In honor of Freaky Friday (today's Friday the 13th!), I thought I'd pull together a list of 13 freaky foods. Even if you don't have Triskaidekaphobia (the fear of 13), you may be afraid of some of the things on this list. I know that there are a bunch of other freaky things out there (how about almost anything Anthony Bourdain eats on his show?), so if you think something's missing, tell us in the comments!
#13 - Bubble Tea
I personally love this stuff, however I've known quite a few folks that are freaked out by the tapioca inside of the tea. Come to think of it, I know a lot of people that are freaked out by tapioca in general...
#12 - Pimento Loaf
Processed meats are a bit freaky to begin with, but Pimento Loaf really creeps me out. Finely chopped pork and beef supplemented with pickles and pimentos? No thanks.
#11 - Harry Potter Bertie Bott's Jelly Beans
I know these are just meant as a novelty item, but seriously Vomit flavored Jelly Beans that actually taste like vomit? No thanks...
#10 - Squid Ink Pasta
I don't have a problem with this lovely pasta dyed with squid ink. However some folks find eating black pasta to be just a bit too freaky...
#9 - Edible Bugs
I've had a few of these, and while some of them are actually interesting to try, I just can't seem to get past the idea that they're still creepy, crawly bugs.
#8 - Scrapple
I've actually never had (or even heard of) scrapple, however quite a few folks were quick to add it to their freaky food list. Based on the definition, I can see why it makes the list. What's not freaky about a loaf of savory mush from cornmeal, flour and pork scraps?
#7 - Chou dofu - aka Stinky Tofu
This super popular Asian snack is one of the worst things I have ever smelled. Stinky Tofu is a fermented tofu dish that is very... um, fragrant. Some folks say it smells like stinky feet, baby poo or worse (use your imagination). Personally I don't get it (my mom has forced it on us several times a year), it's not tasty enough to get past the smell.
For the rest of our freaky food list, read more
#6 - Sweetbread
I'm actually a fan of sweetbreads, but many folks can't wrap their heads around the fact that they're eating innards. My biggest problem is actually the name.
#5 - Pickled Pigs Feet
The little piggy feet are salted and smoked like bacon and ham, but then are placed in a jar of hot brine and preserved for months. I don't know about you, but I just have a problem with eating feet.
#4- Chicken Feet
As I mentioned above, I have a problem with feet. This time it's a delicacy that is usually served in dim sum. Chicken feet are usually deep fried then boiled and marinated in a black bean sauce. However there are a ton of little bones. It's gross to look at and quite frankly, just not worth the effort.
#3 - Sea Urchin - aka Uni
When I asked the folks in the Sugar HQ to name a freaky food, 5 of them said Sea Urchin. Uni is served in many sushi restaurants and is actually the gonads of the sea urchin. It has a creamy texture and a yellow/orange hue. It's a bit like a firm custard, but I sort of think that it's like biting down on a squishy tongue.
Image Source
#2 - Black Pudding aka Blood Pudding/Sausage
Anything with the word "blood" in it deserves to be on the freaky list. Blood pudding - which actually has very little to do with pudding and a lot to do with blood - is a sausage made by cooking animal blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal.
Image Source
#1 - Balut
I love poultry and I love eggs, so I should love balut, right? I live by the "try anything once" motto, but even I might have a hard time chowing down on a boiled almost whole baby duck stuck inside of an egg.
Issa
It wasn't a freaky friday for me until I saw this list. I love Bubble tea, but I hope to never try the rest of the items.
1Thanks Yum, I am officially not hungry since you had to include images!!!!
2i'm not a fan of tapioca, but i love bubble tea! eww to everything else.
3Ugh - Unfortunately I think this is the first yum post that has ever made me nauseous. Great post though !
4I was fine until that last one. Wow.
5
at the the duck egg and blood one.
6Stinky tofu is so so so so so delicious!! You wouldn't know it from how it smells though...
7I eat scrapple, its yummy.
8oh and mine doesn't look like that. it's cooked through and looks dark, like the top of that slab of scrapple. no one cooks it like that!
9Why isn't durian on the list? Personally, I love durian, but it was REALLY hard for me to make myself try it the first time just because of the smell. I still don't think it smells wonderful, but I know it tastes wonderful!
10i've had blood sausage in argentina. it would have been so bad if it weren't for the weird consistency. that grossed me out beyond belief.
11Oh geez. This list just killed my appetite. Nicely done!
12balut sounds super cruel! :S
13what a fun post! I think scrapple is like livermush, very popular in the south
14life is too short to eat most of that stuff. SICK.
15a lot of this stuff is chinese/asian and since i am chinese, it's not such a big deal for me. EXCEPT for the BUGS. i am deathly afraid of bugs. DEATHLY AFRAID. i guess if any of you want to blackmail me, then you know exactly what to send over to my house.
16buuuuuuuut balut looks so barbaric...
17amusing list. i actually love bubble tea and like some chicken feet once in a while. i've tried uni once, tasted like a sewer. maybe it's an acquired taste.
18amusing list. i actually love bubble tea and like some chicken feet once in a while. i've tried uni once, tasted like a sewer. maybe it's an acquired taste.
19My grandpa used to tell me that tapioca was fish eggs and so, I never touched the stuff.
Wasn't until a few years ago that I realized it wasn't fish eggs and he just didn't want to share.
I still won't eat tapioca. It's still fish eggs to me.
20scrapple sounds like livermush. eww. the smell of livermush frying in the morning makes me feel hungover and gross.
21Ew. Nothing alive.
22I love bubble tea, especially the almond milk tea, ube or taro depending on what you call it and chicken feet but the rest of them...I'll pass, especially the balut. My boyfriend is filipino and I have to leave the room when his parents eat it lol.
23Bonne - I thought that tapioca was fish eggs for the longest time also! I don't know where I got that idea from. My family never really ate it anyway, so I never really had any reason to believe otherwise. It was only a year or two ago, when I was introduced to bubble tea, that I learned otherwise.
24Scrapple is classic PA Dutch breakfast fare, and it's delicious, despite the name. You all eat hot dogs right? No different; except that scrapple is much more delicious!
25I had pulled pork scrapple for the first time a few months ago and it was AWESOME! It sounds weird, but you have to try it.
26mollywog - it almost did make the list! Maybe it'll show up next friday the 13th!
27I love bubble tea! The first time I tried it, I though the bubbles were gross. Now I love it! It takes a while to get used to.
28i don't think bubble tea is that freaky of a drink anymore, its pretty popular and its becoming a staple drink to many people like a smoothie
29So I was hungry until I read this list...yuck!!
30Good list when you need a bust to stick to a healthy diet! Thanks!
31I absolutely love bubble tea. In St.Paul, MN there are these cafe type places that are called The Tea Garden and like the name implies they only sell tea, but most importantly bubble tea. I don't like the tapioca balls too much, but they also have they fruit flavored gellies too.
32Bubble tea is the BEST!
33I love bubble tea but I really can't imagine chowing down on bugs (the recipe for crickets and pupae grossed me out completely) or a balut.
34Scrapple is an Eastern PA thing. Even people in Western PA think they're weird.
35bubble tea and stinky tofu are really good.
36lol balut's good for your KNEES!!! thats what my uncles would tell us to get us to eat it and theyd slurp it n eat it with their san miguels
37true, bubble tea is mainstream now. the east coast calls it boba tea. i think every campus has a bubble tea place. even my local mall has a bubble tea stand. as for balut, i think it's a southeast asian thing bc the filipinos and vietnamese LOOOOVE them. taste mad good with some salt and pepper. and of course, no dim sum pass without some CHICKEN FEET!!
38i tried uni when I ordered a sushi platter.. not very good.. chicken feet - i ate .. not bad. balut is good its like hard boiled eggs.. dont know why everyones so anal about it. Its literally like chicken soup in the egg.. lol im not making sense but yeah its alright. I will however not eat bugs, or anything that smells.. food is suppose to smell good and taste good.
39bubble tea is amazing! my last job was working in a bubble tea (boba, whateva you call it) cafe! at the one i worked at, we made smoothies with fresh fruit (cut CONSTANTLY), coffee drinks with powders, milk or coffee solution, and of course, the tea. but yeah, some people are seriously weirded out by the texture change. you love it or hate it. a bunch of co-workers hate it and when i bring one to work, they cringe and tell me that just looking at it reminds them of the weird texture in their mouths. it's fun and delicious to me!
40I wonder why tripe didn't make the cut? Just the thought of it makes me want to hurl.
41uni is disgusting. my boyfee loves it, but i think it tastes like dirt.
42yuck! all of them sound disgusting!
43umm i think it's funny how majority of the food in this list would be chowed down by asians in nanoseconds. for example the baluts. i love them and yes i'm asian.
44Bubble tea freaks me out. I know it tastes good, I'm just always afraid I'm going to choke on a tapioca ball.
45Barf - but I like bubble tea & sweetbreads...xo
46i so agree with pinkflats...most of these items would be eaten by asians with no problem. i am asian and balut (as the filipino name - i'm vietnamese and we have a different name) is no different really than eating a cornish game hen (which is just a young chicken). this just happens to be a very very young chicken. it is a bit different and may seem strange to most but it's part of a national cuisine - as is how blood sausage is loved by those in the UK and uni is common for the Japanese.
47You guys have obviously not explored other very exotic food varieties from Southeast-Asia: there's GRILLED CHICKEN GUTS, GRILLED PORK GUTS, GRILLED PORK EARS, GRILLED CHICKEN LEGS, OX TONGUE.
I personally love grilled chicken guts, dipped in a vinegar dip with chopped onion and crushed peppers.
They're not that freaky once you get used to them. And how could tapioca be freaky? As a kid, I loved tapioca. Mmm, tapioca with caramel is so delicious. Caviar is even more gross.
Just for laughs:
Waiter: You might want to try our special dish tonight: chicken tongue in mushroom sauce.
Customer: Eww, how could anyone eat something that came out of a chicken's mouth? That's so gross! I'd have eggs, instead.
48ick. all but the bubble tea are off limits. I think I've had blood pudding once but no more! I've never tried bubble tea but I'd like to.
49Bubble Tea rocks!!!!!!!
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