Strange tastes

Eating for me is an adventure. My Asian heritage means my palettes are more adventurous than most Brits (England is my place of upbringing), but by Asian standards, I am an unseasoned adventurer. Nevertheless, I've eaten strange things over the years and here's my highlight. 

Oxtail

Tail and feet: I’m a big fan of oxtail, which I believe should be used more prominently. Oxtail stock (simmered with tangerine skin) makes a great base for noodles. My parents like to eat pigs' feet occasionally (some local butchers in the UK even give it away for free). I prefer pigs' feet to chicken feet. While the latter seems to be more fun to play with and to scare guests, just chewing on skin and tendon gets a bit boring. Pigs’ feet at least have some meat. The best way to cook these animal feet would be to gently simmer for 2-3 hours with salt, pepper, ginger/cardamom, salt and a splash of brandy (but first soak and then scrub clean). Then cool overnight and serve with chilli dipping sauce/soy sauce.

Duck Tongue

Things off the face/head: Mammal tongues are a bit challenging visually, but when sliced it makes for a good interesting sandwich filling. Duck tongue is quite delicious when fried with chilli (had this in China). I don’t really rate ears – my mother cooked pig ears a few times. It is just cartilage and skin. My closing note is that the best cut from the face is the cheek: tender and succulent (my favourite is Salmon cheek meat)

Abalone. Yum

Creepy sea and land creatures: When I was in HK, Geoduck was something regularly seen in tanks at seafood restaurants. It looks like a huge Penis oozing out of a small inadequate shell. It tastes on the other hand, like a chewy mollusc. Another mollusc I had was Abalone. It looks like a Vagina, and is one of the most expensive things you can eat. During my time as a banker I ended up doing due diligence on an Abalone farming business in Southern China. At the farm we feasted on abalone. I didn’t enjoy the wok cooked version – most of the abalone is a rubbery flesh like mussel, with the only tasty bit being the muscular foot. The tinned version, served in a salad, turned out to be much nicer. 

Raw meat: I love sushi and sashimi, and during my time in Asia I expanded my sushi experience to include raw prawns, urchin and octopus. These I loved – especially raw prawns. When I first discovered Pancetta during my student days, I mistook this cut of Italian smoked bacon for ham (i.e. – ready to eat raw). I ate raw Pancetta sandwiches for a few weeks before I discovered my mistake. Yet it was actually quite tasty (although the fat strips were somewhat unsettling). I was probably saved from horrible food poisoning and parasites due to the smoking and curing process. I heard that in Japan they have horsemeat sashimi, and am keen to try this..

Mouldy Goats Cheese

Things we think the French are weird for: Frogs legs are fickly but taste just like chicken, so that’s fine for my palettes. I can only eat snail when it is drowned in something intensely flavourful (i.e. lots of garlic butter). I once tried to do a simple stir fry with snails and the taste of snails on its own was revolting. Of the great cheese in France, there are some which are covered in unappealing mould (Epoisse – which the mould makes the surface look wet and sticky, and goats cheese such as Sainte-Maure de Touraine chevre spring to mind). However, looks can be deceiving – mouldy cheese has the best flavour.  

The final note on this topic is Hashma. This is dried frogs fallopian tubes. Why go to the length to harvest this? To SE Asians, this has apparently beauty benefits for females. One of my former co-workers in HK ordered steamed Hashma in coconut as a dessert during team lunch. I nearly lost my lunch as a consequence.       

Hashma in coconut