In China, it is a great honor when a Chinese person accepts you into their circle of friends and invites you for a meal. One day after our very brutal Mandarin lesson my teacher Kim invites me for lunch. (BTW, I gave my teacher her English name Kim :)
She first asks me if I like see food and being the brave person that I am without hesitating I said "yes, of course". You see when someone mentions seafood in the U.S. it's the usual, shrimp, calamari, fish, oysters all the well known sea creatures that we all know and love. When someone mentions seafood in China, surprise surprise, it's not always what you expect.
I mentioned to Kim that I LOVE crab and shrimp, so she made sure to order it for me. She was very excited to say, " I ordered something special for you to try". My eyes opened wide when the waiter comes in with a black prickly thing that was still moving on my plate. lol If you've ever tried sea urchin you know that it's served alive. I guess it's the most tasteful. Kim looks at me with those exciting eyes of hers only waiting for me to take my first bite. I had this big smile on my face, held my breath (because it still smelled fishy) and went for it.
You'll all be surprised to know that Maria Lagos is still alive after that gutsy adventure! lol
This particular sea urchin was served with soy sauce mixed with ginger. It's supposed to take the fishy taste away. Did it work? Not really. Let's just say this particular seafood is not my top 10. It's a different experience when you eat something alive. All the guts and legs moving is not very appealing. Would I try it again? Probably. Would I cook it at home? Maybe not.
But overall it was one of those things that you'll always remember and can be proud of trying.
Kim
Doesn't that look just delicious!
Here goes nothing.
My favorite.
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