Skip to content


10 36 e1560952800955.jpg?resize=1200,630 - 50 Exotic Food That Makes You Wonder If You Can Actually Eat Them

50 Exotic Food That Makes You Wonder If You Can Actually Eat Them

 

 

Attempting to understand different cultures aren’t always so easy but it’s even harder when you have to experience something that you’ve never done before. You might be surprised to find that embryos and fried tarantulas are quite the delicacy in some parts of the world.

While you may have never thought of these ingredients to be cooked as a meal, some countries consider it delicious. Here are 50 of the most bizarre and exotic foods from all over the world that will surprise you. Maybe the day will come for you to try them out – if you have the courage.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

1) Chicken Feet

Chicken feet are popular in East Asia, the Caribbean, South America, and South Africa. They are mostly made of skin and bones but are a little gelatinous in texture. They can be tasty when properly flavored.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Yi Chen

ADVERTISEMENT

2) Fried Brain Sandwich

Burgers are common in the U.S. but what about eating a cow’s brain? Fried brains are popular in the Central United States. They are less popular since mad cow disease and it’s illegal to serve cow brains that are more than 30-months-old.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Serious Eats

3) Haggis

ADVERTISEMENT

Haggis is a dish from Scotland. It sounds harmless and looks like it could be appealing until you learn that it’s sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs chopped up and mixed with onions, oatmeal, hard animal fat. It’s cooked inside a sheep’s stomach.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Henderson

ADVERTISEMENT

4) Escamoles

ADVERTISEMENT

Escamoles are another dish that sounds harmless until you learn what it is. Escamoles are ant larvae that is harvested from the agave plant. It’s big in Mexico and is known as “insect caviar.” It’s said to have a nutty and buttery taste.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

ADVERTISEMENT

5) Tripe

ADVERTISEMENT

Tripe is actually eating all over the world. It’s stomach lining of various animals, often cow. It has a spongey rubbery textures and looks like honeycomb. It’s often served with different kinds of sauces and chopping vegetables
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Ernesto Andrade

ADVERTISEMENT

6) Tuna Eyeballs

ADVERTISEMENT

Lots of people eat tuna, but not everyone eats tuna eyeballs. But they do in Japan. They scoop out the eyes and boil or steam them. They then season with garlic or soy sauce.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Orange Smile

7) Hakárl

ADVERTISEMENT

This Icelandic dish consists of fermented basking shark. While eating shark doesn’t seem too bad, its likely the fermenting that gives this dish its funky taste. Celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain said it was something one of the most disgusting things that he’s ever eat and he would never do it again. Atlas Obscura says it smells like pee and tastes like a strong cheese. Pee cheese anyone?
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Atlas Obscura

ADVERTISEMENT

8) Balut

ADVERTISEMENT

Wanna eat a baby duck embryo? Then you’ll love balut. It’s a fertilized duck egg with the embryo inside which is boiled alive. You eat it out of the shell with salt, chilli, and vinegar. You’re supposed to suck the liquid out of the egg the bite what’s inside, including the feathers, bones, and everything else.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: HostelWorld

ADVERTISEMENT

9) Bird’s Nest Soup

ADVERTISEMENT

This is a soup made from bird’s nests which is eaten in China. And bird’s nest are made from saliva. This is actually quite an expensive dish. A red bird next soup can cost up to $10,000.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

10)Khash

ADVERTISEMENT

Khash is a dis made of stewed cows feet and head. Yup, those are cows heads looking to the sky. Khash was a winter comfort food in the Middle East, East Europe, and Turkey but is more like a delicacy now.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Kamyar Adl

ADVERTISEMENT

11) Crispy Tarantulas

ADVERTISEMENT

Deep fried tarantulas were originally eaten out of necessity. Starving Cambodians ate them under the Khmer Rouge regime. Now that are a snack that is served throughout the country. They are supposed to taste a little like crab.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Rough Guides

ADVERTISEMENT

12) Drunken Shrimp

ADVERTISEMENT

Yes, these drink are actually drunk when they are eaten. The shrimp are eaten alive but they are stunned with a strong liquor right before they are eaten. It’s dish that is popular in China.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

13) Black Pudding a.k.a. Blood Sausage

ADVERTISEMENT

This dish is eaten in Africa, Americas, Asia, and Europe. It consists of congealed blood cooked with natural flavorings, suet, and breadcrumbs. It is then stuffed into a sausage skin.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Alpha

ADVERTISEMENT

14) Surstromming

ADVERTISEMENT

This Swedish food smells so bad that it has to be eaten outdoors. It’s fermented Baltic herring which is called surstromming. A study in Japan found that it is the smelliest food in the world.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

ADVERTISEMENT

15) 1000-Year-Old Egg

ADVERTISEMENT

The Chinese eat something call 1000-Year-Old eggs. But they aren’t actually that old. It’s an egg that is preserved in clay, ash, and quicklime for a few months. It ends up turning green, black and brown and has a jelly consistency. It supposedly smell like sulphur and ammonia but tastes like a regular boiled egg.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: surtr
ADVERTISEMENT

16) Gaeng Kai Mot Daeng

ADVERTISEMENT

Gaeng Kai Mot Daeng uses ants in different stages. It includes a mix of ant eggs, partial white ant embryos, a few baby ants. It’s supposed to taste kind of like shrimp.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: sastaticket.pk

17) Sannakji

ADVERTISEMENT

This dish aa raw slimy and squishy one. A chef chops up a small octopus in front of you and seasons it with sesame oil. Your dinner might still be moving on your plate when it’s served.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

ADVERTISEMENT

18) Jellied Moose Nose

ADVERTISEMENT

How does some nice jellied moose nose sound? No? Is it the jellied or the moose nose that turned you off. Jellied moose noise is boiled moose nose with onions and spices. All the hair is removed and it’s boiled again and sliced. It’s covered with a broth that hardens into a jelly.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Rare

ADVERTISEMENT

19) Jing Leed

ADVERTISEMENT

Jing Leed are fried grasshoppers. They are fried up in a wok and seasoned with salt, pepper powder, and chilli. It’s like a hollow popcorn skin with a little juice in the middle.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: HostelWorld

ADVERTISEMENT

20) Boshintang

ADVERTISEMENT

In the U.S. we love our dogs and treat them like family. In other countries, they eat dog. Boshintang is a Korean dish made of dog meat. It’s served in a soup with spring onions, dandelions, and spices and is supposed to bring health.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Rough Guides

22) Huitlacoche

ADVERTISEMENT

Moldy corn is considered a delicacy in Mexico. Huitlacoche is corn that suffers from corn smut. Corn smut is a fungus that makes regular kernels look like weird growths with blue and black spores. Huitlacoche, which means “sleeping excrement”, has a woody/ earthy flavor.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Rough Guides

ADVERTISEMENT

23) Rocky Mountain Oysters

ADVERTISEMENT

Don’t let the name fool you. These aren’t oysters at all. Rocky Mountain Oysters are peeled, flattened, and deep-friend bull-calf testicles.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

ADVERTISEMENT

24) Fried Spider

ADVERTISEMENT

Fried spider is famous in the Cambodian town of Skuon. They are marinated in MSG, sugar and salt and then fried in garlic. They are more meaty than grasshoppers but have a brown sludge in the middle which consists of innards, eggs, and poop.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: saritravels

25) Kopi Luwak

ADVERTISEMENT

One of the most expensive coffees in the world was pooped out of an animal’s butt. It’s call Kopi Luwak and is made from coffee berry beans that were pooped out by Civets, which are small mammals native to Southeast Asia. This stuff can cost up to $150 a pound.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

ADVERTISEMENT

26) Witchetty Grub

ADVERTISEMENT

Witchetty grubs can be eat raw or lightly cooked. When raw they taste like almonds. They taste more like roast chicken when lightly cooked.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Pinterest

ADVERTISEMENT

27) Stinkbugs

ADVERTISEMENT

We see things flying around the U.S. all the time, but you probably never thought you could eat one. But they are eaten in places like Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa. Apparently they taste like bitter sunflower seeds when they are prepared.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

28) Beondegi

ADVERTISEMENT

Beondegi are silkworms. They are a popular snack in Korea. They are usually boiled or steamed and seasoned lightly.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: istolethetv

ADVERTISEMENT

29) Shirako

ADVERTISEMENT

Shirako, which means “white children”, is a fish sperm sac. It usually comes from cod, angler fish, or a puffer fish. These sperm sacs are supposed to taste like sweet custard.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Trip Advisor

ADVERTISEMENT

30) Stargazey Pie

ADVERTISEMENT

This is a pie that has fish starring at the sky. It is tradition to eat it on Tom Bawcock’s Eve in the Cornish village of Mousehole, England. Legend says that the sailor rowed out to sea during high storms in December and came back with enough fish to feed all the starving residents in town.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Atlas Obscura

31) Deep Fried Locusts

ADVERTISEMENT

When life gives you locusts, fry them up. At least that’s what they’re doing in Israel. When they were plagued with swarms of locusts, they deep friend them covered them in chocolate and called them a snack.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: JPost

ADVERTISEMENT

32) Casu Marzu

ADVERTISEMENT

This is an Italian cheese has been deemed “dangerous” and is apparently illegal. That’s because it’s infested with maggots. The cheese come from Sardinia and is made of sheep’s milk. It is heated and then sits for three weeks to curdle. The crust is cut off so that flies can enter it to lay their eggs. Then the cheese is left in the dark for two or three months when the eggs hatch and the larvae try to eat their way out of the rotting cheese. The excretions that pass through the larvae are what give the cheese its soft texture and rich flavor. The cheese is to be consumed when the maggots are still alive.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Great Big Story

ADVERTISEMENT

33) Mopane

ADVERTISEMENT

Mopane is a dish of caterpillars found in the Mopane tree. They are highly nutritious and eaten in Africa. They are usually fried to be crispy and can be served with tomatoes, onions, and garlic. They are also dried or smoked.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Mopane

ADVERTISEMENT

34) Guinea Pig

ADVERTISEMENT

In some parts of the world, guinea pigs are kept as pets. But they eat them in South America. They can be served whole and roasted or put into a casserole. It’s supposed to taste like rabbit.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: HostelWorld

35) Starfish

ADVERTISEMENT

Starfish can serve as a meal in places like China. It is fried so it gets nice and crispy. You’re supposed to break off it’s leg and peel open the skin to get at the green colored meat inside.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: HostelWorld

ADVERTISEMENT

36) Dried Lizards

ADVERTISEMENT

Dried lizards are big in some Asian cultures. They are often put in soups to add extra flavoring. They are believed to have medicinal properties and are also infused with alcohol for years to extract these medicinal properties.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: List 25

ADVERTISEMENT

37) Southern Fried Rattlesnake

ADVERTISEMENT

Lots of people will steer clear of venomous rattlesnakes. But in the Southwestern United States, they’ll sometimes eat them. The meat is boiled off their bones and then dipped in battered before they are fried.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: HostelWorld

38) Dragon in the Flame of Desire

ADVERTISEMENT

The Chinese have given this dish an elaborate name. Don’t let that fool you. That’s a giant roasted yak penis on a fancy platter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Brought In Time

ADVERTISEMENT

39) Cobra Heart

ADVERTISEMENT

Ok now, this one is insane because the way it is served. In Vietnam, they will slit open a live cobra and pull it’s heart out. Then they pour its blood in a shot glass and sink the heart inside. Then you knock it back like you’re not eating a beating heart floating in blood.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: HostelWorld

ADVERTISEMENT

40) Fugu

ADVERTISEMENT

Want to take a gamble with your life while eating dinner? Try the fugu, which is blowfish. It’s a Japanese delicacy and one of the most dangerous foods in the world. It’s filled with so much toxins that it can only be prepared by expert chefs who have trained for at least two to three years and have a license to serve it.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: bookmundi
ADVERTISEMENT

41) Gabul

ADVERTISEMENT

South Koreans make a dish called Gaebul, also known as penis fish. But it is neither. It’s actually a marine worm. It’s eaten raw and alive in Korea and served sliced while it’s still alive and moving. It’s dipped into a vinegar-like sauce.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: bookmundi

42) Lou

ADVERTISEMENT

The name is cute but a bowl of blood. Lou is a soup of raw pig’s blood mixed with other foods and spices. Apparently it tastes like creamy whole milk.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: bookmundi

ADVERTISEMENT

43) Soup Number Five

ADVERTISEMENT

It should be named sex organ soup. That’s because Soup Number Five is made from bull testicles and bull penis. It is believe to be an aphrodisiac in the Philipines.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Joeel

ADVERTISEMENT

44) Muktuk

ADVERTISEMENT

Muktuk is a dish popular in Greenland. It’s a traditional Inuit dish of frozen whale skin and blubber. It’s served raw or pickled.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Pinterest

45) Fruit Bat Soup

ADVERTISEMENT

Fruit bat soup is a delicacy in Micronesia. The bat is boiled and served in a gingery and salt broth. The soups are becoming less popular since bats are used for pollination and pest control.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Arts From The Darkness

ADVERTISEMENT

46) Uni

ADVERTISEMENT

In places around the world, including the U.S., live urchins are pried open so people can eat their fleshy insides. But people are specifically eating their gonads. The urchin is often still moving when eaten.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Thomas Dahl/21Food

ADVERTISEMENT

47) Blood Clams

ADVERTISEMENT

Blood clams contain lots of hemoglobin which makes blood red and they are filled with the stuff when you open then. You boil them for 20 seconds and then eat raw. Blood comes spilling out when you eat them.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Alastair Bathgate

ADVERTISEMENT

48) Kiviak

ADVERTISEMENT

Kiviak is a traditional Inuit winter dish in Greenland. It’s dead birds that rot inside seal skin. Whole dead auks are packed into seal skin with feathers and all. The skin is sewn and sealed with fat to repel flies. It’s placed inside heaps of stones to keep air out. The birds ferment in three months and are eaten on birthdays or weddings in the winter. The seal skin makes everything soften so the entire bird can be eaten feathers and all.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Gizmodo

49) Dragonfly

ADVERTISEMENT

Dragonfly is eaten in Indonesia and China. It gets boiled or fried. It is supposed to taste like soft shell crab.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Izismile

ADVERTISEMENT

50) Akutaq

ADVERTISEMENT
Akutaq is also know as Eskimo Ice Cream. But there is no cream in this dish. It is made from reindeer fat, seal oil, freshly fallen snow, berries, and ground up fish.
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Izismile

ADVERTISEMENT

Posts

momoa dad.jpeg - 15+ Pictures And Stories Of Jason Momoa Before And After He Became A Dad
worldsmemes2

15+ Pictures And Stories Of Jason Momoa Before And After He Became A Dad

January 13, 2023
rhea.jpeg - 20 Rarely Known Things About Mark Wahlberg And Rhea Durham's Marriage
worldsmemes2

20 Rarely Known Things About Mark Wahlberg And Rhea Durham’s Marriage

January 13, 2023
women natural gray hair grombre 26 5ca5a6e8890d6  700 e1565799552729.jpg - 30 Stunning Looks Of Women Who Ditched Dyeing Their Grey Hair
worldsmemes2

30 Stunning Looks Of Women Who Ditched Dyeing Their Grey Hair

December 25, 2022
pranks.jpeg - 50+ Hilarious Pranks By Couples That Spices Up Their Relationship
worldsmemes2

50+ Hilarious Pranks By Couples That Spices Up Their Relationship

December 21, 2022
pranks.jpeg - 50+ Hilarious Pranks By Couples That Spices Up Their Relationship
worldsmemes2

50+ Hilarious Pranks By Couples That Spices Up Their Relationship

December 13, 2022

Pages

  • lifehacksforu

[rsnippet name="sitename" multi-site="true"] Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy   [rsnippet name="termsofservice" multi-site="true"]   [rsnippet name="editors" multi-site="true"] [rsnippet name="naver-post" multi-site="true"]