Top 10 Most Disgusting Foods

The world is full of amazing delicacies. However, it’s also home to some of the most disgusting foods! From mouse wine to maggoty cheese, humans have thought of it all.

You may have heard about bull penis, rat meat, or the UK’s black pudding. We’ll look at some lesser-known dishes anyone would be hesitant to dip into. Keep in mind that what you see as ‘disgusting’ may be a delicacy to someone else.

Join us as we go over the top 10 most disgusting foods that are sure to make you squirm!

Top 10 Most Disgusting Foods You Shouldn’t Try

1. Virgin Boy Eggs

This is the first dish on our list of the top 10 most disgusting foods. These chicken, duck, or quail eggs are a traditional dish from Chongyang, China. They get their name because of the fact that the cook boils the eggs in the urine of boys younger than ten years old.

These eggs are referred to as Tong Zi Dan. Although some may call this a nasty food, the eggs are a part of the region’s local cultural heritage.

Each vendor sources the urine locally, which, after doing so, they soak the eggs in. The cook heats the mixture on the stove, cracks the egg shells, and repeats the process.

The entire process takes a day to finish.

2. Mouse Wine

This is a Chinese and Korean wine that’s considered to be a health tonic. People believe it can cure anything from liver disease to asthma. You’ll see why it’s made our list of the top 10 most disgusting foods when you read more.

Villagers who couldn't afford proper medicine believed that the offspring of a mouse had healing properties.

They would place live baby mice in a wine bottle containing rice wine and leave them to ferment for a year.

3. Balut (Fermented Duck Eggs)

Balut is a very popular street dish in the Philippines - it’s also sure to make a western audience squirm. In a nutshell, the ‘delicacy’ is a fertilized duck embryo boiled and eaten from the shell.

The duck egg is incubated for around 18 days. At this stage, the bones in the embryo are soft enough to be eaten. The eggs are boiled to kill any bacteria and are removed from the boil after 30 minutes.

4. Shirako

Shirako, when translated from Japanese to English, means white children. Don’t worry - it has nothing to do with people! Shirako is fish semen.

In Japanese cuisine, the semen of cod, anglerfish, salmon, and puffer fish are all considered delicacies.

Shirako is a delicacy that is often served on a bed of rice. You can also find it inside deep-fried tempura batter, often accompanied by a dipping sauce.

This delicacy is consumed the most during the winter months. This is when most of the seminal fluids are in season. The semen is often harvested in the US and then sent off to Japan. This is because the market value is much higher in Japan.

Once the semen is extracted from the fish, it has a pungent smell. It also bears a resemblance to a human brain. These two factors change, however, once the semen is cooked.

5. Maggot Cheese

Casu Marzu, or maggot cheese, is a generations-old culinary delicacy hailing from the island of Sardinia.

This dish easily makes our list of the top 10 most disgusting foods and is not for the faint of heart. It's infested with thousands of live maggots - essentially becoming the natural breeding grounds for these little guys.

Farmers first make a traditional pecorino cheese wheel from sheep’s milk. These cheese wheels are then left outside for flies to lay eggs in.

After 40 days, the wheel will be infested with maggots. They eat the cheese and then excrete it, making for a soft and creamy texture.

This Sardinian cheese goes well with various baked goods, but many Italians prefer to eat it as is.

Farmers no longer sell this as it is illegal to vend. However, many still make it as a delicacy for their families or continue to sell it on the black market.

From the outside world, many also refer to this dish as worm cheese.

6. Jellied moose nose

In the northern regions, moose is a very popular animal to hunt and eat.

Many people love a good moose steak, sausages, and soups. However, moose nose is a bit contentious.

The nose of the moose is sliced into cubes and cooked down with onions and garlic to make for a flavorful broth.

Canadians add spices, as well as other parts of the moose, such as the ears and cheeks, to the mix.

This is one of the weird foods of the world that are still enjoyed to this day. Would you eat this dish, despite it being a truly acquired taste?

7. Sheep’s Head

The head of a sheep is a generational Icelandic dish. It became popular as it didn’t cost much to prepare.

When the Vikings arrived in Iceland, they ate lots of sheep meat, including the heads.

Nowadays, Icelandic people believe that the best part of the head is the tongue. This is because the tongue meat is soft. From the fatty tissue to the skin, the bone is the only part of the head that can’t be eaten.

The brain is extracted from the head before cooking. Interestingly, this is turned into a sheep jam.

8. Kiviak

The eastern part of Greenland is a region that only consumes meat. It’s home to a bizarre dish known as Kiviak.

Hunters at sea look for meals in seals, as well as arctic birds known as auks.

Hunted birds are gutted and stuffed into the body of a seal before it is sewn shut. After the stuffing process is finished, the body is covered in rocks and kept away from the sunlight.

After a few weeks have passed, the body is retrieved from under the rocks. It is cut open again.

While the now fermented birds can be taken out and served on a plate, the tiny birds can be eaten straight from the seal's carcass.

Many have compared the taste to that of mature cheeses. If that’s your cup of tea, perhaps you should give this dish a go!

9. Fruit Bat Soup

Indonesia is home to many delicious foods. However, some dishes have been noticed by the disgusting food museum for how they challenge what people believe to be edible.

Fruit bats are described to be flavourful but can be harmful to consume. They are enjoyed in bat paste, soup, curry, or as is. Bat paste is described as a brown paste containing Indonesian herbs and spices.

Many Indonesians describe the taste of bats as similar to chicken with the texture of a steak. Bats are a staple food in Indonesia, where hundreds are sold every day from your local street vendors.

Bats are hunted in the jungles and are a common food source around Asia and the Pacific Rim.

10. Asian Palm Civet Coffee

Civet coffee is described as Rolls Royce of coffee - it’s one of the world’s most expensive coffees. It’s also known as Kopi Luwak.

The main factor behind the high price of this coffee is the unique fermentation process.

Coffee beans are digested by a palm civet, a cat-like animal. These beans are found inside berries picked off coffee trees native to Asia and Africa.

The civet then proceeds to excrete the coffee beans. The feces are collected, washed, and sold around the world at ridiculously high prices.

Civets adore these berries, and the cats do not digest the coffee beans inside them. It’s believed that the digestive process is responsible for giving civet coffee its distinct flavor.

Conclusion

These foods may appear disgusting to some, but most are deeply culturally relevant to many people. The foods are believed to have many health benefits or are simply part of a tradition.

From fertilized duck eggs to geoduck (pronounced ‘gooey duck’) - the list is endless! The real question is, would you eat them?

Speaking of squirmish - there’s more icky content on this site. Check out the most satisfying spot squeezes to keep up the momentum.

Otherwise, visit Phreeque.com to get your teeth into all that is strange and unique on our planet.