They may not look appetizing at first but as soon as the weird foods from Asia touch the palate, the intrepid food taster will discover a welter of amazing flavors. We report the gustatory delights that will surely awaken the sense of taste

For the Europeans of the Middle Ages, food was often described as bland and boring. But when crusaders returned from Asia, they came with precious commodities that would awaken their palates to an array of rich flavors: exotic oriental spices. From then on, Spain, Portugal, Britain, France and the Netherlands sent their best galleons and armies to look, primarily, for spices, and only second for gold and whatever goods they might bump into.

Fast forward to the modern times: hundreds of years since Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Pacific Ocean, after Vasco da Gama found India, or since the lucrative Spice Trade kicked off, Asia still does not fail to send shock waves to the world when it comes to culinary adventures. What Westerners would consider as disgusting (congealed blood, animal entrails, monkey toes) are actually relished as gustatory favorites in Asia. Each country, it turns out, has each of its set of specialties.

"We used to be ducks, or bats... we're not so sure anymore"

China

In China alone, about a billion people have different notion of what is delicious. But they do agree that some foods taste better than others. To warm the tummy, there are the likes of Fish Bladder Soup and Bull Penis Soup, the latter being a libido-booster. A restaurant in Changsa in Hunan Province serves soup made of real human breast milk “for those who want to experience maternal love,” says the restaurant’s chef.

For appetizer, there is the Fried Jellyfish Strips (eaten like French fries!). For the main course, there is the Braised Racoon. To complete the exotic palate trip, the wines to choose from range from the popular Snake Wine (red wine with snake’s gall bladder extract), to South China’s Lizard Wine (lizard fermented in wine), and Hong Kong’s Baby Mouse Wine (rice wine full of baby mice).

Philippines

Each time a pig or a cow is butchered, Filipinos make it a point for all the remaining parts of the animals to be used. Jelled blood or jelly-like duck or pig blood is a famous street snack anywhere in Asia, but most especially in the Philippines, where animals’ blood are cooked into stews (called dinuguan) and skewered and grilled into a snack (dubbed betamax). Adidas (grilled chicken feet), isaw (grilled pig or chicken intestines), Fish Eye Soup, and Dog Stew (azucena) are also included in Filipinos’ bizarre carte du jour.

Perhaps what will challenge anyone’s palate is the Balut, which is actually premature duck fetus. Before they are fully hatched, the eggs are boiled in hot water, cooking the meat inside. Once the person cracks the egg open, he will see the small duck, with its eyes closed, veins on its belly, and even the small undeveloped wings. Once dipped in little salt, the actually tastes fantastic. Another duck variety is called as “one-day” or ducks which have actually hatched only to be coated with flour and fried in sizzling oil in its first day, thus the name.

Can I get some ketchup with that?

Indonesia and Malaysia

In Indonesia, bananas are deep-fried and eaten with their skins. In the streets of Surabaya, Indonesia’s second most populous city, warungs (three-wheeled carts) serve cingur (cow nose soup), while a market in Yogyakarta sells Smoked Bats as street fare. Anywhere in the country, surprises such as mie kocok (noodle soup with beef foot), dimsum ceker (broiled chicken foot), and deep-fried monkey toes just peek-a-book from the menu.

In Malaysia, the earth is key in concocting dishes such as Belachan (Malaysian shrimp paste fermented several months underground). For those who watch the famous Survivor series, Malaysia’s sago worms might ring a bell. These fat, white, brown-headed creepy crawlers are either lightly fried or consumed raw. They usually give eaters a “good burst” of juice when crushed in between teeth.

Japan and Korea

Japan, the “Land of the Rising Sun,” is also a land of extreme culinary escapades such as Tempeh (rotten tofu), Shiokara (raw fish in fermented squid guts), and Uni or raw sea urchin. Though already proven poisonous, killing about 300 Japanese each year, Fugu or blowfish is still an irresistible delicacy eaten with relish. Those who are fugu aficionados actually wait for their numb a little, which means that the poison in the fish is already giving its kick.

In Korea, what is considered as an everyday dish and garnish actually goes through a strange process. Kim Chee is made of cabbage fermented for several weeks in buried clay pots. Another strange Korean food is Beondaeggi, which is made of silkworm larvae and sold as snack on the street. Children actually like them while the older ones try to pair up the dish with some alcoholic drink.

Thailand and Brunei

Rat, cooked whole over an open fire then served in a bowl of extremely hot chili, is a treat in Thailand, so is a cocktail of King Cobra’s blood. In Brunei, the natives gather sawdust from the sago palm tree. They soak the sawdust in water for several hours until it hardens almost like cement. It is then rolled like pasta and served with peanut butter sauce. The taste, says foreigners, is like eating glue with peanut butter. The leftover sawdust is then used to mend the people’s roofs.

For many people outside Asia, delicacies such as those mentioned might sound crazy. Nonetheless, for many Asians, these gastronomic peculiarities are what twist their tongues and identities as diverse people with distinct cultures and appetites. Unlike in the West, happiness for the Asian palate does not always come in a box of chocolates or a bowl of cherries.