As said before and will be said for many times to come, travelling will bring a whole lot of new experiences for everyone. Even if you are a consistent traveller, there is always something you can do somewhere that you have not done before. You may have visited another country to see their culture, or even eat their popular foods that they are so well known for.
But did you know that some countries also have their own strange foods? Yes, countries have their own weird foods that may cause you to think twice about eating it when you look at it, when you know how it is made, or even when you know what the ingredients are. Nevertheless, this is something that you can try and it will surely give you a very unique experience.
Escamoles, Mexico
In Mexico, they have their own weird food, one of the top 10 weird food of the world, and it is known as Escamoles. Escamoles are the larvae of a venomous ant species where they lay their eggs deep down in the roots of agave or maguey plants in Mexico. It is said that they have the consistency that is very similar to cottage cheese and it tastes nutty. Normally they are eaten as a filling within a taco or omelette.
Shirako, Japan
Japan is known for its long history and culture, and from here we can find a very weird dish. It is called Shirako, and in Japanese it literally means “white children”, it is referred to as the sperm sacs of either cod, angler fish or puffer fish. They look like white blobs of goo or small brains. But it may be surprising that they are said to taste like sweet custard, I think that is something to look forward to.
Tuna eyeballs, Japan
In Japan, when it comes to tuna, nothing goes to waste. Literally, even the eyes are gouged out and served up cheap in supermarkets. The good thing is that they are very easy to cook, you can either boil or steam it, and then you can choose to season it with either garlic or soy sauce. After all that it doesn’t sound that bad, and it is said to taste a little like squid.
Balut, the Philippines
Yet another asian country that has a weird dish, Philippines. Here we have something called Balut, which is fertilised duck egg, with its partly developed embryo inside, it is boiled alive and then eaten from the shell with salt, chilli and vinegar.There is a procedure of how you eat it, first you pop a hole at the top of the shell and drink the liquids, once that is done, you crunch down the rest of whatever that is inside the egg, and that includes the feathers, bones, etc.
Crispy tarantulas, Cambodia
When you see a tarantula, you will probably runaway, there is very few people in the world that will ever think “lunch” when they see a tarantula. It was eaten first by Cambodians starving under the Khmer Rouge regime. They have became popular since then and it is served throughout the country as a deep-fried snack, and apparently it also taste a bit like crab, so for those who likes crab, you can give this a try.
White ant eggs soup, Laos
This is one of the top 10 weird food of the world, and one of the world’s most unusual soups. Gaeng Kai Mot Daeng combines a mixture of ant eggs and partial embryos from the white ant, and to add sourness, baby ants are added as well. If you have a strong stomach then you can try it, apparently it is quite tasty, sharp and delicate. Tastes a little bit like shrimp, so if you are a shrimp fan, and knowing that all these eggs, embryos and baby ants are the ingredients, and you are fine about it, then try this unusual unique dish.
Jellied moose nose, Canada
Yet another weird dish, and it contains nose, something you wouldn’t consider a choice cut from moose but the adventurous Canadians were not stopped from experimenting with nasal gastronomy by boiling them up with onions and spices and then removing the hair, and proceed to boil it again. Once that is done, it is sliced and covered with a broth that sets into a jelly. This is a weird dish that is for someone with a really strong stomach.
Boshintang, Korea
One of the top 10 weird food in the world comes from Korea, though it is not as popular now with the new generation, it is still popular with the older generation. It is supposed to be a health-giving Korean soup, and it is made with ingredients such as spring onions, dandelions, a host of spices and then it comes to the weird part, dog meat. Whoever has eaten it has agreed that this is something that tastes better than it smells.
Huitlacoche, Mexico
Now we can add fungus into the list, in Mexico, the Huitlacoche is a culinary speciality when normal corn kernels turn into tumour-like growths that is covered in blue-black spores by corn smut, and that is the fungus. For many people, seeing this means it is time to get rid of the corn, but in Mexico they call it huitlacoche and that means “sleeping excrement”, they enjoy the woody, earthy flavour of the fungus. So if this is what you are looking for, you have certainly found it.
Airag, Mongolia
Last on the list of weird food of the world, we have something called Airag from Mongolia. We drink and eat many fermented drinks and foods, so this one isn’t that surprising but it is still weird to think about it. This is fermented horse milk and in Mongolia, it is not unusual, this is basically Mongolian beer. They take the mare’s milk and then they will let it ferment, letting it turn into a fizzy, sour and of course a little alcoholic, but that is the good part.
Conclusion
There you have it! These are the top 10 weird food of the world! As there are many things to see when you are travelling to new countries, there are also many of their worldwide popular cuisine to try. But there are the weird cuisines as well, and that is something for the people with strong stomach and wants to get really adventurous. But whenever we are travelling we must be aware of all the mishaps that can occur, protect yourself with travel insurance by MSIG, from prices starting from RM 31/trip, visit PolicyStreet.com to learn more.
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