Dancing Shrimp & Other Diabolical Dishes

Dancing Shrimp & Other Diabolical Dishes

Going back through Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires (and still somewhat aglow from the moment GEB ripped the tails off still-wiggling lobsters on Iron Chef), I came upon her comments regarding a dish called Dancing Shrimp. In this recipe, shrimp are doused with rice wine to get them drunk and make them “dance,” at which point they are dropped quickly (and still cavorting) into a pot of boiling rice wine with herbs. The shrimp (having entered the gates of heaven hammered) are supposed to be delicious.

This brought to mind an excellent preparation my friend Chef Patoriq told me about. It’s purportedly a Japanese invention.

1. Into a bowl of hot miso soup, drop a frozen block of tofu
2. Quickly release tiny tiny fish into the soup; it’s so hot, the diminutive bastards seek refuge by frantically burrowing into the frozen block of tofu
3. Eat the frozen block of tofu
4. Contemplate the satisfaction of consuming living beings

The insidious nature of this dish brought to mind other diabolical dishes, such as the table that holds the monkey’s head in place so you can eat its brain while the beast wriggles below.

Eating living things seemed weird…and then I remembered the dozens of deliciously alive oysters I ate over the past week or so. They were quite delicious.

HI,

To put your imagination to the test:
Thai Food:Goong Dten(Dancing Shrimp)
Eating live fish.

Regards,

David Hammond wrote:Dancing Shrimp & Other Diabolical Dishes

Going back through Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires (and still somewhat aglow from the moment GEB ripped the tails off still-wiggling lobsters on Iron Chef), I came upon her comments regarding a dish called Dancing Shrimp. In this recipe, shrimp are doused with rice wine to get them drunk and make them “dance,” at which point they are dropped quickly (and still cavorting) into a pot of boiling rice wine with herbs. The shrimp (having entered the gates of heaven hammered) are supposed to be delicious.

Interestingly enough, I had dinner with Jim in Logan Square last Sunday and was telling him about my first hand expeience with this very dish in Hong Kong. It was visually thrilling to see the shrimp dance and was served as a delicious two course affair.

David Hammond wrote:The insidious nature of this dish brought to mind other diabolical dishes, such as the table that holds the monkey’s head in place so you can eat its brain while the beast wriggles below.

An old "The Straight Dope" column (Cecil Adams in the Reader) concluded that the monkey brain story is BS. Perhaps that will reassure some sensitive diners.

Josephine wrote:

David Hammond wrote:The insidious nature of this dish brought to mind other diabolical dishes, such as the table that holds the monkey’s head in place so you can eat its brain while the beast wriggles below.

An old "The Straight Dope" column (Cecil Adams in the Reader) concluded that the monkey brain story is BS. Perhaps that will reassure some sensitive diners.

Well, the Illustrious C2 forwarded me a link to a video which, though not quite as described above, does include a human chomping a simian cerebellum. C2 is too circumspect to post it, though I am certainly not above such antics. If you (or anyone) wants it, I'll forward you the link if you PM me.

Hammond

I've seen the live-monkey-brain-eating. It was in "Faces of Death". Not sure if it was the first or second, but I remember being more than a little scarred by it. Supposedly a hoax.

Josephine wrote:

David Hammond wrote:The insidious nature of this dish brought to mind other diabolical dishes, such as the table that holds the monkey’s head in place so you can eat its brain while the beast wriggles below.

An old "The Straight Dope" column (Cecil Adams in the Reader) concluded that the monkey brain story is BS. Perhaps that will reassure some sensitive diners.

I know someone (a client) who experienced this first hand. It's not a myth, but it is probably not exactly PC these days.

Shudder. Scarring indeed.

More on delicious monkey brains.

(from the article above)
Paul Burrell, the former butler of Princess Diana, tells he was served monkey brains on banana leaves and coconut palms when visiting Saudi Arabia. Now everyone will want them!

I found a YouTube of live-octopus eating that I also think prudent to keep as a PM if anyone wants. (I sent it to my brother, who responded "Hm... maybe you ought to ease up on the LTH forum for awhile...)

Mhays wrote: (from the article above)
Paul Burrell, the former butler of Princess Diana, tells he was served monkey brains on banana leaves and coconut palms when visiting Saudi Arabia. Now everyone will want them!

I found a YouTube of live-octopus eating that I also think prudent to keep as a PM if anyone wants.

It's been mentioned before somewhere here, but to add to this thread: octopus attacks face of diner in Oldboy.

HI,

This thread provided good preparation for today's luncheon with Warren Belasco hosted by GAF. I had felt bad I hadn't had the time to read Warren's book, Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food (California Studies in Food and Culture). Since this meal was largely populated by lofty professors like GAF, Mr. French Couple, Bruce Kraig and Warren, I thought I might be treading water conversationally.

There was a conversation on the Oxford Symposium with its topic of morality. Several present were openly considering topics, when they remembered an earlier presentation on, "Eating pets." Not that I had ever eaten my pet, heck I couldn't eat the live turtle I brought home to cook, it simply echoed some of the conversation here.

Life is just full of ironies, if you look for it!

Regards,