WARNING: This post contains disturbing images. Around the world today, people of all races and creeds eat some of the most disgusting things you can imagine. This is a list of the ten most disgusting things that people eat. Considering the least disgusting thing is poo-related, if you are squeamish, you may not want to read on. The list is, of course, from my personal perspective which is western. If you know of any worse or equally disgusting foods, be sure to mention them in the comments.
10. Kopi Luwak
There is no beating around the bush on this one – Kopi Luwak are coffee beans that come from Civet (a cat sized mamal) poo. The animals gorge on only the finest the ripe berries, and excrete the partially-digested beans, which are then harvested for sale. Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $120 and $600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and United States, but it is increasingly becoming available elsewhere. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process.
9. Ox Penis
In Western countries, Ox Penis is usually dried and sold as dog treats, but in many Oriental nations, they are commonly eaten by humans. The penis is generally cooked by steaming or deep frying, and can also be eaten raw. Some westerners compare the tastes of some penises with overcooked squid.
8. Bird Spit
The nests in question here are produced by a variety of Swifts, specifically Cave Swifts who produce the nest by spitting a chemical compound that hardens in the air. The nests are considered a delicacy in China and are one of the most expensive animal products consumed by humans. It is generally served as a soup but can also be used as a sweet. When combined with water, the hard nests take on a gelatinous texture. This is one that I have eaten myself, on a trip to Hong Kong and I included it on the list of Top 10 Luxury Foods. My experience of the nest was that it tasted slightly musty and had the texture of snot. It is probably the only pudding in my life that I could not finish!
7. Caterpilla Fungus
Image from Weirdmeat.com
Caterpilla Fungus is a species of parasitic fungus that grows on insect larvae. The fungus invades the body of the Thitarodes caterpillars, eventually killing and mummifying it. The dark brown to black fruiting body (or mushroom) emerges from the ground in spring or early summer, always growing out of the forehead of the caterpillar. The fungus is commonly used as a Chinese or Tibetan medicine where it is used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for a variety of ailments, from fatigue to cancer. It is also served in soup (as you can see in the image above).
6. Rats
Rats are surprisingly common food in some parts of the world. In North Korea they are eaten because there is often little else to eat in the villages. They are generally field rats rather than the city rats that most of us are familiar with. They are described as being tough and stringly with a taste like chicken (surprise!) Recently Reuters had this to say:
Live rats are being trucked from central China, suffering a plague of a reported 2 billion rodents displaced by a flooded lake, to the south to end up in restaurant dishes, Chinese media reported.
You can read the full article here.
5. Monkeys Brains
This is disgusting primarily because of the very high risk of contracting fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other similar brain diseases. In parts of China, the monkey’s brain is eaten raw. While it is most likely an urban legend1, some people claim that monkeys’ brains are, or were, eaten from the head of a live monkey. Here is a common description:
The monkey’s head was supported by its neck in a bracket, two pieces of wood with a semicircular hole on each side such that when you put them together, they form a complete circle around the animal’s neck, allowing the head to be exposed above the plank. The hair around the head is shaven with a shaving razor. A small chisel and a hammer is used to quickly chisel a circle around the crown, and the top part of the skull is removed. A teaspoon is used to scoop up the brain, which is immediately eaten. This has to be done before the monkey dies.
And here is an article from The Straight Dope talking about this alleged practice.
4. Spiders
Image from Weirdmeat.com
These spiders from Skuon in Cambodia are similar to North American Tarantulas. They are bred in holes in the ground especially for eating and are deep fried. The texture is described as crispy-chewy and some say it tastes similar to crab. Like Tarantulas, these spiders can bite. They were a regular survival food of the Khmer Rouge. The photograph above is an actual photo of one of the spiders ready to be eaten. Here is a rather unfortunate description by Michael on Weirdmeat:
The taste itself is not strong, it’s the cripsy-chewy texture that is most appealing. Make sure you have some paper napkins, as the black juice from these is greasy and it doesn’t look good on your goatee.
(I had to write this item with my eyes closed.)
3. Bee Larvae
Image from Weirdmeat.com
Bee Larvae is eaten in China and Japan (where it is called hachinoko). Hachinoko became popular years ago when country people, deprived of fish and meats, turned to other wildlife in search of protein. The larvae are cooked in soy sauce and sugar and taste mildly sweet with a crumbly texture. These days, it is mainly a nostalgia item at parties. It makes a grand entrance in the festivities, and the older folks grin with expectation. The actual task of eating hachinoko, however, is not nearly so exciting.
2. Balut – Duck Fetus
Balut is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. They are considered delicacies of Asia and especially the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors at night in the regions where they are available. They are often served with beer. Michael, from WeirdMeat, describes the experience thus:
After you choose what kind you want, the vendor grabs them piping hot from the basket and passes you a little stool, salt, and a vinegar-onion sauce. You hold the hot egg and flick carefully but forcefully at the top of it with your middle finger. It cracks a bit and you gently remove a small hole from the top, so you can sip the savory broth before removing the whole shell. I agree that the 18-day one is better than the younger ones. You might come across some small chunkies but it’s usually just eaten all the way through, in about 3 mouthful bites. You can see feathers, head, wings, and skeleton forming, but it’s basically an extra-chewy easter egg.
Fertilized duck eggs are kept warm in the sun and stored in baskets to retain warmth. After nine days, the eggs are held to a light to reveal the embryo inside. Approximately eight days later the balut are ready to be cooked, sold, and eaten.
1. Snake Blood and Bile
This is less a food than a medicine, but it is so disgusting that it warrants a place on the list. In Central Jakarta, a man who calls himself the Cobra man specializes in preparing blood and bile for medicinal uses. Typically, he cuts off the head and drains the blood into a glass of arrack. He adds the bile and serves the drink as a treatment for respiratory ailments, skin problems, aches or indigestion. It is also said to improve a man’s stamina and sex life. Drinking the blood straight from a snake can also be done as an act of bravery or manliness. In defense of the blood eaters, I should remind everyone that pigs blood is very commonly eaten in most European nations in the form of black pudding or blood sausage.
Sources: WeirdMeat, Wikipedia
1. In bold so the skim readers won’t yell at me in the comments for referring to an urban legend as fact.
Balut is chicken. n_n
i dont like it either. Some parts of it look like pubic hair.
nice list..I travelled all ova tha place and Ive ate stuff like: Ducks head, horse intestine, horse sushi, ostrich sandwich, chicken heart, evry part of a pig and sheep,fried scorpion, fried cockroach. I find it pretty cool that diff cultures figure out how to eat all this stuff. U gotta realise that in some places they have to eat all the parts of an animal to make the catch worthwhile. That bein sed i wudnt try the monkey brain, but my gf has, and she sed they bring a black box and open the top lid, where u can see the monkey brain jiggling and still alive, and then while the monkey is tied in the box and screaming they pour hot soup on the brain and eat gracefully whilst discussing world politics and things of that nature. Damn us human beings keep it gangster. But im still interested in eating new stuff, especially meat becos the protein is gud and eating a whole deer from head to toe makes me feel a lil bit like genghis khan. One of my friends who lived in africa sed that once he ate tiger meat!? damn i wud like to try that but im sure it wud giv the nature reserve people a heart attack. Ne1 else here tried ne tiger?
in some part of africa there are people who made soup from human skeleton… they crushed the bones to powder and cooked it…. also in some parts of asia… dinuguan (from the root word dugo which means blood especially pig`s blood) is a common meal. it`s not only disgusting but it`s also a
health hazard !!!!
hey i call those who eats monkey brain as “UNGGOY”!
monkeys are almost like humans, its like eating your
own brain!!!!DAMAK
jc wrote:
in some part of africa there are people who made soup from human skeleton… they crushed the bones to powder and cooked it…. also in some parts of asia… dinuguan (from the root word dugo which means blood especially pig`s blood) is a common meal. it`s not only disgusting but it`s also a
health hazard !!!!
Jc with a small “c”! for your info, dinuguan is a great delicacy and its not disgusting, maybe your only saying it
because you are some kind of a religious group member who are
not allowed to eat those kind of foods! yuck!
2 was just horrible!
jc – you’re a liar and so is your friend. tigers don’t live in africa, only asia moron!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger
sorry jc that comment was for tai
My motto is, I will try anything once that doesn’t me puke at the site or smell of it. And since nothing above make me sick looking at it and I haven’t barfed since 1997, I think I have a LOT of things to try.
My family is a regular American melting pot, and at holidays and reunions everyone brings something new “just to try”. I’ve enjoyed some insects many of my friends would squirm at, I love dairy but I draw the line at bugs invading my cheese!
I’m sure my grandfather served me every bit of a pig, from headcheese to pickled feet. I hate chitterlings though and always did as a child.
Oh my, No. I would rather drink my own blood. I could never. I can live a good long time on water (or beer
), but not these. Uh uh. No way.
I am italian and I just visited Iceland.
I would reccomend to add Hakarl to the list.
In short: shark meat buried for months so to clean it from acid uric, then hanged for a long period. It stinks enormously bad and the taste is not that good either. In many sites on the internet you’ll find that it is considered the worst food ever.
Bye !
Actually…number 8..is supposed to be really good…..I’ve never tried it in my life but I think my parents have at least once. I’d like to try it though.
Dinner tommorrow.. Got to make a list now.. anyone know where i can get a monkey?
Anyone hear of this: – my philippino colleague just told me about it – they feed a cat some type of noodles, then swing it by the tail until it vomits, then make soup from the vomit…? First they make sure the cat has cleansed its system by drinking only water for a few days…either way…eeeeeuw!
I like to try strange and exotic foods. I’ve eaten puffadder; curried fruitbat; turtle; sooty tern eggs, penguin eggs, shark, crocodile; warthog; sea urchins; giant clam; rabbit; horse; frogs legs; escargot; mopani worms, and even dog (although I didn’t know it at the time)…but all quite tame compared to List 1 to 10!
Quite lame that this list includes rats… It was very common in Europe, especially during the World Wars. My grandfather told me he ate them sometimes when the foods were scarce and they tasted yummie! I would include cockroaches and large mealworms as they are eaten in Africa. ugh. And the larvae-cheese of course. Incredible what some people eat.I think I would try the surströmming, if you look at the Wiki article and it’s prepared in a loaf of bread with potatoes and onion it does’t seem that bad… The duck fetus I would’t try. Anything that isn’t born yet should not be eaten. You really like the Kopi Luwak thing, don’t you lol… I think it’s the third list on this site to include this. Nice list though.
I have eaten number 2 on a recent trip to the Phillipines
I guess the only thing left is to take out the dead bodies from the coffins and start eating them. They are very delicious and healthy too….
OR
as like monkeys>>
Put the humans in this position and start eating the brains.
This will be very very healthy as humans have very very sharp brains as all the above things i can see……
In my vacation I was served tiny octopus’s. I know it is pretty normal to many, but i’ve never tried it before. I felt like puking when i chewed it, because it felt like a real animal! When i’m eating beef and such, i don’t really think about that it used to belong a real animal, it is just a beef.
But with this octopus, i could feel the animal, that it was once living and all.
It almost made me vegetarian.
I could never eat duck fetuses, rats, monkey brains or spiders.
CHNISE ARE ANIMALS !
CHINISE are animals i dnt get why the eat dogs n stufff GGGGR
Lol i would try anything on this site but the ox dong im korean and i have eaten dog i didn’t know what it was at the time though but it was good also i have tried baby octopus good with hotsauce i also noticed most of the foods here are asian but i guess thats what a western look on food does well i guess this was a bit biased because in asia not too many people would find a million calorie cheeseburger good unless they have been westernized oh yea btw i have eaten a live squid i cut it in half and the damn thing was still alive
Oh yea lisa The btw just because we dont eat things covered in fat and grease and cheese that makes is animals your so ignorant you think its sooo wrong to eat dogs just because there pets and not all asians eat dogs and stuff like that so calling the chinese animals is racism so stop thinking out of your ass and out of your head
When I detasseled corn years ago, our Laotian detasselers would take home corn smut to prepare and eat, apparently considered a delicacy. Whatever floats your boat… I wouldn’t choose to try anything on this list, but I’m not vegetarian, so some things I eat may be considered disgusting by others and that’s their right. Also, wasn’t it a monkey-brains-eating scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies that partially brought about the PG-13 movie rating? Don’t shoot me if I’m wrong, that was a long time ago, but it’s stuck in my mind ever since. Very interesting list and comments!!!
Wow. I just learned at least two new things. Corn gets “detasseled” and corn has “smut.” Thanks Whatnow, that’s awesome.
And if memory serves, you are very correct about the Indy movie. It made me very sad.
There’s no accounting for taste. I saw a T.V interview with a woman who went round the world looking for unusual foods. She recounted a story of a time she was in the country of Laos where Ant eggs are considered a delicacy on an industrial scale (you can buy them canned !!).She told a local that in the west this kind of food would be regarded as unedible and informed him that in England a favourite delicacy is Stilton cheese (mouldy cheese basically) he couldn’t beleive that people would find mouldy food palatable.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………. this list sure has some delicious, indulging warm
Well, I’ve tasted balut when I was younger (still eat it every now & then), about 9. I’m twelve now. Anybody ever eaten fried frogs? They taste like chicken..
In a couple of years people will be probably disgusted of what we eat now. A dead pig’s bottom?!? YUUUUUCCKKKK!!!
i just realized i was reading this while i was eating a salad. genius. just genius.
I’m Italian-American and Italian food is the best. Calamari is delicious and NO suckers.
Other people have *****ing nasty food though. My boyfriend who has Irish heritage eats some of the nastiest crap I’ve ever heard of. He loves congealed blood (black pudding) haggis (that mish-mash of nasty crap), blood soup, etc. I rarely eat anything he makes.
The one that gives me the willies hasn’t been turned up yet.
Sheep’s eyes. Can you imagine them staring up at you from the plate, challenging you with an, “Eat me if you dare” look?
Presumably the well-known Oz witchetty grubs, eaten alive, were not included as they are not a generally available menu item, despite having been tried by a wide variety of gourmet adventurers.
From ‘Of Moths and Men’, Judith Hooper:
“(Dr) Bernard (Kettlewell) thought nothing of eating the odd moth, nor did Miriam Rothschild, nor [evidently] Haldane’s wife, Helen. Kate Davis once came into the office to find Mirian Rothschild and Bernard ‘hunched over a table eating Burnet moths. “Want one?” they asked. “No thanks,” I said, “I had lunch.”‘ … public moth-eating was also a display of field machismo, part of the get-your-feet-muddy culture of entomology. The most ostentatious moth-eater of all was Henry Ford (the entomologist, not the industrialist!). Anyone who had seen him, with studied calmness, pick up a moth and pop it into his mouth, chewing meditatively as the powdery wings disappeared between his thin lips, would not soon forget the sight.”
From ‘The Dinosaur Hunters’, Deborah Cadbury re the Revd. Prof. William Buckland of Oxford University:
“Most perplexing of all for visitors to Buckland’s appartments was the menu, since Buckland, a born experimentalist, had decided to eat his way through the animal kingdom as well as study it. ‘I recollect various queer dishes which he had at his table,’ recalled his friend, John Playfair. ‘The hedgehog was good and tender. On another occasion I recollect a dish of crocodile, which was an utter failure … though the philosophers took one mouthful, they could not be persuaded to swallow it, and rejected the morsel with strong language.’ John Ruskin, recalling his undergraduate days at Buckland’s table, wrote: ‘… I have always regretted a day of unlucky engagement on which I missed a delicious toast of mice.’”
Have you tried eating locusts or grasshoppers?.
I’ve tried eating dog’s liver..
also snake and balut.
we have here blood soup..”dinuguan”-(Chicken or pork dinuguan) my favorite.
chicken intestines.
it won’t kill you though..
“Balut” is really, really nice, especially with a sprinkle of salt. Your picture doesn’t give it justice. The duck fetus is not that well formed. It looks like it’s served cold also!
Arial
your really disgusting.I guess you like eating ducklings.Good for you.
mmm.balut is goooooood
i don’t think i would eat little ducklings if my life depended on it. why would you even what to kill a little thing like that? even if it was a bad egg, why would you want to eat a bad egg? yuk…
haha.. balut is on the list.,
I’m from the Phil, and balut is like a delicacy here, as what mentioned above, though balut is mostly chicks not duckling, but there are ducklings..
You never came to the Philippines when you haven’t tasted balut, poor foreigners.. I have never eaten balut! I get criticize because of it, but i think its disgusting, though almost everyone says its delicious..
The Faces of Death monkey scene is fake. That scene used to bother me a lot! If you find a copy of Faces of Death with commentary – the creator at the end shows how they used a monkey-toy with a realistic face, the hammers they were using were foam at the end, and the monkey-toy they cut into had cauliflower and red dye as the brain. One of the most realistic simulations of the day though! Anyways, rest easy – that instance of it was not real.
I live in Sweden and we eat some fairly disgusting things – though not nearly as disgusting as this list. We eat surströmming, which loosely translated means “sour herring.” It is herring that is left to rot. The taste is very, very, very salty and it is usually eaten with strong schnapps (alcohol). The taste is awful, but the really horrible part of the experience is opening the can: the smell hits you like a baseball bat to the face.
We also eat blodpudding (blood pudding) which is similar to blood sausage or black sausage from the UK, I believe. It is pigs blood with flour and spices. You slice it and fry it in butter then serve it with lingonberries (Swedish cranberries). I think it is delicious and we eat it all the time!
I do remember a scene from Faces of Death where a monkey’s head was pounded by a small hammer (or at least it’s what it seemed to me) and the brain was eaten raw. The setting (a restaurant) gave me an impression that it was in Middle East. I don’t know if the scene was faked or not.
#8 – Bird Spit – I dunno if this was the same thing served to me when I went to Palawan (Philippines) some time ago. They called it Bird’s Nest Soup. Maybe it’s the same thing. Man, it was expensive.
#2 – I eat balut a lot. The hairy part took a lot of getting used to, but the broth is just plain yummy.
#1 – It has been a family tradition to drink snake bile at least once a week for health reasons. I heard from a Chinese aunt that it helps regulate blood glucose. If it’s true it would surely help diabetics… but I don’t know for sure. It doesn’t taste that bad anyway, I’ve tasted worse.=P
i really don’t know why many people find balut disgusting. personally, i love it. but then again, im from philippines so im used to the idea of eating it. we also eat chicken intestines,chicken feet,fried frogs,fried rat (not the ones you find in the sewer!),one day old chick and coagulated chicken and pig blood. we call it betamax.
I almost puked!
ox penis
I think u need a strong stomach to eat balut…And its the Burmese that eat monkeys brains while still alive
ugh i had this dream over and over that i was eating spiders.. and everything was okay until i got to the biggest part…
i gag every time..
anyone who has eating one tell me waht its like..
I have eaten bird spit. It is soo delicious.
Also, the worm fungus is good too. Aparently both of those thigs are good for your body.
Yuck! Well, the rat one is the one that really got to me. I have a really smart and cute rat named Akira…by the way, Akira means intelligent in Japanese. =]
Balut yum! Dinugguan!!! …or as my aunties affectionally call it: Chocolate meat, haha… knock it all you want but if McDonald’s weren’t so globalized, much of the western food would seem as disgusting to other parts of the world as their food seems to you. In defense of balut… there’s no trouble eating an 1 day old egg, there’s no trouble eating a grown chicken but the in between is supposedly taboo? It tastes the same in all approaches – only hard part are the mental hurdles. Too many delicate constitutions are reading the wrong Top 10 list…
It’s not a food but more a condiment but I’d mention Patis – the by-product of fermented fish. Other things that may the disgust the non-adventurous… cheese ice cream, chicharon bulaklak (fried pig intestine, known in South US as chitlins), crispy pata (deep fried pig hoof), kare-kare (ox tail in a peanut butter soup) used to gross out my Americanized Filipino roommates, Adidas (grilled chicken feet), and of course the Durian fruit. The only bizarre food Andrew Zimmern couldn’t eat. oh, this is making me so hungry!!
Kiwiboi: it’s not typical western fare and I can’t really claim any generalizations on the entire Asian race but I know my mom can’t stand Lamb. She says it smells like armpit. Other than that, I can’t think of anything. Filipino’s aren’t exactly scared of food adventures, haha.
You know, if i looked at a live chicken, which from my personal viewpoint is real ugly looking, I wouldn’t be able to eat the meat. But anyway… I like chicken and balut is quite tasty. Had a pretty nasty experience though with feathers in my mouth. Yuck! So from then on, I only eat the yolk.
I saw this show once where Afghan tribes people ate oversized sheep testacles (basketball size)… that was some pretty grosse food too!
balut is really delicious! when i was a kid i don’t eat the duck, but my grandmother really thought me how to eat the duck, so now whenever i eat balut i eat it all!
The duck foetuses were the only thing that really made me feel ill – I’m not surprised by some of the things on this list as I have heard rumours.
Mnkey brains just make me think of Indiana Jones. Hehe.
Here’s some westernized food that might be deemed disgusting!
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/
Disgusting…but at the same time I think my mouth watered at some of the images, haha. There’s a disturbing amount of bacon massacre. Bacon roll (I’ve made and eaten!), Bacon Ice cream, Bacon Donut, Baconnaise….
That 120 oz. Steak with mushroom is disturbing. It looks like an STD tumor.
If you guys think durian stinks, wait till you try fermented durian – tempoyak…
Typically eaten with rice as a condiment.
Actually what makes an animal gross to eat or not? If a culture of people eats dogs, I have no problem with it. What makes eating a dog or a cat more taboo than eating cow, chicken or goat?
I myself have eaten rabbit satay. Just another edible animal to me.
There is travelshow in Finland called Madventures. They always had Rock-Paper-Scissors competition over who would eat a local “nighmare” dish. They ate a street dog, a punch of insects(scorpio included), squirrel, indian snake wine and MONKEY BRAINS, just to mention few. You can check their clips in youtube, although those are in finnish.
ack! i almost started crying when i was reading about the monkey brains….monkeys are my all time favorite animals and the thought of people eating their brains while they are alive makes me sick…poor thing…
i found this on the internet…. pretty disgusting
http://www.abortiontv.com/Glitch/AbortedBabiesSoldAsHealthFood.htm
balut is delicious!
Try Barbecue Snake from Cambodia!! It’s really disgusting for me .
The picture for #2 Balut is disgusting. Even I won’t eat that. That is probably more than the required days. That’s probably between 2-3 weeks old. Balut is delicious. I ate one a while back and that turned my stomach because i already had a hard beak. I didn’t eat one again for awhile. Will I eat again, of course.
I have seen Balut in Fear Factor once and the contestants were so disgusted by it when they found out what it was. I was telling my wife, give a salt and I’ll chug it down.
As someone here said, some of this foods were discovered because of lack of food or just a major starvation.
On http://www.thisiswhyyourefat.com? Bacon wrapped mozzarella sticks? That’s my idea of perfection…..I hope I never see any in reality, or I’m doomed and will gain back all the weight I’ve managed to lose.
*drool*