here are the ten worst food practices aroundthe world! 10 – ying-yang fishthe ying-yang fish is a dish with its roots back in china. however, it has been banned in several countriesand is illegal in australia and germany, which means that if you’re there and you try tocook a fish that way, you’ll go to jail.
snake venom beer where to buy, aww! you wonder why? let’s take a look! well, someone thought that it would be justsuper awesome to show how much you care for
the customer who walked into your restaurantand prove to him just how fresh the fish you serve is… so it’s cooked while it’sstill alive. not only that you cook it, you deep fry itand while doing that, you have to be careful not to kill it! some chefs have come up with the genius ideaof wrapping the head of the fish in a wet towel and deep-frying it that way so it staysalive for longer. once the body of the fish is cooked but itsorgans are still well working, they serve it in front of the customer, who apparentlyis to happily indulge into eating a half-alive meal.
5-star review, here i come! psyche! 9 – ikizukurithe chinese got away on this one – it’s completely and 100% japanese! yet, it’s extremely controversial and again,banned and illegal in several countries. if you translate the name, it roughly means“eaten alive†which is pretty much self-explanatory. however, note that eating something raw isone thing; but eating something ‘alive’ is completely different. anyway, restaurants that offer ikizukuri havelarge fish tanks full with different types
of fish. a naã¯ve customer might be a bit shocked atfirst; it doesn’t sound that bad? you just pick a happy little fish – heythere, buddy – and then they fish it out and… ouch! it’s not only chopped right in front ofyour eyes, but the chef has to do it in a way without killing it – the trick is tohave it stay alive. professionals recommend doing three cuts onlywithout damaging internal organs. then, as if this is not bad enough, the chefwould reassemble it back together like a weird puzzle and serve it in a plate with some vegetables.
that way, you end up with a chopped-up andyet reassembled fish in your plate that is staring at you and is obviously as confusedas you are. do you see how much everyone is worried aboutkeeping the food fresh? i’d say a bit too much. yeah, serve my food de*d please. 8 – habu sakeanother japanese invention, habu sake is also known by the name habushu. the name comes from the venomous snake habuused for this process. in this particular case, an alcoholic liquororiginating from okinawa, japan, is used that
has been infused with some bit of a snakevenom. de-licious! the controversy around this drink is thatthe snake isn’t even killed beforehand. producers just shove it in a bottle and letit drown on its own in alcohol! some have been trying to “ease†the processby putting the snake on ice and removing its intestines after it passes out. then, they proceed by putting the snake in59% percent alcohol and afterward moving it to a bottle filled with liquor. when choosing to go with the second method,the distinctive smell of the drink, which
is mostly coming from the intestines of thesnake otherwise, is lost; apparently, a lot of customers get disturbed by that fact. even though such an extreme method is usedin its production, it’s still a very popular drink in asia. the habu snake can mate for as long as 26hours, so many people drink the habu sake with the hope that it will improve their,ahem…..yeah. i’d just probably recommend popping a viagra! 7 – drunken shrimpsince we’re talking about dunking animals in alcohol… here’s another ‘alcoholic’delicacy!
again, this one is widely popular in southeastasia and the whole point of it is for you to bite the head off of the poor shrimp, who’sat least only semi-conscious because of the alcohol. as the name itself applies, the shrimps arefirst put in ethanol or some other alcohol of choice and considering the fact that they’retiny, it takes less than a minute or two for them to get ‘drunk’. afterward, the alcohol is tossed out and thetiny shrimp are marinated in a sauce; since they are, technically speaking, ‘drunk’,they become thirsty – as far as a shrimp can become thirsty – and thus absorb a hugeamount of the sauce.
some prefer to actually cook the shrimp inaddition to marinating it, but the original recipe doesn’t include any cooking. they’re served covered with a lid, so theydon’t become too eager and jump into your lap. which totally brings this head biting thingonto a whole different level. 6 – sannakjimoving a bit further east and we’re now in korea, a place where sannakji originatesfrom. it’s a traditional dish where you’re serveda portion of live octopus tentacles that are still moving on the plate in front of you.
again, you have the option of choosing yourown octopus, most often a baby one; then, it’s quickly chopped up, sprinkled withsome sesame oil and seeds and served in front of you. if they wait even a bit longer, the tentacles,which are full of nerve endings and thus wiggling, stop moving – apparently, that ruins thewhole fun. yet, it’s worth mentioning that this isnot only traumatizing for the octopus itself but it can present a real choking hazard forthe one eating the dish. statistic says that five or six people dieeach year while eating sannakji. tentacles, even when removed from the body,have large sucking power and can stick to
your throat. talk about getting revenge, huh? 5 – balutbalut is a traditional street-food from the philippines that has been becoming more andmore popular in the west as well. the balut is a developing bird embryo, usuallyone from a duck – a chicken embryo can be used as well. then, the egg is boiled exactly like you’dboil an egg, and eaten straight out of the shell. apparently, some prefer to only use fertilizedeggs that are 18 days old, swearing it gives
the balut a whole different flavor. when cracked open, you can see the small bodyof the bird. another ‘fun fact’ would be that weirdlyenough, balut is usually served with beer! yep, you heard that right, the same as you’dget peanuts with your beer in a western pub, you might as well expect a balut with yourbeer in the philippines. even though, technically speaking, the birdinside isn’t alive-alive, this practice is judged upon for well, i mean, let’s befor real. they’re boiling a living creature. anyways, it’s popular and eaten not onlyin the philippines but in other countries
in asia as well. men eat it in the hope that they’ll improvetheir sexuality, while women are especially encouraged to eat it when being pregnant sinceit’s rich in protein. 4 – shark fin souplegend has it that the shark fin soup can be traced all the way back during the mingdynasty, meaning that it’s been on the tables in southeastern asia for a bit more than fourcenturies. there’s a story going around that an emperorwanted to show just how powerful and wealthy he is so he ordered every single person atone of his banquets a shark fin soup, which is of course, the appropriate way to showhow balling you are in asia!
if you’re still thinking, hey, this isn’tnot that bad, we eat fish every day – then hear this. all would be fine if the sharks were treatedhumanely, to say the least. however, shark finning is most often doneon sharks that are still alive and in the most brutal way. after cutting their fins off, they’re thrownoff back into the sea. and what’s a shark to do without its fin? the shark pretty much dies. the worst part is that the fin doesn’t evenadd any flavor to the soup – the flavor
of the soup is actually coming from the chickenbroth. the fin is added just to change the textureof the soup. i mean, really, this is just pretty much likepopping bottles at the club; you’re not doing it for the alcohol, but you’re doingit for the status associated with popping bottles at the table. except that popping bottles hurts no one exceptfeelings and wallets, and you know what, i’m totally fine with that! 3 – kopi luwaknicknamed as the most expensive coffee in the world, kopi luwak is a type of coffeethat goes through a rather special production
process – it literally goes through thebody of an asian civet. yes, you have that right – the coffee ismade out of poop. the civet is a cat-looking – or a monkey-looking? – mammal that lives in asia and decadesago, when the kopi luwak wasn’t as popular, the digested coffee beans could be found onthe forest ground. in 2012, it was said that the production ofthe coffee nicknamed ‘civet coffee’ may pose a potential threat to the civet numbers. not only are they kept in captivity, civetsare force fed with coffee beans only in order to speed up the production process – whenliving in nature, their diet is absolutely
much more diverse than this and includes fruits,reptiles, and insects. it’s known that the coffee has a bettertaste because of the digestive enzymes in their bodies, which is responsible for removingthe acidity from the coffee beans. the question that lingers is how much canthe coffee maintain the same level of quality if the animal is forced to go through theprocess, rather than chooses to do it by itself? 2 - foie grasat number two, we have a rather well-known and common dish not only in france, from whereit originates, but also around europe, usa, and canada. the foie gras is a meal made from the liverof a goose or a duck; however, not a regular
one but a fattened one. those who sampled the dish share that thetexture of the liver is fatty and buttery, unlike the one you can taste when eating a“normal†goose or duck liver. this is achieved by force-feeding the birdswith a metal pipe that’s pushed down their throats and through which corn mix is pumpedstraight into their digestive systems. and in order to prevent the bird opposingthis monstrosity – how dare they deny free food?! – they’re kept in tiny, dark cages. another sad fact is that when young, birdsare left to live a normal life, running around and doing the stuff every duck or goose shouldbe doing.
this isn’t out of humane reasons – farmersare doing this as to strengthen their esophagus so it can hold the mammoth influx of food. however, it still happens that some of themdie – and rather painfully – during this feeding frenzy. 1 – ortolanortolan is considered a real delicacy in the gourmet world and it has its origins in france;yep, you heard that right, no asians this time! however, france has been taking some legalaction to stop this horrible tradition. actually, ortolan is a type of a small birdthat’s around six inches long; pay attention
– there’s a catch in the size here. once the bird is captured in the wild, it’simmediately put in a dark room and blinded with a pair of pincers. then, it’s put in a cage so tight, thata six-inch bird isn’t able to move. after that, it’s introduced to a diet ofonly millet, grapes, and figs. see what they’re doing here? they’re trying to fatten up the poor birdand most often, the birds manage to become four to six times bigger. as if this is not enough, after the bird isfat enough, it’s drowned by being put in
brandy. as far as the actual cooking of the bird goes,the meat is so tender that they’re only cooked for ten minutes at the longest. when the time comes to savor the ortolan,you put the whole bird in your mouth with only its head sticking out. then, as if trying to hide your misdeeds,you cover your mouth with a napkin and bite
off its head, enjoying the rest of its tenderbody. it’s believed that this napkin traditionhas begun with a priest, who had much enjoyed his ortolan but was scared of god’s furyas well.
here’s what’s next!
