Thursday, February 9, 2012

Did I ever tell you about the time I ate the chicken OUT of the egg?

I am NOT an adventurous eater…no way…no how. 
I hate watermelon.  It is too watery.
I hate cucumbers.  They taste like dirt.
I HATE mushrooms.  Yuck Ew.  Blech. I have tried them …in many forms…and just don’t like them…well, I ate one once and liked it…but that was an momentary lapse on my part.  NOT to be repeated if I can help it.
None of these foods are adventurous I know….but you can tell that I am fussy…and, well, irrational when it comes to food (watery?  REALLY?  YES!)
SO…imagine my OWN surprise when my hand went up to agree to eat
A Chicken OUT of an egg!
Picture the scene: 
Vietnam…our last day.  We went to cooking class.
We started at the wet market where everything is sold.  Fruits, veggies, meats..and yes…stay calm, cats and dogs for eating.  I did not see this, ( I didn’t want to see it so I did not look for it), but we were told that this is just like eating chicken to the Vietnamese.  It’s a food, move on.  OK…
We watched a woman MURDER frogs., and I am afraid they came to an early demise because our group was there. They were all in a  mesh sack minding their own business, when we stopped…she pulled out a frog…and we watched in horror as she SMASHED the little guy on the table to stun him, then, slit him open. Voila  Frog Legs.  I did not panic and run b/c I did not want to give her the satisfaction. So I held my ground as many more were killed.
IMG_1477The frogs just hanging in the sack
IMG_1478Here she is gutting them
A few more pics of what you can buy at the market:
IMG_1475 IMG_1474
Yes…squid and worm bug things..none of us took the bait to eat them (you don’t eat them raw…he was SUCH a kidder)
HERE is where the egg and chicken come in.
Our chef bought a few eggs that have chickens in them.  I know what  you are thinking…so what…they all used to…NO..these are fertilized eggs with partially formed chickens in them.
Yep…I guess they are QUITE the thing…so our chef was going to make them for us.
IMG_1480This is Hannah modeling the aprons we got to keep!
IMG_1482IMG_1483
Diane and I getting ready to cook.  While we were working…the chef was busy with our eggs. 
He opens the egg…the little chicken comes out…and the whole thing is sautéed.
The end result…bones and all!
IMG_1485
SO…this little guy gets smushed up…and first goes Hannah:
IMG_1487 She did great.  No faces…down the hatch.
Then me!
IMG_1488IMG_1489IMG_1490In my defense…MY piece was WAY bigger (see the chef laughing in the back?)
Well, I got it down…face and all (which I think was recorded for Vietnamese TV)
We continued cooking things that made more sense to me…
IMG_1494IMG_1497
Noodle dishes, salads, dumplings…and then we got to eat our efforts…Thank heaven!
SO…You see I will try things…but let’s recap.
I hate watermelon (still too watery)
I hate cucumbers (yes, they STILL taste like dirt)
I hate mushrooms (stop trying to convince me they are good…NO!)
and LASTLY
While I tried the chicken from the egg…it is NOT an experience I will repeat…but I do get to say I did it once.

2 comments:

  1. It's apparently a Filipino delicacy to eat the fertilized baby chicken still in the egg. I have a friend who as a little girl, her grandmother tricked her into eating one in the dark. She's never had one since and she's in her 90s!

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  2. I'm with her on that...delicacy or not...holy heck and it did NOT taste like chicken :P)

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