I heard the saying before that Cantonese people will eat anything with four legs. During my visit to Guangzhou, I came to the conclusion that this assertion is terribly lacking. Yes, they eat all sorts of four-legged creatures – but much more than that. I stopped by one of the city’s wet markets and it truly was an eye-opening experience. I came to realize that Cantonese cuisine is not just about dimsum, barbequed pork or shark’s fin soup. It goes way beyond the dishes which I would normally think of as food. Some of their specialties could actually be used as staples in Fear Factor.
Pictures of my discovery after the jump. Be aware that the page contains pictures which some might find disgusting or offensive. Enter at your own risk!
Cantonese people like their food fresh and it’s a common sight to see live animals in the wet markets. Browsing through the array of goods on offer, I thought some of these creatures would be less out of place in a zoo.
Those who are brave enough can actually try some of these wild beasts (cooked, of course) in Guangzhou’s restaurants. The overwhelmingly majority of them only serve normal food (that’s good news to me!) but the more upscale ones usually have some of these exotic delicacies in their menu. “How are they cooked,” you ask? The crocodiles are usually sliced and turned into soups or stir-fried like pork. The scorpions are also popular as a soup dish while the snakes are commonly turned into a stew. The pupae is commonly salted and fried, and served as is. While the bugs are…. I don’t even know what they do with that.
Sam Vy says
The scorpions are definitely gross. But turtles are actually pretty good! hahaha they’re not that uncommon even in restos here
the wanderer says
Yeah… but most of those turtles we see are the soft-shelled ones. Actually I was wrong in saying that it was a turtle in my pic – it looked more like a tortoise!
Sam Vy says
haha reminds me of a tortoise i took a picture with at the American national museum hehehe
Oh the first pic- the shellfish – i’ve tried a smaller version of that and they’re REALLY good haha
Kix says
the 2nd image (shell thing with a really long finger sticking out of it) is a geo duck. its really good. served cold and raw, its like sashimi. or you could eat it in a hot pot style. tastes like sweet scallops with the texture of abalone!
Kix says
oh and those bug-looking things made the hairs on my arm stand up…eeew
Sam Vy says
BTW dont u wanna get one of those sidebar tagboard thingies so it would be easier to comment? hehe
Hikkikomori says
Some kind of shellfish is a GEODUCK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck
A mollusk of sorts.
– Heineken
Hikkikomori says
Follow up:
A Cantonese friend of mine says he has actually eaten most of those except the water roaches, scorpions and the geoduck,
/btw, how can you afford the travel expenses?
the wanderer says
I didn’t go to all these trips in quick succession. Many of them are from a few years ago!
For some, I just tagged along. I didn’t have to pay for some of these trips.
Kelvin says
Wow. How do you cook the croc? Or chop it up? You take it home whole?!
the wanderer says
Hmm… maybe they put it in a separate cage for you to bring home! Haha