Strange Foods I've Eaten

I live in NYC and I love to eat. New York has lots of great ethnic food.

Weird food number one: Jellyfish. I've eaten jellyfish in a lot of Chinese restaurants. When you order jellyfish, the waiter looks at you with respect. At one place, the waiter said "OH! You like CHINESE food". Jellyfish is usually served cold, with a light sesame based dressing. It doesn't have much flavor, but it has a nice crunchy texture.

I don't know that I would go out of my way to eat it, but it's nice, once in a while.

Weird food number two: Eel. I love eel. I love it in sushi, and in unagi don (which is broiled eel over rice). I like smoked eel when I can get it, but that's rare. I like baby eel, but it costs a fortune, so I don't eat it.

Weird food number three: Snails. Also known as escargot, these are popular in France, and are typical served baked with garlic butter. Almost anything would taste good baked in garlic and butter, and snails are no exception. But snails do have a taste of their own, under the garlic, and they have a unique texture that is very rich.

Weird food number four: Octopus. Octopus is another food that I love in numerous ways. I love it in sushi and sashimi. I love it in pulpo a ala gallega, which is boiled octopus with paprika and salt and oil. I love otafuku which is fried chopped octopus. Octopus has multiple textures, the muscle is chewy and dense, the suckers are slippery. Its great stuff.

Weird food number five: Squid. Is this even weird any more? Fried calamari (that's squid) is on so many menus! But I like it raw, or broiled or boiled. Stewed squid is also great stuff.

Weird food number six: Live shrimp A lot of sushi involves raw fish (although sushi refers to the rice, and needn't involve fish at all). But in this dish, the shrimp is still moving. It's a weird sensation, I gotta say.

Weird food number seven: Sea cucumber. I've only had these in Chinese food, especially in hot and sour soup. Another delicate flavor with an odd texture.

Weird food number eight: Sea urchin. We get even! Sea urchin is most common as sushi in Japanese restaurants. It's very rich and unctuous. It is also great in pasta sauces, where it melts and oozes all over the noodles.

Weird food number nine Salmon eggs. Salmon eggs are round balls, translucent orange, and much larger than the sturgeon eggs that come in caviar (also much cheaper than caviar). It's yet another food that is most common in sushi, but is also good in other form. It's great mixed in with scrambled eggs.

Weird food number ten: Poi. An Hawaiian specialty of mashed taro root. I amazed some Hawaiians by asking for seconds on this!