From kangaroo burgers to escargots (snails), I love trying exotic foods from around the world. Last month, I headed to the beautiful and innovative city of China's deep Shenzhen. It was our mission to try out a variety of cultural dishes recommended by locals, including the world's most stinky fruits.
Chinese food is one of my favorite dishes, but I'm only used to the highly westernized version. There were no chips and curry sauce, shrimp crackers, or sweet and sour chicken balls. This is my honest thoughts on very different dishes I have tried. Spoiler alert: My favorite is chicken legs.
Dorian
Kick off with durian, the world's most smelly fruit. Given the drama of this name, this fruit wasn't as bad as you would expect. For those who are unaware, durian is a large, spiny tropical fruit with a yellow interior, and its smell is said to be either “rotten eggs” or “sewer gas.”
When explaining the fruit to me, a lovely local woman named Joe said, “It's like a mix of onion and marshmallows.” I was standing at a night bar in the city's party district when I commented that I hadn't tried Dorian.
To my surprise, one of the local women ordered it immediately after the conversation. The durian arrived hot but I think it boiled before it arrived.
This minimized the legendary smell. It was good for me as it has a strong smell sensation and can be easily put off when eating. Once I chewed it, it was very creamy and almost melted in my mouth. There was a vanilla note, which was tasty but odd.
However, the texture was so slimy for me that I couldn't enjoy more than a few bites. The description of the marshmallow comes from sweet flavour notes and goo-like textures, with the onion sides smelling.
Chicken feet
I loved the fried chicken legs. I dream of this dish to this day. My family comes from Barbados and sometimes my grandmother cooks cow legs and pig tails, so when I heard the chicken legs, I was not in stages compared to my travelling British and American counterparts.
But I have to admit, the appearance of the feet surprised me due to the unusual shape, but even so, I was ready to try anything. The initial bite was awkward as there was not much meat in the bones, but it was mostly cartilage so when I got some delicious fried skin mixed meat, it was like a taste bomb of flavor had been dropped in my mouth.
The closer the chicken is to the bone, the more flavor it has, I ate chicken legs, so I have to agree. He even says it tasted better than the chicken wings. Highly recommended.
Goose Liver Pate
Liver Pâté is French cuisine, but this is my first time trying it. It was a luxurious 5-star stay at the Marriott Hotel in Shenzhen thanks to Impact and the Communicatemore PR team. The hotel served a buffet of various foods that stretched over the room, but the staff handed us different dishes during dinner. One of them was goose liver putty.
The plate arrived with grapes, what looked like radish, and some flower-like decorations surrounding the pate. I had no idea what this was, but another local local who sat next to me explained that goose was one of the most popular meats enjoyed in China.
I'm not a fan of putty. It had a rich flavor, but slightly sweet, the texture was very smooth and almost mousse-like, but I didn't like it. However, I tried another goose dish and it was delicious.
Geese are much more flavorful and juicy than ducks. Paired with a sweet and flavorful sauce, it's a hearty meal perfect for enjoying rice and noodles.
Silkworm pup
Unfortunately, I was unable to try silkworm pups, but I am not against trying any bugs. In my lifetime, I ate escargots (snails) and cricket at Chilicon Khan.
However, travelling journalist Peter Skurdino, a trusted reviewer, shared his opinion that he was indulging in the bug for the first time. He states: “The spices they used in the Silkworm pup were decent, slightly spicy and salty, and on the outside was wonderful and crunchy, but on the inside everything was positive and not in a good way.”
My favorite aspect of trying all these strange and amazing foods was to taste them as a group. A beautiful aspect of Chinese culture is that eating as a community is a key value, and eating is often shared in a “family-style environment” and emphasizes the importance of maintaining and maintaining new connections.
