A Chinese dish that's disgusting?
By Dong Zhen |
July 1, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE latest controversial topic to sweep the Internet concerns a traditional Chinese dish, pi dan or thousand-year eggs in English.
But it has sparked discussion not because of any safety issues, rather that it has been named as the "most disgusting food" in the eyes of a United States TV network.
The eggs topped a list of foods said to be the most disgusting in the world. The list included dog meat from South Korea and Cambodia's fried tarantula.
A report by CNN described the eggs as looking strange and having a poor taste.
The news spread quickly online. More than half a million users on weibo.com, China's leading social networking website, joined a group formed to discuss the "egg news." The list was retweeted on other microblogging websites.
Some commentators said the Western media should respect the food cultures of foreign countries, while others echoed the view that the foods on the list were, indeed, disgusting.
"I've been living in New Zealand for over six years now and have witnessed numerous occasions where the locals either loved or bashed on certain Asian dishes such as steamed chicken feet," Rois Tang, a 25-year-old architect, told Shanghai Daily. "I think although it is all down to personal liking, one should always be careful not to hurt others' feelings, especially when expressing dislikes."
Xia Ping, a retired Jiangsu Province resident, said: "Though pi dan is a quite popular dish in my hometown, I don't like the taste at all and I also doubt the hygienic conditions for the food.
"It's not a big deal foreigners don't like it. Food culture is always diversified. Personally I really hate sour cheese."
Some Western food websites recommend the eggs as an Asian delicacy.
The dish is made by preserving eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice hulls.
Smelly cheese
The yolk eventually turns dark green to grey, with an odor of sulphur and ammonia. The white becomes a brown and translucent jelly.
Chinese watchdogs have raised quality standards in recent years to restrict the use of lead, which is often used during the processing of pi dan, to a safer level. Many doctors suggest seniors and children avoid the food.
Regarding the CNN report, some Chinese netizens responded by initiating votes for the "most disgusting" Western and Chinese foods on Weibo.
They disliked "smelly cheese" the most with 42 percent of the votes, while for the most disgusting Chinese dish, about 72 percent of votes went to southern China's "little mouse's three squeaks."
The dish is so named because it involves picking up a newborn mouse, dipping it in seasoning and popping it into the mouth.
The mouse is said to squeak three times as it is chewed.
But it has sparked discussion not because of any safety issues, rather that it has been named as the "most disgusting food" in the eyes of a United States TV network.
The eggs topped a list of foods said to be the most disgusting in the world. The list included dog meat from South Korea and Cambodia's fried tarantula.
A report by CNN described the eggs as looking strange and having a poor taste.
The news spread quickly online. More than half a million users on weibo.com, China's leading social networking website, joined a group formed to discuss the "egg news." The list was retweeted on other microblogging websites.
Some commentators said the Western media should respect the food cultures of foreign countries, while others echoed the view that the foods on the list were, indeed, disgusting.
"I've been living in New Zealand for over six years now and have witnessed numerous occasions where the locals either loved or bashed on certain Asian dishes such as steamed chicken feet," Rois Tang, a 25-year-old architect, told Shanghai Daily. "I think although it is all down to personal liking, one should always be careful not to hurt others' feelings, especially when expressing dislikes."
Xia Ping, a retired Jiangsu Province resident, said: "Though pi dan is a quite popular dish in my hometown, I don't like the taste at all and I also doubt the hygienic conditions for the food.
"It's not a big deal foreigners don't like it. Food culture is always diversified. Personally I really hate sour cheese."
Some Western food websites recommend the eggs as an Asian delicacy.
The dish is made by preserving eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice hulls.
Smelly cheese
The yolk eventually turns dark green to grey, with an odor of sulphur and ammonia. The white becomes a brown and translucent jelly.
Chinese watchdogs have raised quality standards in recent years to restrict the use of lead, which is often used during the processing of pi dan, to a safer level. Many doctors suggest seniors and children avoid the food.
Regarding the CNN report, some Chinese netizens responded by initiating votes for the "most disgusting" Western and Chinese foods on Weibo.
They disliked "smelly cheese" the most with 42 percent of the votes, while for the most disgusting Chinese dish, about 72 percent of votes went to southern China's "little mouse's three squeaks."
The dish is so named because it involves picking up a newborn mouse, dipping it in seasoning and popping it into the mouth.
The mouse is said to squeak three times as it is chewed.
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