Fried Giant Insects on-a-stick, tarantulas, scorpions on-a-stick, centipedes on-a-stick, and other amazing foods you can see (and eat) at the annual Beer Festival in Dalian, China, photo © 2009 by Gail W. All rights reserved.
The other day I was online late at night Asia-time when one of my best pals from work sent me an Instant Message. A giant, drunken beer festival was taking place outside her apartment, as it had been for several days now. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get to sleep, but she wasn’t complaining. It was all part of the fascinating experience of living abroad.
Not to mention, the food at the beer festival!
what kind of food?
tarantulas
tarantulas??
tarantulas
no way
way. check your email
Sure enough, there in my inbox was a photo of tarantulas that you could eat at the beer festival. And centipedes. (On-a-stick.) And scorpions. (On-a-stick.) And some kind of giant insect’s bulbous butt. (On-a-stick.)
Oh my God, I thought. I’ve got to show these to the Queen of Foods on-a-Stick—my very own blog partner, QuoinMonkey!
So here you go, QM. I’m hoping you can pass these on to the Minnesota State Fair and get them queued up for next year’s menu of foods on-a-stick. Because if it doesn’t have at least six legs, four eyes, and a hairy butt, it ain’t gonna pass the exotic test no more.
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Photo printed with permission of my good friend Gail W., who I don’t believe tried any of the foods on-a-stick at the beer festival. (Chicken.)
ybonesy, Wow! Tarantulas, scorpions on-a-stick, centipedes on-a-stick. I have no idea if I would be able to even venture to take a taste of those foods on-a-stick. Would you?
Love the photograph. And thanks for thinking about us here in MN. Yes, getting closer to the MN State Fair. Can’t believe it’s August!
I wonder if any of those items would fly at the MN State Fair? Maybe a Chinese delicacy booth where people could sit down and try some of the annual Dalian Beer Festival foods. How long has your friend been living abroad in China?
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I would not! I would never, ever, ever, ever eat that. EVER. The older I get, the more squeamish I get. I can’t even stomach Shark Week without cringing or blatantly shielding my eyes.
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I’d have to drink a helluva lot of beer first before I put one of those things in my mouth! A bulbous insect butt? No way! It’s a really good thing I don’t drink beer!
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Yikes! I signed on today, the 1st time since I left for my family visit with Brant. He is already gone, but he would find this post totally cool. I am in agreement with Scaramastra, no way could I stomach this type of food, though personally, I find the food of other cultures to be interesting.
Scaramastra it’s true, (she IS squeamish) will have to admit, she won’t eat anything blue, especially blue M & M’s. I just saw recently that the dye used in blue M & M’s has been found to help in paralysis in animals. Go figure. But, scorpions, taratulas, centipedes? I think I’ll stick with the blue M & M’s!
Food in China on a stick, interesting… D
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I think I’m not hungry any more!
Amazing for us to believe anyone would eat that but I guess you eat what you have around. I guess. Okay, off to heat oil and find that tarantula in the closet!
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[…] This post was Twitted by bo_mackison […]
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My friend has been living in China since the beginning of the year. I bet she’s eaten a lot of very different kinds of foods but probably no insects. Although, I have heard that deep fried insects are kind of like eating popcorn, which I happen to be eating in the lobby of the hotel that I just returned to in Hanoi after being dropped off from our weekend in Halong Bay.
QM, this particular friend lived in another country for a couple of years before China. She is a fellow Gemini and (thus) very adventurous. I once wrote about a trip she and I took to Costa Rica years ago, where we got massages after a full day of hiking. That was my dirty foot post [LINK]. 8)
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Sounds like it’s unanimous. Corina, Bo, diddy, and Scaramastra will not touch these kinds of foods on-a-stick! Remember those reality shows where the people would eat all kinds of strange things? So hard to watch.
Yet I’m thinking we do eat some strange things here, too. Like chitlins and tripe. I think we used to have tripe once in a while for breakfast. Liver is kind of strange, too. Though I do like liver fried up once in a while. Haven’t had it since I was anemic all those years ago.
Can anyone else think of strange foods they ate growing up? I’d like to see an expanded list if anyone remembers anything. Some of these things came about because people were poor. Others I think were delicacies. Interesting to think about.
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ybonesy, oh, it’s that Gail! I do remember that story of the foot massages well. She sounds like she would be a good traveling partner. I love hearing about people who are travel adventurous. I feel so conservative by comparison. 8)
ybonesy, you had deep fried insects in the hotel lobby this week? And it tasted like popcorn? Actually, that makes sense to me. I bet these things are an acquired taste, depending on what you grow up with. I know growing up in the South, I came to love grits and barbecue hash and sweet tea and boiled peanuts, and all manner of deep-fried foods, things that some who grew up in the North just don’t have a taste for. But in the South, it was just part of the culture.
Looking forward to hearing about your boat trip to Halong Bay, Vietnam. This trip seems like it’s turning out to be one of your best yet. All that, and you are getting a lot of work done. You really are a true Gemini. 8)
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My parents would eat the strangest foods when I was young. My Dad would pickle beef tongue & pigs feet. I refused to try them! Other strange foods included fried rattlesnake & battered & fried beef brains, cut into bite size pieces. I did taste the beef brains, but immediately spit it into my napkin. Gross! Those are just a few of the foods that they considered to be delicacies, along with frog legs, which I did like. D
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I don’t think I’d be brave enough to give those a try.
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I know it’s a German tradition, and probably in lots of cultures I’m not that familiar with, but my father’s family learned to eat almost every available meat source available. Frugal people they were, who had to watch every penny spent. I’ve watched (but not joined) my father as he cooked and ate beef hearts and brains – sliced thin for sandwiches. Bread smeared with home-made horseradish for a bit of extra flavor. He did the tongue, pig’s feet, whatever. Even the tail!
He also loved stinky cheese- worse than limburger by far. So bad he had to wrap it in wax paper, tin foil, and several plastic bags before my grandmother would let him keep it in her refrigerator.
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ybonesy, you had deep fried insects in the hotel lobby this week? And it tasted like popcorn?
Ha ha, QM. No, I was eating popcorn in the lobby of the hotel and surmising that deep fried insects tasted like popcorn. 8) No, I’ll try a lot of different foods, and I love food from street vendors—we had these WONDERFUL pillow cakes from a street vendor in Hanoi. But I don’t generally eat the very exotic foods from other countries, especially China.
Vietnamese food is wonderful and pretty familiar to anyone who’s eaten in Vietnamese restaurants in the US. More variety, of course, in Vietnam, but not so many of the strange foods one sees in China.
Bo, my grandfather also loved stinky cheese, and man did it stink. I love it, too. And my grandparents ate head cheese and most parts of the animals they slaughtered. I think that’s why my mom has such food aversions–she lived on a ranch. She won’t even touch eggs.
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QM, the trip has been wonderful so far. I LOVE Hanoi. It’s such a culturally rich city. Halong Bay was beautiful. I’ve not seen many places that are that dramatic. Huge islands jutting out of the sea. And water the color of emeralds.
BUT, if you saw my Facebook status, you’d see I discovered that I get seasick (!!). Not so bad as to actually toss cookies, but I couldn’t eat the fabulous seafood dinner they had for us that night.
My equilibrium returned after a good night’s sleep (docked in the bay). I’d do it again, even with dizziness.
Oh, and I wanted to say, Gail *is* fun to travel with. She and I had a blast in Costa Rica, but that’s been about five or more years ago. We haven’t done any international travel together since then, but we always have lunch when she’s back in NM. I’m hoping I get to see her in Dalian some time soon. We’re two peas in a pod. 8)
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ybonesy, oh, it was popcorn in the lobby! Thanks for clarifying. We’ve got a Chinese restaurant here near one of our local movie theaters that serves some of the traditional Chinese foods. In fact, they have two separate menus — one that’s been more Americanized, one that is more traditional Chinese. I see people order off of both of them. On the Chinese menu, lots of alternative parts and ways to serve pork and chicken.
What’s a pillow cake?
Thanks diddy and Bo for adding your other strange foods. And Robin, thanks for stopping by. I wonder if people still eat those foods. Horseradish would really help the flavor, Bo. Good add to spread on the bread.
We’ve made our plans for the Fair this year. Not sure if we’ll be trying any of the new foods on-a-stick. But I’ll keep you posted as it gets closer. 8)
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Most fast food in China is served on a stick. You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a chicken leg or wing from a stick. QM would love it.
I won’t go into the things I have eaten from a stick. I try not to think about them. After enough beer you’re brave enough to try anything.
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…and lived to tell about it. Although, wait, you’re not telling stevo. We wanna know!! What have you eaten on a stick???
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I’ll be tame. Squid-on-a-stick is something I often enjoy. Meatballs, Tofu, shrimp, all on a stick. Tripe? Yes, and on a stick. My fave was beef tendon, a little unusual, but still on a stick.
I have selective memory loss regarding the more exotic foods I have eaten. Not remembering is some times good.
I would really, really, really, like a corndog. I’d make my own but getting ingredients is problematic. Should you make it to Hong Kong, YB, could you bring the materials?
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Stevo, what does the Squid-on-a-stick taste like? Beef tendon, hmmm. Well, it doesn’t sound much different than the beef jerky we eat here. Anything like it?
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QM: Alas, tendon is not anything like beef jerky, (that meaty and salty goodness). Imagine really crunchy Jell-o that tastes vaguely of beef and charcoal.
Squid-on-a-stick is wonderful. Most BBQ stalls on the street cover it in Xinjiang spices while grilling. Spicy. Squid-on-a-stick is often deep-fried. Not quite as tasty as the grilled variety.
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Mmm, grilled spicy squid. That does sound good. I used to like calamari when I lived in Spain, but it was always a sort of love-hate relationship with the texture. Now I’ve truly grown fond of squid since eating it (and versions—is cuttlefish squid?) in Asia. They do it up good in Vietnam.
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Next trip to Hong Kong, stevo, I’ll pack some Oscar Meyers over ice. Yeah, corn dogs with mustard…you just can’t beat them. I’m kind of sad that they sell them in the frozen section of most grocery stores in the US these days. They really shouldn’t be eaten anywhere that doesn’t offer a Merry-Go-Round and leashes with invisible dogs.
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[…] Our Minnesota State Fair post wouldn’t be complete without the annual foods on-a-stick list. Here’s the luscious lineup for 2009 along with a few photos from foods we tried last year. If you are looking for the location of specific foods at the Fair, here’s a link to their FoodFinder with a map of the Fair. (Oh, and check out ybonesy’s post on Chinese food on-a-stick.) […]
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[…] of specific foods at the Fair, here’s a link to their FoodFinder with a map of the Fair. The Minnesota State Fair runs through Monday, September 6th. From the 20,000 gallons of milk served […]
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