Recomend me and advise me on how to safely eat exotic and bizarre foods in South East asia

December 4, 2012 10:34 PM

Recomend me and advise me on how to safely eat exotic and bizarre foods in South East asia

I'll be backpacking through Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam with my SO later this month, and I'd like to explore some exotic/bizarre foods. I avoid land mammals, and prefer insects, fermented foods (including home made and local alcohol). I also prefer foods that are actually eaten traditionally by the local people, rather than just setup as a tourist event. Finally I would like to know what risks I run, and what foods are actually dangerous, ie: I read that some insects contain insecticide inside them from having eaten plants that were sprayed with it, and some "spoiled" foods are actually full of harmful bacteria.

So can you please give me some recommendations on exotic/bizarre foods in these areas? Where can I find them, and what safety measures should I keep in mind.

I have watched "bizarre foods" Thailand and Cambodia versions.

I am considering eating the snake heart and blood in Vietnam, spiders and of course fried grasshoppers in Thailand.

I enjoy Japanese natto, real Korean kimchi, stink bugs in Mexico, Durian in China, etc. Those are mostly on the normal side of exotic, and I'm looking to expand my horizons.

posted by crawltopslow to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

I'm not sure that this will add much to what you already know, but the general food rules also apply to exotic foods
- don't eat raw foods unless you are confident they weren't washed in local water (and if you're eating local foods, this is unlikely). For fruits- this means you should be peeling it yourself. I have taken many a chance with raw veggies but as a general rule this is not considered safe
- blood containing foods are more likely to contain...parasites? Or something. I had blood dog sausage in Vietnam and my pharmacist sister was fine with the dog part but not happy about the blood part (I was fine)
- cooked, hot foods are generally a safer bet and there's still plenty of room for adventure (buffalo skin curry in Indonesia, anyone?)
- be wary of locally made alcohols. An Australian tourist died fairly recently from consuming arak (Indonesian locally made rice-wine).

I have broken each of these rules....the bottle of booze containing a scorpion/spider/snake in Vietnam was probably also bad for reasons I don't know of. But they are probably a good place to start.
posted by jojobobo at 11:17 PM on December 4, 2012

On the recommendation front- deep fried tarantulas in Cambodia (bought on the bus ride between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh) are obviously desirable! The spider booze was gross but readily available in vietnam. Dog is available only at certain times of the month.
posted by jojobobo at 11:19 PM on December 4, 2012

I have the article for you! Robyn Eckhardt is an American food writer who is currently based in Malaysia, and she wrote this article on Asian street food smarts last year. She has also written extensively about street food in the countries you mentioned, so check out her blog.
posted by peripathetic at 11:58 PM on December 4, 2012

By and large, my experience with street food in Asia has been extremely positive. The main rule I use is pick a busy vendor used by the locals. These guys depend on repeat business and go out of business quickly. Avoid "upgrades" of anything. You don't want the special, expensive, not bought often version of something. Fried is good - you know it's been cooked at temperature.

Avoid ice and salads. Be wary of the local booze, particularly spirits, where you are far more likely to find shortcuts and ingredients you weren't banking on. If you want to be on the safe side, brush your teeth with bottled water.

I could never bring myself to eat it, but I remember a guy at Chatuchak market outside Bangkok who cooked deep fried chicks and he seemed pretty popular.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:31 AM on December 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

Aargh... "and go out of business quickly" [...] if the make people sick.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:29 AM on December 5, 2012

Most food markets in each town cater the local delicacies including insects, stick to vendors that are popular with the locals. You may have to befriend the locals to find out beyond that, Ive tried some pretty interesting things through befriending locals such as raw duck blood soup in Laos (which I definitely do not recommend) and some other things that would probably put you off your dinner.

There are some excellent cooking schools where I did one day classes including the Red bridge cooking school in Hoi An, Vietnam and Tamarind Cooking school in Luang Prabang, Laos for learning how to make the local dishes such as jungle root soups and fresh rice paper etc. I couldnt recommend these highly enough!

In terms of maintaining your health, IANADoc but Ive been advised plenty of times by doctors to a) drink a stiff alcoholic drink before all meals, (not always possible) and b) be follow due diligence with the malaria tablet course because, as a broad spectrum anti-biotic, they stop many other infections in the early stages. That being said, of couse I didn't do that, and what I came home with was a nasty bunch of parasites that took well over a year to get back to health from, along with thousands of dollars to medical specialists, yep.

A general food safety rule is its only safe if its been cooked thoroughly or you can peel it (bananas, boiled eggs), or you have seen it washed in safe water. But if you follow that you will have a boring old time.
posted by Under the Sea at 1:39 AM on December 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Why a stiff drink before all meals? And should I be taking malaria tablets regardless? where do I get them in bangkok?
posted by crawltopslow at 1:46 AM on December 5, 2012

Honestly I was surprised to hear my doctor suggest alcohol pre-meals, have you ever heard that alcohol kills stomach bugs?

I wouldn't buy pharmaceuticals from Bangkok but some do, go to your local doctor at home before you leave to discuss the malaria tablets and food concerns, get a prescription from your local doc. Pretty sure you need to start them a couple of weeks before you arrive to "affected areas" ie before you leave the states. I would buy them from home not Bangkok, yes they cost more that way but they won't be out of date or something else entirely. Im not sure it's recommended to take malaria pills for 3 months trip though, your doctor will probably discuss preventative measures for malaria and food bugs in this case.
posted by Under the Sea at 2:34 AM on December 5, 2012

I'm sorry I just assumed your in the states.
posted by Under the Sea at 2:42 AM on December 5, 2012

There are two types of malaria meds. The one I take when I go, lariam, is somewhat controversial because there can be quite unpleasant side effects- hallucinations, depression. On the other hand, you only take it once a week and I am one of the many who have taken it numerous times with no issues. The other kind is a daily dose and is not effective in all areas. Your doctor, before you go, is the person to speak to on this. Lariam is taken 1 week before hitting the affected area and for my first time, 2 wks so that if things went pear-shaped I was still in Australia and could see said said doctor.
posted by jojobobo at 12:52 PM on December 5, 2012

Re: ice- the general rule is that if it is cubed it should be ok (of course ask if you can); if it is smashed, chipped or crushed then it may be local water and/or was transported by being dragged along the ground behind a vehicle- thus not advisable. The degree of awareness that vendors have of your needing bottled water varies with how familiar they are with tourists. Many vendors are very au fait with this- ime most were but it all depends on how local you are going I suppose.
posted by jojobobo at 12:55 PM on December 5, 2012

I've never been to Cambodia, but I was in Vietnam a few years ago. The food was amazing. The rule is that if there are a bunch of locals there, you will most likely be fine. In Vietnam, washed herbs are a big part of many dishes. I ate tons of greens and had no problems. You have no choice if you want some amazing Bún chả in Hanoi.

Snake – I can’t remember the name of the restaurant that I went to in Hanoi, but there is an entire few blocks dedicated to the snake restaurants. Just look up reviews on some travel boards to find a good one. This was by far our most expensive meal at $50 for two people - one snake (7 courses), 4 beers, and rice wine with snake blood. It was really delicious! They took out the heart right in front of you and put it in some rice wine while squeezing blood to put in the rest of the rice wine.

Dog – Dog is normally eaten during the end of the lunar month, but some restaurants serve it year round near the Old Quarter. We went here to this place. (This is not my blog, but they went to the same restaurant.) http://hanoiscratchpad.blogspot.com/2010/01/eating-dog-in-hanoi.html

Field Mouse – Ate somewhere in Ho Chi Minh city. It was more like a big, flattened rat that was very crispy & spicy…so good!

Don’t bother with restaurants that cater to tourists or businessmen unless they serve snake or something that you really want to eat. The only times that I did not eat street food was the snake & the field mouse.

Most places don’t have prices listed, and, as a tourist, you will be charged more than locals. It’s not a big deal since everything will still only be a few dollars, but if there are no prices listed, be sure to ask how much it costs before ordering so that you are not surprised with some outrageous tab.

There is some amazing food in Hue. One of my favorite dishes was Com Hen (clams). We went to the places listed here (again not my blog) http://gastronomyblog.com/2007/09/21/com-hen/

We really ate everything that we wanted for two weeks and didn’t get sick.
Also, when searching for hotels, I found Trip Advisor to be more reliable than the travel books. We stayed in a lot of nice places that costs between $7 & $20 per night.

Have a great trip.
posted by toddst at 6:51 AM on December 7, 2012

in vietnam pho is a great go-to meal because, well, everything is boiled. i don't know if it counts as "exotic" though.
posted by cupcake1337 at 10:12 PM on March 25, 2013