5 Strange Foods To Eat In China

cr: the displaced kiwi

This list of the "Five Strangest Foods (For a Westerner) To Eat In China" is hilarious! I personally have eaten (and mostly enjoyed) all of these dishes.

Here's the list and some of my thoughts:

1. Chicken Feet - back in my meat-eating days I used to love these at dim sum. I admit they are pretty gross looking!
2. Stinky Tofu - yum! I ate this while on holiday in Taiwan and yes it does smell like old gym shoes but it tastes delicious. If you can get past the smell, you may be pleasantly surprised.
3. Sea Cucumber - my grandma always said these were really good for you. They are slimy and are served at special banquets, but don't really have much of a taste. I'd say I'm neutral to these slippery sea creatures.
4. Bird's Nest Soup - Like the sea cucumber, these are said to have loads of health benefits. Tastes OK but I would not go out of my way to find it. Plus it's pretty expensive.
   
5. Thousand Year Old Eggs - Contrary to the name, they aren't really that old. That would be pretty gross. They are a clearish-black colour (kind of unappealing) and are basically a preserved egg. I like them in porridge!
   

All in all, on your China Tour, you're sure to run into a few of these and other strange foods. My only recommendation would be to try everything at least once. If you don't taste it, how do you know if you like it? That's how I ended up eating some crispy locust on my trip to the Yunnan Province last year - and how I found out I don't much care for crispy locust.

My fellow food adventurers, what is the strangest thing you've eaten?