Freakin' food

After listening to Amber's "Beat the Summer Heat" episode, the only thing I can think of right now is the ice cream / popsicles, hahah. There were quite some strange ones there, and some were also quite cute.

Peach and pineapple popsicles must have been my favorites, especially as they had chunks of the fruit embedded within the frozen goodness. There was also pea popsicle. Like, as in...green peas. It was a bit weird, had to give it up halfway through when it perplexed me more than cooled me down haha! And a very cute one looked like a row of little lemons and oranges on a skewer - it was sweet and a bit sour at the same time, and of course very juicy.

Contrast? Here (in Canada) I look for ice cream and can only find those drumsticks or ice cream sandwiches, which always look so heavy and thick in comparison to the fruitiness of the ones I found in Asia, which can be a bit unappealing in the heat.

The Chinese really do eat some of the weirdest food in the world. To the uninitiated the black insides of 100 year old eggs may seem gross, but I do like them with congee. Do they still use horse urine to preserve them?

What I'd never be able to bring myself to touch though, is the Filipino delicacy balut, an egg with a half formed chick inside (euh!). Maybe our Pinoy Cpoddies can give us an insight into the pleasures of eating this.

Its a complete meal from what I hear. First you drink the juice (soup) then procede to the meatier parts. I have never had the pleasure and not sure I could. I too am interested in hearing the Pinoy take on this. Convince me I should try this. Then, maybe, just maybe. I would rather eat bill's dog I think. Well, not his personal dog but he has brought dog to our attention. Just another animal, but embryos seem to have a certain element of disgust for me. How did this come about? Maybe by accident? Someone boiled eggs and found a surprise inside? Anyone know the history? Is this really widespread or is it rare?

Balut is definitely widespread - I spent a couple of months traveling in the Philippines, and any time your [local] bus stops in a town, it's surrounded by vendors selling balut (amongst other more appetizing nibbles). It seems like a street food pretty much as typical as falafel or hot dogs or samosas or pizza or stinky tofu in other countries.

LostInAsia, I can understand why you 'don't get' sea cucumber. After all what's all the fuss about eating a giant sea slug which is virtually tasteless? 有什么好吃呢？Let me try and explain to you why I, like so many Chinese, love it.

The texture is the thing that gets people. It has a pleasurable smooth, spongy bite. And also, because it is neutral in taste but able to absorb the flavours of the food items it is cooked with, it is a highly sought after ingredient in tasty broths and stews. Visually it is unspectacular, but the anticipation of savouring that quivering translucent mass at the end of your chopsticks, culminates in undescribable satisfaction when it touches the palate. You might still not get it, but to me it is pure ecstasy!

pinkjeans, some of what you said I totally agree with!:

• a giant sea slug which is virtually tasteless
• the texture IS the thing that gets people. Or at least it's what gets me.
  
• smooth and spongy, yes. Pleasurable, no.
• "quivering translucent mass" is about right!
• and, yes, "when it touches the palate" the sensation is indeed "undescribable".

I do technically understand how the texture fits well with Chinese theories about cooking, and after reading an article about that, I was determined to try sea cucumber again and see if I felt differently... but, alas, I didn't. Ah well.

I do remain more enamored of the Chinese culinary tradition than of the one in my ancestral homeland, England!

I went to a dinner in Beijing where the host ordered a lot of exotic dishes. The restaurant was quite fancy. I think some of it was meant to shock us.I filed the menu somewhere but can't find it, but if I do I'll list it out.
From memory some of the dishes were:
1) camel paw
2) deer penis
3) snake
4) I think turtle may have been on there.
These were all served elaborately with very tasty sauces, or soups.
Anyway, we were supposed be full of vim and vigor after this meal.

Seems turtle is pretty popular in China. It's been a couple of years since I've been to China, but I used to see barrels of turtles and frog for sale at the outdoor markets.

I was served sea cucumber but didnt know what it was.  Suspecting it was some sort of vegetable, I picked it up with my chopsticks and put it whole into my mouth.

The sensation was so horrible, I let out and involuntry cry, almost spat it out, and felt very sick.

I didn't notice my Chinese companion try any.

I had balut a lot when I was young. You can get some from people selling in the streets and the egg is kept quite warm. When you crack open the top, you instinctively want to drink out the juice to stop it from spilling. Has a salty, savory taste to it, if I remember correctly. Anyway, then you proceed to take away the rest of the shell and eat the meatier parts. It's not all meat though and when I tried to eat one again on return to Philippines after being away for six years, I realized that it does afterall look like a baby chick. The meat is really soft and tastes quite good, but some parts have already formed and you can distinguish a head, beak, wings, legs, etc.It's also a tad crunchy if you encounter the beginnings of feathers. (Or perhaps I just got the more developed egg? I'm not sure if most eggs are like that..)

Is there a time period that is ideal to let the egg develop before cooking for food? Too long and bones and feathers would become an issue I think, not long enough and it would be too runny. :-)

Sea cucumber's texture is exactly what I dont like about it. Sorry. Turtle is good. Im not eating anythings whip. No apologies here. Camel toe, well I just dont know :-).