Top 10 SE.Asian Food Dares
'Are you full? No, me neither, let's order something little to fill the hole. Oh, I don't know you choose.' This is consent for you to order any of the following below in my eyes. But, as you are nice, follow it up with a beer chaser, or Thai whiskey, anything alcoholic to numb the memory. You'll look back on eating these delicacies and laugh one day. Right? Erm... No. For starters you've damaged a trusting relationship. Which reminds me, I must see how the people I travelled in Asia with are doing. Times a healer. Peruse this taster menu and see if there's anything that peaks your interest. Another beer? Big or small? Of course, big, why did I ask?
Menu
10. Chicken Blood Cubes (Philippines) - For an appetiser with any meal you can try chicken blood cubes. Cheap and tasty, these bites of blood are grilled and skewered for a blood fix on the go. It should be marketed to the vampire that's late for a business meeting.
9. White Ant Egg Soup - (Around all SE Asia) You'll have the soup de jeur? Wonderful choice. I recommend a big spoon so the eggs can pop in your mouth to release flavour, it's like a Cadbury cream egg in essence. You've got to bite into it to get to gooey surprise inside.
8. Durian - (Malaysia) Ah, what meal wouldn't be complete without a tasty fruit bowl. Unfortunately due to the smell of durian, it's banned on public transport. It basically smells like death. But peel away the outer skin, and you can enjoy the segments inside. To me, it tasted like a fruity, fibrous onion. It wasn't as bad as it's reputation, honest.. Why are you dry heaving? There's still plenty to go.
7. Kopi Lawak - (Indonesia) After all that food, a refreshing drink is in order. Something to perk you up? Well, have I got the caffeine kick for you. Have you ever though that coffee beans are not digested enough? No? Well, have a sip on kopi lawak, what is it? Well.. It's coffee beans that have been gone through a civet, essentially civet shit soup. It's quite pricey for a drink, so enjoy every sip.
6. Crickets - (Cambodia) Ah, crickets! Deep fried until crisp and seasoned to perfection A Cambodian treat that is a great snack on the go. The Cambodians saw the swarms of crickets on the plains and have really brought these abundant snacks into the forefront of their diet. And let's be honest here, they are being sold in western countries now, so eat up it's protein packed.
5. Balut - (Phillipines) Unfortunately, the fry up has not caught on in the Philippines. But do not worry, as an alternative you can try Balut. Not a fan of eggs? That's fine! Because as this egg is fertilised, there's no pesky yolk. Tuck in on an essentially boiled alive baby duck, it's traditionally eaten in it's shell which saves on cleaning up.
4. Silk worm - (S.Korea and China) Are you feeling sick yet? God, I am, like how can they eat baby ducks? Ok, where am I? I seriously dry heaved thinking about that. Ok, ok. Boiled, steamed and served in handy paper cups, we can take these tasty morsels to-go. What's that? You don't want to touch them? Well, toothpick skewers come with this dish. Think of another excuse..
3.Scorpion - (Laos, Thailand) This critter is deep fried to perfection, which softens that pesky outer hard shell. It has tasting noted of chicken or crab depending on how much you ate of it. Are you not finishing yours? Eating the stinger is fine. And is rumoured to improve that good old male verility.
2.Tarantula - (Cambodia) - These eight legged treats have been bred in holes or foraged from the local countryside (Which is great to hear). Now, for your first tasting notes you will discover that it's bland, crispy on the outside soft on the inside. Did you see in wriggle a bit. Just kidding.
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1. Tiger Penis - (Cambodia) After all the trauma of our little taster menu, a little therapeutic help is in order. This is the belief of what the tiger penis does, contrary to this thing called science. The tiger penis can be made into a soup, ground into wine or soaked into rice.