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2. What's the most disgusting thing that you have ever eaten or even just put in your mouth? — #2, Aug.15.2004, Monday Madness
Well, I don't think it's disgusting at all, but most other people do. I have a fairly Yin constitution. I get cold easily and my organs used to be generally weak. I used to be given Cordyceps (冬蟲草) fairly regularly when I was young. It's usually prepared in chicken broth or with lean pork among other things.
This speaks to the care and love my parents showed me. If you know anything about cordyceps at all, you'll know that they are hideously expensive. $50 for a little cube of it from Chinatown and that was a medium quality.
The "disgusting" part is that these things are live worms that attach themselves to a blade of grass. They develop a fungal parasite and as they "die", they merge with the plant. When they are harvested, they still look like worms, but they have become the plant. I'm not missing any words there: they have become the plant. =)
There's one for the vegetarians to wrap their heads around. =D
To the protest of my parents, I made some for a group of friends once for a Hallowe'en party. Only the most adventurous tried it. Some couldn't even look at them =)
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once upon a time I was sitting watching TV and there was this fly that was bugging the hell out of me. Well finally it went away and I didn't think anythign of it. A few minutes later I grabbed my water bottle and took a sip and felt something moving in my mouth. I spit out the water into my hand (and all over my lap and chest) to find the fly squirming around in my palm.
THAT was pretty gross.
http://ocid.nacse.org/research/cordyceps/html/ctuberculata.html
And *raises hand* I was one of those people who was not adventurous enough to try them. Worms? Uh, no thanks. :)
I'm trying to think of the grossest thing I've ever eaten and I can't, because I'm so mind-numbed by the idea of a caterpillar or worm, having been entirely fungus-fied, and then put into a soup. Ew.
The first is the coagulated duck blood at dimsum that my dad tricked me into eating (he said it was tofu). The taste wasn't terrible, and the concept itself isn't that terrible either, but it made my teeth all squeaky weird, and there was an iron aftertaste. Lovely.
The second was some foul tasting soup that my grandmother brewed me when she visited during my high school years. I had my period, and was having bad cramps, so she made me this special concoction that was supposed to be good for fertility or reproductive health or something, I don't remember. I have no idea what was in it, but it tasted really foul.
I think my grossest was probably the bbq'd silkworm up in Harbin. Crunchy!
I love jellyfish, it's like chewing on rubber bands =) There's a spicy dish with pig's blood, tripe and various other animal innards that I love.
I'm also one of those weird people who like Cod Liver Oil. I bite open the little capsules on purpose.
Food-wise, there's not much that disgusts me...