Saturday, January 08, 2005

Food Facts

This may sound gross to some...

but when we Chinese eat fish, we eat the ENTIRE fish. Head, tail, eyeballs ( well, some of us ) and all. The same goes for chicken. We eat almost every part of it. Its head, neck and even its feet. When we were growing up, my grandmother would bag the pointy butt end of the chicken, saying it was good for your skin.



Nowadays when I go shopping at the local grocer's, all I see is skinless, boneless chicken and individually wrapped fish fillets in freezers....which is only the way David would have it, cos he says he could not possibly eat anything with a face on it staring back at him while he munched on its body parts.

*sigh*


12 comments:

ks said...

Eating the entire fish from the head up to the tail for the chinese means when one does something there is a beginning and there is an end. The task must be completed and not left unfinished. Got head, got tail... or in hokkien, "u tau, u boey"

And then there are chinese sayings like "everything under the sun can be eaten" and "everything with 4 legs can be eaten except tables and chairs"

Oh great One said...

I just stumbled across your blog and I am glad I did! It is great to see some of the contrasts between cultures. Keep them coming!

Crayonsetc said...

Hi!! ::waving:: Stopping by via BE. I love fish, but I don't think I could bring myself to eat the head!!!

Anonymous said...

Chicken feet?? So gross!

JANO
http://daghtus.chattablogs.com/

Anonymous said...

Warchild
warchild13@spymac.com
warchild13.superihost.com/weblog/

I've travelled a lot and like to try things (except Thai fish oils - the smell is so thick in the kitchen or restaurant it feels like I've already eaten it!) and I think your friend is depriving himself of things by being squeamish about something he's never experienced. Tell him he should try them, some of them of very reqarding, none will kill him and none will even make him sick. I promise.

Mellie Helen said...

I'll admit, eating the entire animal is out of my experience, and unlikely to happen. But I think your culture has it right, actually. Less waste. The animal has given itself entirely, and you consume it entirely. Probably the way it ought to be done.

Um. But not by me. *shrugs!*

Kimberly Low said...

you forgot the eyes...yum. nice blog :)

Anonymous said...

Recently, we've been going out to lunch with a customer here in the SF Bay Area, CA. Our favorite place has been the Bay Tung Seafood Restaurant. Our main IT contact is Chinese. Head to Tail, eyes and all, get consumed. What amazes me is her abiility to put the whole tail into her mouth and delicately remove the bones as she chews. Amazing. But all very tasty.

Best Regards,
Joseph
http://press.teleinteractive.net/cynasuralog

Desmond Goh said...

Hi Letticia, I love to eat fish heads whether curry or fried. The eyes can be eaten too just like Kimberlycun said.

WendiMichelle said...

I have to agree with David. I will not eat antyhing staring back at me. I would rather be a vegetarian, bot on occasion, i will have Chicken only if it is boneless and skinless, just the white meat..... :)

Anonymous said...

Very efficient! Like the Plains Native Americans using every part of the buffalo.

Still, much as I like fish and chicken, I can't see eating their heads and guts.

-CT
http://www.populationstatistic.com/

VW said...

I gather there's no Chinatown in Abilene?