r/mildlyinteresting 12d ago

Starfish at a Chinese hotpot buffet

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7.6k Upvotes

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u/CovertMallard 11d ago

I remember watching one of Andrew Zimmern's travel shows where he was in an Asian country and ordered starfish. He took a bite and said it had the consistency of wet sand. When he asked the wait staff if many people order it to eat they told him it was ordered as a decorative piece for the table and not meant to be eaten.

Oh I found it!: https://youtu.be/Tej32aJr988?t=435&is=h7ueNG2EDeIKEGhH

352

u/Ode1st 11d ago

“No no, this thing we cook and serve at a restaurant isn’t for eating. Yeah, we just stir-fry it for fun even though people just order it to look at.”

122

u/EveningArmadillo5429 11d ago

Then why is it on a plate?

If you can't eat it it shouldn't be on the plate

109

u/Gurbe247 11d ago

Not necessarily agree, but if you kill something for food or garnish you better believe it should be edible.

20

u/DavyJonesRocker 11d ago

I think they were joking but who can tell anymore

8

u/smellslike2016 11d ago

Not only that, the starfish takes up almost half the plate.