I always thought that if I ever tried eating bugs, it would be on a dare, for a ton of money. Then last weekend I found myself at the Donghuamen Night Market with a CBS crew, trying centipedes, silkworms, and other odd critters for a CBS Early Edition segment. (More photos following the video.)
You can also see the video on CBS’s site.)
In the past few weeks, international TV stations and reporters have increased tenfold around Beijing. And more than a handful of media outlets have pounced on the fact that the Wangfujing and Donghuamen snack streets sell some of the weirdest things to put in your mouth. Beijing Boyce is even documenting the scorpion-on-a-stick love affair with a running tally of stories this month. Locals and expats may snicker, knowing full well that nobody eats this stuff but tourists. But at some point everyone has been equally awed at seeing the critters for the first time.
CBS correspondent Jeff Glor was supposed to be the one sampling all the “snacks”, but I ended up eating my fair share. So if the video wasn’t enough, enjoy the pictorial tour, complete with tasting notes. I ate this stuff so you don’t have to.
These are the starfish that in the video I said tasted like saltwater eel. They basically took the entire thing and deep-fried it, then whacked it open so we could eat the insides. You can also bite into the shell, like an older gentleman nearby did.
Scorpions were simply crunchy, like the tiny little bits that end up in the bottom of your french fry carton. Didn’t try the beetles. Did I mention that nobody in Beijing eats bugs unless they’re capturing the moment on film, just to disgust their friends back home?
At the night market, the vendors slice up cow’s stomach and boil it with some broth and vegetables. While I didn’t have it at the market, I definitely have eaten this at some point in my life (out of sight, out of mind.)
As expected, silkworms were pretty disgusting. Think rotten, overcooked scrambled eggs.
In my opinion, the centipedes were the worst. This was one instance in which the deep-fry-everything-to-get-out-any-bad-taste philosophy failed. It was almost bitter.
One guess what the two skewers on the right are.
i love that, “your smelling a lot of oil cooking a lot of strange animal parts all at once…” i laughed. good stuff!
That was so funny–I can’t imagine having to eat those things. You did a nice job of hiding your disgust. :) Congrats on making the CBS news.
I actually love cow stomach, it is a delicacy of the Italian (Rome) kitchen, trippa alla romana… You can buy the meet already cooked, then my mother makes a good tomato sauce and put the thin sliced tripes in it to absorbe the flavours. She also puts some leaves of fresh mint in it and some spicy red pepper :). It it served with a generous amount of freshly rasped pecorino cheese.
But I seriously doubt whether the bugs would taste as good if cooked this way ;)
we had roasted silkworms in korea – apparently tasted like chicken?! alathough i’ll have to try them with my eyes closed. they remind me of hissing roaches. the starfish, reckon i can handle it and the cow’s stomach too since i pretty enjoy pig’s stomach. BUT no beetles or scorpions please. even if it’s for a lot of money. BLEAGH! gross.
you’re very brave diane :) kudos to u.
We also have this in Bangladesh. They are usually eaten as a dry curry where cumin, coriander, turmeric, onion, chili powder and ginger garlic paste along with some whole cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf is fried and then the very well cleaned par boiled bite size pieces of cow stomach is fried over low heat until it is almost half crispy. I was apprehensive when I first tried it but it did taste surprisingly good!
yay for eating weird stuff (i don’t know that i’d ever be brave enough), but i’m really leaving a comment because i just read your tagline “1.3 billion people must be eating something right” and laughed :) thanks for making my morning
Other than the starfish i dont think I would have tried anything on there. Bravo for you! The weirdest thing I ever ate were “Rocky Mountain Oysters” (pig testacles). They were actually quite tastey.
Great post and video. I saw something similar on NBC’s Olympic coverage. What I’m curious about is how they handled the bugs without getting stung or bitten (centipedes, scorpions, and bees?). I’ve had chili fried crickets in Oaxaca which are actually pretty good. But those centipedes, eh, no thanks.
You’re famous!
Wow.
My brush with the Early Show was leaving the house at 4am for the CBS studios to do “food styling” for my then boss, who was doing a live segment. Turns out food styling means hand-holding, abuse-taking and getting wrinkles out of a skirt-and-sweater set with a steamer.
This is very awesome. Photos very impressive as well.
MarinaV – The trippa alla romana sounds awesome. No, bugs don’t taste good cooked in any way…the best you can hope for is a neutral taste and crunchiness. That’s why I only try them once every 26 years.
diva – Silkworms were one of the worst. Squishy, dark, scrambled egg texture.
Sarah – Thanks. That tagline doesn’t really apply to most of the stuff in this particular post, though. :)
Elise – Yeah, I’ve also wondered how (and where) they get the bugs. Some of the scorpions were still alive and fighting with each other, when with a skewer stuck through them.
You are SOOO cute Diana! Love the video.
I THINK the skewer on the farthest right is of chicken testicles. hahah. your entry brightened up my sunday morning.
Preserved Duck Egg is delicious. Chicken Feet ain’t so bad either.
How very Survivor-esque of you. No matter what the amount of money, I think I’d have to be quite inebriated or starved to eat any sort of insect. I’d love to be open to trying all sorts of new things, including traditional foreign cuisine, but I’m just not entirely positive that I have the stomach for it – power to you!
Great post and video. I saw something similar on NBC’s Olympic coverage. What I’m curious about is how they handled the bugs without getting stung or bitten (centipedes, scorpions, and bees?). I’ve had chili fried crickets in Oaxaca which are actually pretty good. But those centipedes, eh, no thanks.
I THINK the skewer on the farthest right is of chicken testicles. hahah. your entry brightened up my sunday morning.