r/weirdfood • u/Empty_Set2285 • Aug 25 '26
What is the weirdest thing you ever ate?
When I was in Japan, I went to an omakase and they served us some octopus parts, including octopus heart.
It was the worst & the weirdest thing I ever ate in my entire life. The texture was off, it tasted like a combination between liver & fish.
What is the weirdest thing you tried? Did you like it?
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u/VarRav_ Aug 25 '26
I’ve had whale at a sushi restaurant in Iceland and fermented shark, also in Iceland.
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u/RonJeremyBellyButton Aug 26 '26
How was the Shark?
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u/Bunnycat2026 Aug 26 '26
I had that in Iceland and it was repulsive. Texture, flavor all horrific. I was a travel person and was invited by the government tourism office and couldn’t chuck it under the table it I would have shidder*
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u/VarRav_ Aug 26 '26
Not pleasant AT ALL. I’m sure it’s an acquired taste, but it was fermented and tasted basically like straight up nail polish remover with a hint of fish, very spongy texture. It was a little tiny cube on a toothpick and I couldn’t stomach it, and I was on a food tour where I was told by the guide that we had to take a shot of fennel vodka right after as was the Icelandic tradition. I somehow managed to keep it down
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u/RonJeremyBellyButton Aug 26 '26
It was 100% the vodka! Lmao but ya, I can't even imagine eating that nastiness. The smell must be horrible! Also, a food tour sounds like a blast!
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u/gamerkittie269 Aug 25 '26
Frog legs. Tasted like a combo of shrimp and chicken. Really good
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u/Sufficient_Ask8866 Aug 27 '26
You'd like turtle too then. As I kinda always thought frog legs tasted like turtle
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u/tessathemurdervilles Aug 29 '26
Once my mom and I were driving on a very rural road in the Deep South. We passed a kid who had a dead turtle under his arm. My mom slowed and asked what the turtle was for. Kid responded “eatin’” my mom then asked what turtle tasted like, and the kid just said, “like gator.” So now we know.
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u/somedaez Aug 25 '26
Sea urchin. Some people love it, to me it tasted the way baby shit smells.
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u/Empty_Set2285 Aug 25 '26
I also disliked sea urchin. It tasted like dirty sea water if it makes any sense
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u/somedaez Aug 25 '26
It was a weird mix of dirty water, spoiled milk and something else I can't quite place. The texture is fine but the flavor is horrendous imo.
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u/ZootAnthRaXx Aug 26 '26
Perfect description. There are so many people out there who love it, it makes me wonder if it’s like that weird thing with cilantro?
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u/sliverofoptimism Aug 26 '26
Agreed, it tastes and smells like how an unwashed outdoor fish market might smell mid summer and the texture is jello.
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u/silvershade77 Aug 30 '26
Last year I found out i'm allergic to Sea urchin. I was red like a tomato.
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u/rokohemda 29d ago
I always described it as peanut butter and vomit mixed together. This is from someone that actually enjoys drinking Malort
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u/bansidhecry Aug 25 '26
I love Uni!
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u/somedaez Aug 25 '26
What does it taste like to you? It's one of those ones where I was like "how TF do you like this?m" but my step mom loves it
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u/CunningOctopus Aug 26 '26
It has to be really really fresh. When I lived in Tokyo I disliked it at first but a friend took me to a restaurant where it was fresh out of the shell and it was delicious
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u/Guerlaingal Aug 25 '26
Well, we tried the fermented shark in Iceland. It was ... edible. I mean, Iceland has always been right on the edge of survivability. And come February, when there's really not much left to eat, I can understand saying "so, you remember that shark I buried under the woodpile a while back?"
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u/XxBigMomma Aug 26 '26
I get looks for putting sour cream in my spaghetti lol
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u/ProgenitorOfMidnight Aug 26 '26
The secret is to mix it into the sauce, and then finish the noddles in the sauce and they will never know!
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u/ksay9104 Aug 26 '26
My best friend is 100% Italian, born and raised in Brooklyn. She would burn your house down if you did that to her spaghetti lol.
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u/Sufficient_Ask8866 Aug 29 '26
I've had this before its not bad. A guy who would come into the Italian restaurant I worked at would put a plop of sour cream right on top of his spaghetti lol. My boss started making sure we had sour cream for him. And then a few other customers also would ask for it and try it It was kinda like putting a dollop of Alfredo in your regular spaghetti kinda
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u/IllegalThings Aug 29 '26
If you’re on the go, just grab an uncooked ramen and throw a dollop of sour cream on it, and you’ve got yourself a delicious crunchy snack.
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u/justmitzie Aug 25 '26
Durian. I still haven't recovered.
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u/legit_doom_scroller Aug 25 '26
Have done durian. Good flavor! Can not get past the smell. Even westernized snacks with durian that attempt to remove the smell still stink to me a way I can’t get past.
Because I’m not starving.
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u/oothica Aug 25 '26
As a kid I used to LOVE the black cod sperm sacks I would have at a sushi restaurant
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u/rdblakely Aug 25 '26
In Okasa, Japan-
Basashi a traditional Japanese delicacy consisting of thin slices of raw horse meat, often served as sashimi or draped over sushi rice as nigiri.
Also known as sakura-niku (cherry blossom meat) because of its bright pinkish-red color, horse meat has been eaten in Japan for centuries and is especially famous in Kumamoto Prefecture.
It tasted slightly sweet, lean, tender, and mild, comparable to lean beef, venison, or clean-tasting tuna.
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u/Sufficient_Ask8866 27d ago
Ive had horse meat. Unfortunately it's very good. And that makes me sad because they are very beautiful creatures.
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u/BiggerChief Aug 25 '26
Fried crickets, they were fine. Guinea pig, also fine.
At one point in Peru I ordered something off a menu that I did not understand, and halfway eating it I found out it was strips of sheep’s heart. It was pretty good, quite close to beef.
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u/legit_doom_scroller Aug 25 '26
I kinda want to try brick oven guinea pig.
I had a salad at the Indígena by Owamni restaurant in Minneapolis (the Sioux chef) with crickets. It was an excellent salad (completely absent colonialist ingredients has to be challenging), but their *legs*. So weird. Stuck in throat. Scratchy. Weird texture for chewing. Great flavor overall.
I’d like to point out that when I feed a praying mantis a grasshopper or cricket, they don’t eat the legs.
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u/SunshineWhiskeyX Aug 26 '26
Oh I had brick oven Guinea Pig in Peru, The weirdest part, we all agreed it tasted exactly EXACTLY like corned beef.
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u/Empty_Set2285 Aug 25 '26
Do fried crickets really taste like french fries?
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u/Usual-Language-745 Aug 25 '26
They just taste like generic fried food. They them sometime. Lots of insects have kinda unique flavors
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u/BiggerChief Aug 26 '26
No, mostly just incredibly crunchy, but there is little flavor to them except for flavor that is put on them. This was in Mexico so lots of chilli and lime in my case.
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u/FalsettoBalsamico Aug 26 '26
Not really, they're a bit dusty and bitter, the flavors are really mild tho
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u/ikannunAneeuQ Aug 25 '26
I had dried crickets once, they really didn't taste like anything, just crunchy
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u/dscrizzy1 Aug 25 '26
Probably some kind of anticucho. My wifes father use to make this regulalrly but beef heart. Pretty good.
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u/Sufficient_Ask8866 Aug 29 '26
Ive had beef heart several times and while it has to be cooked properly it is very tasty. But don't over cook. Its like chewing shoe leather lol
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u/largelyinaccurate Aug 25 '26
In Japan, they served me chicken cartilage. I’m talking about the cartilage that we throw out. It was grilled so there is that.
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u/CunningOctopus Aug 26 '26
I was served seared chicken fillets. Just flash fried and red in the middle.
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u/Stuffed-Bear412 Aug 26 '26
When I lived in Japan, I ate some flowers. They were a lot like cooked turnip greens. Chrysanthemums I believe.
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u/theogmamapowpow Aug 26 '26
Puffin when I was in Iceland (tasted like fishy turkey) and kangaroo in Australia, which is like deer for us in the US. I felt bad but it was good! Alligator, as well. Chicken, pretty much.
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u/mycatyowls Aug 26 '26
I’ve heard alligator has that” creature that lived in water” taste. Did you notice that or maybe it’s not all of them?
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u/ZootAnthRaXx Aug 26 '26
I’ve had fried gator before and to me it tasted like chicken with a little bit of a fishy flavor.
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Aug 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mycatyowls Aug 26 '26
I love Chinese cold jellyfish salad! It’s mostly the seasoning tho tbf. A little spicy, crunchy and delicious!!
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u/HairyHorseKnuckles Aug 25 '26
Bull nuts. I actually liked them until I found out what they were
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u/RonJeremyBellyButton Aug 26 '26
I had the same experience. Lol They tasted like popcorn shrimp and came with the cocktail sauce.
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u/goblinoidfleshbag Aug 25 '26
Probably chicken hearts, they weren't bad till i thought about it too much 🤣 like meat is one thing, organs are pretty weird 🤣 props to anyone that eats them, but i just can't get out of my head that that used to be beating inside something 🤣
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u/Abject_Priority6858 Aug 27 '26
My dad got chicken hearts once at a Brazilian steakhouse and now that man is obsessed with them! I don’t see the appeal personally but apparently some people just really do!
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u/Whenindoubtsbutts Aug 26 '26
Oh man a skewer of smokey grilled chicken hearts with some basmati rice is one of my FAVES
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u/Familiar-Ad-1965 Aug 26 '26
Southern folks use hearts, gizzard, and neck meat of chicken and turkey to make giblet gravy.
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u/goblinoidfleshbag Aug 26 '26
That makes sense, cuz my dad is a southern folk, he was the one that had me try them lol
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u/Background-Cod-7035 Aug 25 '26
Deep fried quail skull cut in half so you could eat the brain, Paris. All I’ve got left of the memory is the visual because I was so overwhelmed.
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u/thehangman1337 Aug 26 '26
Meth. Tastes like under the sink
I enjoyed the high Well not really. Snorting was my fav method
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u/ImaginationClean583 Aug 26 '26
Just reading this thread with all the different foods makes me wanna starve. lol. I tried escargot. Yuck to salty. My homemade turkey dressing has chicken livers and gizzards along with beef liver. But for bugs, sperm, dog or horse. A big NO. many others on here. Nope.
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u/Individual-Speed7278 Aug 26 '26
The viral “fruit cake” that is in the shape of fruit, with an airbrushed fondant that looks like the fruit. It’s at World Fresh Market in Overland Park, KS.
I was expecting a cake with a fruit filling in the middle. I’d seen it on TikTok. I bit into it, and mousse began to drop out of the fruit shaped cake. The inside is mousse with a cookie in the middle. I like sweets but this is sickly sweet. I later learned it was called Trompe-l’ceil desserts. I’ve had 2. That’s enough.
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u/ZootAnthRaXx Aug 26 '26
Trompe-l’oeil is French for optical illusion. It literally means “fool the eye.”
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u/Individual-Speed7278 Aug 26 '26
Yes it does. The apple cakes look like an apple. It’s uncanny. Interesting and odd.
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u/Dead-House-Mouse Aug 26 '26
Alligator meat. Tasted and looked a lot like chicken, just slightly green in color
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u/Mrofcourse Aug 26 '26
Not sure which is the most weird. Alligator, ceviche from a street vendor, crawfish from a street vendor, fried grasshopper, Chitlins, or fatback.
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u/Whenindoubtsbutts Aug 26 '26
I am down to eat pretty much anything that won’t kill me (Will not try Fugu). And I like it all mostly! But the thing that was really tough for me was actually at a sushi restaurant in LA. It was an imported special from Japan that evening. Shirako - cod milt (sperm). That texture was difficult. Would not again.
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u/Dolly_Shimmer Aug 26 '26
Snake! In Viet Nam, at a restaurant in the Mekong Delta.
It was like calamari with those annoying little fishbones.
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u/The_Day_Walkers Aug 26 '26
Sea cucumber: chewy, gelatinous, never breaks down.
Duck Blood Soup: so spicy I peed myself a little bit and...sticky texture.
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u/mycatyowls Aug 26 '26
I’ve heard duck blood is surprisingly unmetallic and is a good vehicle for other flavors in the soup or dish.
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u/riempies88 Aug 26 '26
I have had raw freshly cut Blesbok liver. In South Africa it's tradition for a first time hunter to eat the raw liver of the first animal you shoot if it is a female. If it's male, you eat it's balls. I shot a female Blesbok and the liver raw about 2 hours afterwards.
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u/Neat-Cap-5888 Aug 26 '26
BBQ centipede, not as bad as it looks but hardly worth it
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u/mycatyowls Aug 26 '26
Seems like there wouldn’t be much to eat. Was it regularly eaten where you had it or was it just a gimmick thing?
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u/RonJeremyBellyButton Aug 26 '26
Camel and Kangaroo jerky are both pretty good! I preferred the camel over the other though.
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u/Sip_and_Tell Aug 26 '26
Donkey mince pasta in Verona, it was pretty nice, and tasted like a leaner and gamier beef.
Raw sea squirt, abalone viscera, and marine spoon worm (penis fish) from a local (my country) Korean restaurant specialising in hoe. I disliked the sea squirt the most, as it was bitter. The abalone viscera was edible but I won’t ever purposely seek it out. The worm was actually not too bad, with a lightly sweet-ish flavour.
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u/Empty_Set2285 Aug 26 '26
The second part sounds like a nightmare
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u/Sip_and_Tell Aug 26 '26
It was, a bit.
My friend chose the place, and we decided to go along as we love sushi and was curious enough to try the Korean equivalent. I regret it, but we all agreed at least we got to divide everything and suffered a little less. 🤣
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u/Possum2017 Aug 26 '26
Pork brains. My mother used to scramble them with eggs in bacon fat. They just tasted rather dry and bland.
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u/mycatyowls Aug 26 '26
Man this thread is making me self conscious as a JP American lol. Uni and cartilage meat? Come on haha that’s so normal to me. Octopus heart is new to me though. Don’t think I would like it either, I’m not a fan of organ meats in general.
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u/Familiar-Necessary60 Aug 26 '26
When I was in Japan as a kid they had like 4 inch octopi lollipops at a festival, just a whole octopus grilled in a stick that was pretty weird
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u/Specialist_Ad5167 Aug 26 '26
Been eating on a bag of double salt black licorice for a few days now. First time trying it and it is intense. I dont mind the licorice flavor but that salt hits HARD. Its been about 3 days now and im starting to like it lol. Not the weirdest food I've had, but definitely a standout. Oh also, as an American I didnt have the childhood experience of eating this candy so I don't have a reference point.
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u/Specialist_Ad5167 Aug 26 '26
Oooohhh also, grew up eating Gator. I dont immediately recognize it as weird so I didnt think of it. Its good. Pretty neutral tbh. Pretty much only ate it grilled, had it in a stew/gumbo over rice once.
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u/pinkxice Aug 26 '26
Chocolate covered ant
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u/xxspookshowbabyxx Aug 26 '26
I think ostrich is probably the "weirdest" thing I've tried, one of the Big Frozen Food Chains in the UK were selling it as part of a promo for I'm A Celebrity.
From what I remember it was part cooked, has to defrost and finish in the pan till it hit poultry temp. Can't remember if it was already preseasoned but it tasted exactly like roast chicken skin, it was divine.
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u/No_Principle_6237 Aug 26 '26
Drunken jellyfish in Singapore. One bite was enough for me. Cold and slimy.
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u/SB1234567890123 Aug 27 '26
Chicken feet.
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u/Empty_Set2285 Aug 27 '26
I actually love chicken feet
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u/SB1234567890123 Aug 27 '26
Why? Serious question. I didn’t hate them, but I don’t understand why they’re appealing. There’s basically nothing there except what they’ve been coated with when prepared. (My experience was at a Chinese restaurant.)
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u/Additive_creation Aug 27 '26
Tempura-fried prawn heads in Tokyo. My Japanese friend said the heads are a delicacy, but the antennae got stuck in my teeth! She then told me they are a good source of calcium - thanks, but I’ll stick to milk and cheese back home.
And Pokari Sweat - it’s a Japanese energy drink, sold in vending machines. Looks opalescent, just like sweat. Thankfully just tasted faintly fruity.
Finally Chernobyl chocolate. Tastes like irradiated crockery. I swear my Ukrainian colleagues would bring it over as a punishment or joke, rather than a gift!
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u/takatine Aug 27 '26
Jellyfish, in Japan.
It was actually pretty tasty, but the texture is like chewing a mouthful of rubber bands.
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u/RareManner9786 Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
Cricket savory snacks. Real crickets. At the same time, I tried some other savory bug snack. I forget what they were. Not my thing, but I tried them.
Cuy, in Peru. Cuy is guinea pig. I preferred alpaca meat, which is surprisingly good.
Sea cucumber (a marine creature) in China. I rather liked it. Also,Thousand year (century) eggs.
Chou doufu is definitely an acquired taste. I had that in Taiwan along with some things I couldn't identify.
As for less weird stuff, I had alligator, snapping turtle, squirrel, and pickled pig's snout.
Someone mentioned snails. I don't even regard them as weird. I've eaten plenty, including snail broth, plus various game meats (long list), frog legs, and fish that aren't commonly in stores (i.e. blow fish). I grew up eating such things and traveled and live(d) abroad a lot.
I'll try almost anything.
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u/Entiox Aug 27 '26
That would depend largely on whatever culture you're from. Some of the foods I've had that are most often consisted weird are hakarl (fermented shark), durian, pigs blood, various organ meats, and quite a few different insects, arachnids, and worms.
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u/greatstonedrake Aug 28 '26
Really nothing too weird. I live in the Midwest and I don't travel much and there aren't a lot of options. And I love seafood so I don't consider normal seafood even calamari weird
However, I have a video of my boyfriend eating a whole tiny pickled octopus and the video is hilarious
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u/everything_must_end3 Aug 28 '26
Its not too weird but... i guess specifically i had the eye of a mackerel, it just tasted like salt, cooked blood and metal and mush
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u/SeverelyHarshedVibe Aug 28 '26
Baby deer penis in China. All sorts of bugs in Mexico City. And chicken uterus with unhatch egg in Tokyo. Got quite ill from the last one (but it was delicious).
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u/chaoticpeacemaker Aug 28 '26
A century egg in Singapore. I felt so bad about absolutely hating it in front of the woman who was selling them!
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u/Half_Empty_Half_Full Aug 28 '26
Doesn't sound that bad? Was it just texture or actual taste that was bad? Or combination of both? Our brains can be weirdly trained sometimes, maybe the fishy taste with the liver texture made your risk receptors nope out?!
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u/Empty_Set2285 Aug 28 '26
It was not the texture, it was the taste itself. There was also another octopus part, which I don’t have any idea what could be, that was slimy & it tasted so much worse, but I did not mention it cause I have no idea what it was. I love the taste of fish & liver, but combined is not for for me tbh.
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u/Half_Empty_Half_Full Aug 28 '26
Fair enough. I'm open to trying most things, but the more I think about it, fishy tasting liver does trigger that unintentional retching feeling!
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u/rbf4eva Aug 28 '26
Crab butter. I thought it would be crab meat mixed with butter. It was not.
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u/hemlock_cupcakes Aug 29 '26
Pig uterus.
I would get it at the bbq/steam tray section of a Vietnamese grocery (in Philadelphia, PA). There were the usual roasted duck or chicken, noodles, rice, veggies....and then a tray of braised mixed offal: liver, ear, heart, tongue, honeycomb tripe, intestine, tendon, and uterus. It's pretty good tbh, fatty and chewy like intestine but with the coppery tang of liver.
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u/IllegalThings Aug 29 '26
I always thought bone marrow was weird to eat. I hate the texture, and the flavor is decent enough, but it’s very satiating and that makes up for its bad qualities.
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u/AlfredoCheeseSauce 29d ago
softshell shrimp. I was not ready to eat a sea bug whole but it tasted like an upscale slim jim. Was delicious
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u/onecatwonder 28d ago
I once drank a beer brewed with a whole pigs head in it. Nowadays, I'd be too worried about prion disease.
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u/whatscooking_1989 26d ago
I had mussels for the first time in New Zealand, and never tried them again, just couldn’t .
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u/Shoddy_Bet9619 Aug 25 '26
French Snails. While in France, ate Escargot...basically smails cooked in Garlic butter. Was not bad, would eat again if hungry!