I was in Costco Taiwan the other week (separate post on that coming up in the future), and was floating around the refrigerated meat section when I came across a tray of sea cucumbers.

Now I know I’m in the land of ‘we eat anything because we’re crazy’ but honestly, sometimes it’s just a little bit too much.

Looking like a clump of severed bull’s penises I can’t even begin to imagine just who the hell is buying this and cooking it up to eat. The warty looking things simply look beyond disgusting.

Wikipedia tells me that, despite their name, sea cucumbers are echinoderms, which I can only assume is science talk for ‘giant freaking sea slug’. They run around the sea bed and eat stuff… although they look quite different when alive (pictured right) as opposed to dead.

Taste wise from what I’ve read sea cucumbers appear to be quite bland (love to hear from anyone who’s tried it!) and people, especially the Cantonese, go nuts for them because of the texture. Personally, amazing texture or not, I think I’m going to give sea cucumbers a massive pass.

Eat First Think Later has a page up on sea cucumbers with some truly horrifyingly unappetizing photos of the sea cucumber cooking process.

And just in case that wasn’t enough to make you run for the hills, here’s a YouTube video showcasing the sea cucumber’s primary defense mechanism, spurting out it’s intestines.



Yeah, those wormy looking intestine things are STILL INSIDE that sea cucumber you’re eating…

Excuse me while I go and throw up.



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