10 unusual foods from around the world

by Jessica Festa on

Who doesn’t love trying new and exotic foods when traveling? Maybe some spicy curries in India, a selection of savory tapas in Spain, or some authentic…Pig’s Blood Cake? Check out this list of 10 unusual foods from around the world and see if your perspective on trying international cuisine doesn’t change.

Fried Tarantulas, Cambodia

According to Victoria Brewood at Bootsnall, you can find this delicacy in the streets of Sukon, Cambodia, fried whole with their legs, fangs, and all. Apparently, they taste great pan-fried with a pinch of garlic and salt and have a crispy outside and a gooey inside.

Pig’s Blood Cake, Taiwan

This unique dish is prepared with sticky rice and hot pig’s blood. When the mixture becomes solid it is coated with peanut powder and cilantro then formed into a flat cake and sliced. This meal is usually dipped in various sauces such as chili sauce, hot sauce, or soy sauce.Haggis, Scotland

This Scottish dish contains the internal organs of a sheep, including the liver, heart, and lungs. Mix this with some chopped onions, raw beef or mutton’s fat, salt, and spices. Once this is ready, you stuff it into a sheep intestine as sausage and simmer inside the animal’s stomach. Dinner will be ready in 3 hours!

Drunken Shrimp, China

When hearing the name of this dish, I had kind of hoped it was a cute play on words of some kind. In reality, the name should be taken very literally, as these are shrimp that are actually stunned with strong liquor and then consumed alive. Not shockingly, there have been some problems with this meal of uncooked seafood as there is the health risk of Paragonimiasis, a food-borne parasitic infection.

Live Octopus, Korea

I can’t help but think of Fear Factor as I write this entry. Sannakji, as it is known, is an octopus that is prepared and cut while still alive. It is served while still squirming, and should be chewed well as the suction of the tentacles can stick to the inside of your mouth and throat.

Silkworms, China

This insect is cultivated and bred in factories and sold in local markets for cooking. While you can prepare them anyway you like, popular silkworm dishes include Crispy Silkworms and Silkworm Kebabs.

Bear Claw Stew, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan

Soup made from the claws of bears is a delicacy in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and is literally sold for hundreds of dollars. The bear meat in the stew is actually believed to be a health and sexual-performance booster. According to nerdygaga.com as well as factsanddetails.com, environmentalists are protesting the practice of making bear claw stew, as bears are being tortured in front of diners before being cooked, as it is said to make the meat taste better.

Casu Marzu, Italy

This decomposing cheese made from sheep’s milk is, according to Alka Sharma of Environmental Graffiti, full of squirming white worms. Casu Marzu is made when the cheese fly lays its eggs, which is usually about 500 at one time, and the maggots that hatch eat their way through the cheese. Because the digestive system of the maggots breaks down the fat of the cheese, it gives it a very soft texture. The key to eating this unusual food is that it must be eaten while the maggots are still alive and wriggling, unless you want a bowl full of dead maggots (this, apparently, is considered unfit for consumption).

Ying Yang Fish, China

This fish is unlike most seafood delicacies, as it is half dead, half alive. While the top half of the fish is uncooked and moving, the bottom half is deep fried and covered in sweet and sour sauce.

Corn Fungus, Latin America

Also known as Corn Smut, this food, which looks very similar to grey brain matter, is a “pathogenic plant fungus that causes plant disease on maize (corn)” and is often used as filling for quesadillas. According to Martha Mendoza on MSNBC.com, Corn Smut is actually good for you, as it contains protein, minerals, and other nutritional values.

How to: Climb the highest mountain in Hong Kong while on a layover

by Kyle Ellison on

Let’s face it. Nobody really loves sitting around airports on a long layover. Well, maybe there’s someone out there who does, but unless you’re a fan of long lines, excessively repetitive loudspeaker announcements, attempting to sleep curled around the inconveniently placed armrests, and being forced to buy overpriced everything, you probably aren’t one of those people. I suppose there are those who while on layovers enjoy the luxuries of business lounges and receive complimentary foot massages and free beer, although I would have no idea what that’s like because I have never been a member of such an elite club. Hence my notion that they dole out free foot massages.

So when I get am presented with a layover that allows enough time to get out into the surrounding region and explore, I literally jump at the opportunity. As one of the primary hubs for travel into and out of the Asian continent, throngs of casual and business travelers constantly pass through the Hong Kong airport en route to someplace else. If you, like me, are in no mood to sit and wait idly around, why not go and do something a little different next time, such as climbing one of the highest mountains in Hong Kong. While we here at Gadling recently presented you with a list of Top 10 Hong Kong experiences you could also choose from while on a layover, this particular adventure centers solely around hiking up Victoria Peak. As an added oomph to get out and explore, nearly all nationalities require no visa to visit Hong Kong, and visitors who arrive and depart on the same day are relieved of having to fork out the usual departure tax, so really, there’s no excuse for not getting out and doing something.One of the major tourist attractions in the region, “The Peak” as it is known stands 1821 feet tall and is actually only the highest mountain on Hong Kong island, not the entire country. Nonetheless, the view from the top looking out over Victoria Harbor and the sprawling Hong Kong skyline is well worth the trek.

The first step to climbing the mountain is of course to get yourself out of the airport. While there are options ranging from taxis to the popular Star Ferry, I feel that the Airport Express train is the most convenient option for reaching Hong Kong island, where it deposits you neatly at the sprawling Central Station.

After a 24 minute journey and a $23 round trip purchase, you suddenly find yourself transported from the marble floors of the international airport to the buzzing streets of the Hong Kong financial district. Though it’s easy to amble only down the main streets of the city, the beating heart of Hong Kong isn’t found in the Prada or H&M stores, but rather down the narrow side streets that swim under red lanterns and house restaurants that consist of a single plastic chair and one gas stove.

Though there are trams, minibuses, and taxis that all make their way to the famous view at the summit, those with the time would do well to stroll the market-strewn alleyways and hopelessly distracting sidestreets on a winding journey towards the top. Though there are few signs that lead the way, the ubiquitous stairs and steep hills point the only direction that a summit-seeker would logically head for: Up.

Once the makeshift butcher shops have given way to apartment complexes being renovated with bamboo scaffolding, the apartments eventually give way themselves to a concrete hiking trail and the forgotten sounds of the forest. It’s a 30 minute walk beneath a corridor of green ferns and vines you certainly won’t find in the airport, and for a brief moment in time it’s easy to forget you’re standing in one of the most heavily populated areas on the planet.

Finally, after a solid push up the steep urban trail, it would be nice to think the summit was a windswept rock cairn draped in Tibetan prayer flags only experienced by hearty explorers with with ice-covered beards. Although China may share a border with Mt. Everest, this is nonetheless still Hong Kong, and the only fitting thing to put atop the mountain would be a multi-tiered shopping mall with escalators and, just like the airport, overpriced everything.

For a $4 fee you can ascend to the viewing platform for the ultimate view of the city center, the airport where you would normally be spending your time an afterthought lingering somewhere hidden on the western horizon. Having conquered the commercially covered summit, all that’s left to do is either reverse your steps down the trail or catch the tram ($7) or a local bus ($1.25) back to the Central station

Total time away from the airport for climbing Victoria Peak: 3.5 hours. Now go sleep it off on the plane.

The Great Walls of China

by Sean McLachlan on


There was more than one Great Wall of China, a Chinese archaeology team has discovered.

Several portions of the wall are actually double, triple, or quadruple walls running closely parallel to one another. This was a common feature in many ancient fortifications because it made the position harder to take. Often the troops would be garrisoned between the walls for protection against surprise attacks from the rear. The land between the walls also offered a protected area for flocks and farmland to provision the troops.

The Chinese team found that the main wall was larger than the others. The investigation continues.

Several walls were originally built starting in the 5th century BC or perhaps earlier. Under the Emperor Qin Shi Huang in c.220 BC, the earlier scattered walls were linked together to make a continuous fortification to protect China from nomadic tribes to the north. The Great Wall was lengthened, added to, and rebuilt several times in later centuries. During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) there was a major expansion during which 5,650 km (3,511 miles) of wall were built. A recent survey found the entire wall, with all of its branches, runs for 8,852 km (5,500 miles). This figure will have to be reassessed now that parallel walls have been found.

[Photo courtesy Francisco Diez]

Photo of the day – Red lantern in China

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Sometimes it’s the simplest images that reach out and grab the viewer. Take today’s Photo of the Day, snapped by Flickr user Bernard-SD, of a red lantern snapped in Yunnan Province, China. The lantern’s glow is almost magical. Though Bernard-SD took this photograph in July, the image’s deep warmth strikes me as particularly appropriate for early September, as summer’s slow turn into fall announces itself more fully.

Eager to share your simple, straight-forward images with a broader audience? Submit your images to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr and we might just pick one of your images as a future Photo of the Day.

Sotheby’s: the museum where you can buy the art

by Sean McLachlan on

Have you ever looked at a work of art hanging on a museum wall and thought, “That would look great in my living room”? Well, at one of the best “museums” in London you really can take it home with you.

Sotheby’s is London’s oldest auction house, and has been a London institution since 1744. They sell everything from fine art to vintage wine to antique furniture. While most items are beyond the means of the average visitor, the galleries and auctions are open to the public. There are branches in London, Paris, New York, and Hong Kong.

When I lived in London I visited the Sotheby’s galleries regularly. They host constantly changing exhibits of art and antiques. Since the items mostly end up in private hands, this is your only chance to see them. I was a bit worried the first time I went in that I’d be given some cold English upper-class attitude. It was painfully obvious I wasn’t there to buy anything. Surprisingly, I was treated with respect, which is more than I can say about a certain antique shop I visited in Islington.

On one visit a few years ago there was going to be a major auction of Russian art–some medieval icons and a lot of Neorealism. As usual the items that would be going under the gavel were put on display. As I wandered around admiring the art, I found the crowd to be equally interesting. Hordes of Russians in Armani suits were on their cell phones calling buyers in Moscow, describing art and getting instructions on maximum bids. Watching all these rich Russians and their multimillionaire bosses I realized just how much the world had changed in the past twenty years.

So check out Sotheby’s. It’s not only a lesson in art, it’s a lesson in sociology.

[Photo courtesy Claus Hoppe]