| I have eaten some weird and wonderful dishes | | | | I say aware of rather than ate because even |
| around the world but some of the more | | | | me with my cast iron constitution couldn't |
| interesting concoctions have been served up | | | | stomach what I am about to describe to you. |
| to me in China. | | | | Anyway I am not sure if it's just a popular |
| | | | folklore or if people really did this. I am |
| A particularly interesting delicacy I ate | | | | sure it must be illegal now, if its not it |
| some years ago consisted of Cow's bronchial | | | | should be! |
| tubes - the airways between the cow's lungs | | | | |
| and windpipe (gruesome!) in a light white | | | | Legend has it that, particularly in the |
| wine sauce. | | | | southern parts of China, people had a |
| | | | specially designed ritualistic table with a |
| The appearance of a plate full of macaroni, | | | | hole in the centre, just big enough to take |
| the taste of nothing but the white wine sauce | | | | the upper part of a Monkey's head. |
| and the consistency of over-cooked calamari, | | | | |
| you could describe this dish as the original | | | | Apparently the ritual consisted of capturing |
| Chinese chew recipe! | | | | a live Monkey and securing it with it's head |
| | | | wedged up in to hole in the centre of the |
| Another time I was served with a plate of | | | | table. The next step in the ritual was to |
| vermicelli with 20 or so delicately arranged | | | | trepanne the top of the live monkeys' skull |
| deep-fried crispy scorpion complete with | | | | off and pour boiling water into the Monkey's |
| sting! | | | | brain. |
| | | | |
| The trick to eating this particular delicacy | | | | People sitting around the table would then |
| was to convince myself it was nothing more | | | | proceed to eat the braised Monkey brain with |
| than a prawn and all I had to do was to pick | | | | chopsticks directly out of the Monkey's |
| it up with my chopsticks and slip it into my | | | | skull. |
| mouth. | | | | |
| | | | I did warn you it was gruesome - it can't |
| Actually once I had said to myself "it's a | | | | possibly be true, can it? |
| prawn, it's a prawn" 20 times this was not | | | | |
| such an ordeal and basically the texture was, | | | | Fortunately the dishes that we are more |
| well, just crisp! and the only taste was of | | | | familiar with are not quite so outlandish and |
| the oil it had been fried in, not so much of | | | | use much more traditional ingredients. There |
| a Chinese chew, more of a Chinese crisp! | | | | are many easy Chinese recipes on the Chinese |
| | | | food menu, just as well really because I |
| But Cow's bronchial tubes and deep fried | | | | don't know about you but I think I must be |
| crispy scorpion are not the most gruesome | | | | part Chinese as I love the food and all about |
| dish I am aware of. | | | | the place. |
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