizardy-looking thing, though its name in english escapes me at the moment. i have no idea why as he lived on a farm and therefore had access to bountiful harvests. oh, and in keeping with offensive stereotypes — the lasenggos (drunks) in my corner actually ate dog. that happened when i lived in the boonies, though, so i guess it shouldn't be that surprising. i wish it weren't true, but sadly it is.
oh, and i'm curious as to how filipino you are:do you like SPAM? =P
Erin, we were poor. Not "oh man, no food today coz we can't afford it" type of poor, but we certainly weren't eating meat everyday. When we did eat meat, or any type of animal protein, we made sure we ate everything from nose to tail. If it ain't edible, we'll try and make it edible. Balut, on the other hand, was a treat. That shit was expensive! As expensive as buying a kilo of veggies or meat or something.
Chayenne, I try not to say it out loud, but you doubt my Filipina roots! Therefore, I will admit; I LOVE TEH SPAM. When I vist mom on weekends, I go early enough for breakfast. Hello bacon, eggs, spam, and sinangag. Yummmm.
Also, I've had the bayawak – it's a giant monitor lizard and I remember it tasting a little fishy, and very weird in texture. I think we just roasted it though, and ate it with rice, tomatoes and patis. I also ate dog, but I didn't know it was dog! It was during another drinking party at my grandma's house, and they had kalderetang aso. Of course, since they made lots of food, the kids got to eat whatever they were serving with rice. I was all, mnnn this is yummy, what is it? Grandma's all "That Fido. Delicious, eh?" I no longer eat kaldereta of any kind.
I just want to thank you for giving me that website. Not that your bat and puppy eating experiences aren't fantastic to read…I had similar run ins with tiny bird (choked down a beak) and mystery boiling pot of brown goo and meat…but wow. That man has balls.
Bats, huh? Didn't see that coming. O.o I do loves me some SPAM, though (and I have 0% Filipino blood).
Man, and they say the Chinese eats everything. Little did they know about you Filipinas!!
wow. i guess where and how you grow up really does change your tastes. i think that's awesome that you've had all these 'strange' foods . . . the most exotic i'll get is sushi, and that's a recent aquisition. (which i loooooove!) i'm surprised that the little chick cost more than all those veggies . . . i guess they had to wait till just the right time to cook it? too long and it'd be a real birdy already, but too short and it would just be an egg?now, you eat spam . . . but would you eat potted meat? j/k (i LOVED that website, btw. kinda made me feel sick when i got to the pickled rinds, but quite funny!)
Kirk, have you ever had Spam Musubi? That is so awesome, I can eat 4 in one sitting. It's so easy to make too!
Vesper, Erin, don't get me wrong; Filipino food has its oddities (Dinuguan, anyone? I actually like that stuff now. It's fantastic when made with plenty of heat from chili.) But generally speaking, Pinoy food is pretty bland in flavor in comparison to other south east asian cuisines. I think the Pinoy creativity comes to life when it's time to make pulutan (snackies/foods to eat while drinking). The drinking party atmosphere is very macho, so foods tend to have a bit of a shock value (bat adobo is NOT something to serve grandma) and should have the cache of being an aphrodisiac (in the case of Balut).
I promise never to serve bat, lizard, semi-developed eggs, or even dinuguan to any of you.
haha, thank you, thank you. i should find out from a friend of mine who just spent 1 month in manila / 2 months in thailand if he's eaten any of these delicacies. he's much more adventurous than me. my sorority sisters once made chocolate / peanutbutter cuppcakes shaped like penises, and we ate them while drinking. would that be considered a type of "pulutan"? 🙂
i disagree! perhaps it just depends on regional differences? food from bicol is usually fiery. =)
Fuck you're right; I forgot about Bicol. Ok, how's this: Tagalog style food is bland in comparison. Though I really think Pinoy food is less spice-y than I'd like.
bat?…now betamax, IUD, helmet, adidas, and everything else (including coffee poured over rice with ripe mango as ulam) paled in comparison to that! 🙂
Mekka, IUD (mnnn intestines) and Adidas (chicken feets of deliciousness), I've had and they are mad tasty. Oh man, it's the very best of street food AND dimsum. Helmet, I've never had. What's there to chew on when eating chicken heads? I find that far more disturbing than bat. And I've NEVER heard of betamax. What is it, and most importantly, is it tasty? (is it, precious? ah man, I'm a gigantic, humungous nerd.)
Just to clarify, Pinoys have a tendency to nickname food. "Adidas" kills me everytime. Though, perhaps it should be renamed "Nike."
it's dried up pig blood that are cut into cubes and grilled along with IUDs, Adidases, and helmets. Betamax is yummy! Really, it's bloody tasty! 😉
That website you pointed to is hysterical. That man is a hot mess!
I don't know which is funnier – the post or the comments! Us Brits are so boring when it comes to food – black pudding (blood and spices in intestines), haggis (entrails and stuff plus oatmeal and spices in sheep stomach) and tripe (cow stomach lining) seems to be the extent of our weirdness with food. And I have eaten all those without a qualm – so why did the duck fetuses creep me out? This post reads a bit like a Fear Factor script!And thanks for Steve Eats – still reading, still wretching… lol!
Mekka, I'm gonna hafta try betamax. I've had blood cubes in congee or shabu shabu before, but never grilled. I am INTRIGUED.
Mitzie, I love Steve and his blog "The Sneeze" He provides hours and hours of procrastination.
Bookmole, I've always wanted to try black pudding and haggis; black pudding I could have had when a friend and I visited another friend in London. We could have gone into some cafe for a delicious plate of fried stuffs – black pudding especially. An opportunity wasted!
SPAM Musubi, huh? Looks like a form of 'sushi' I could handle. Thanks! Of course, the whole batch would be for me since no one else in my household can stand processed canned ham.