In some culture like Korea, eating thinks raw and alive are tradition. My cousin is currently teaching English in Korea and she shared a video on facebook about eating a live squid. In Korea it is a delicacy to eat live squid and the way you do it is you take the squid on the plate, season it with some soy sauce and some spice. You have to be careful though cause people have died from eating this interesting meal by suffocation. If you can guess how, if the squid isn’t properly lubricated their tentacles can stick to your throat and wont let go. This will block your air passage and death can occur. Even though this can be a very dangerous meal to eat, it can also be delicious. The way that you eat it is you make the squid easy to swallow by adding chili oil and soy sauce. Then you pick up your chop sticks twirl the testicles around it, stick it in your mouth and swallow it whole. Not something that sounds very appealing to me. Another dangerous food that I know of is the puffer fish that the Japanese sushi chefs speak so highly of. You have to be a master to cut in the exact right place or the poison from the puffer fish can kill you as well. I think for me ill stick to the food that wont kill me in one bit.
Adam Louie
4/15/12
When I spent a month in Taiwan, I came across a lot of foods that I had never tried before. It was interesting the way people lived in Taiwan, during the day from morning till about 1pm in the afternoon most of the shops and stores are close. I think its because it gets extremely hot there and no one really like going outside, they stay where they can have air conditioning. It’s the nightlife that makes Taiwan a destination spot. When the day gets cooler all the shops and little restaurants start to open up. I have never seen so many different kinds of restaurants in such a compact space before. There’s a lot of food we would classify as weird in the United States but in Taiwan, what I called market food was the cheap street fast food. They would be positioned stand to stand with all kinds of street food you would never see in a restaurant. One of my favorites was the Taiwanese style fried pork chops on a stick, then season mmm so good! If you can imagine hotdog stands but hundreds of them and not just selling hot dogs but all kinds of dim sum, green onion pancakes, or even beef noodles.
Adam Louie
4/9/12
Some of the countries that I have seen these past couple days while presenting do have some quite bizarre foods. It was very interesting to learn that in African villages they have such little food that every meal is just a mixture of corn, meat, rice, and beans. They would mix this concoction in a giant melting pot upon a burning fire and would mix it into a stew. The bizarre thing about this particular dish is that they don’t have utensils to use, they use bread to scoop the food into their mouths and then eat the bread. No washing or drying because Africans figured out how to combine a plate and spoon together.
Other countries that have bizarre mannerisms like Africa are other countries in the Middle East that eat with their hands. Instead of eating with a fork and knife, Moroccan food for example uses different kinds of lettuce to scoop and eat just like in Africa with bread. They also use their hands but from what I’ve seen they do it in a very unique way. They make their hand in the shape of a beak, the thumb touching all four of the tips of the other fingers, then scoop with the four fingers and shovel the food into their mouths. There will usually be many small plates that you can choose to mix together with.
Adam Louie
4/2/12
Last Friday I went to a place called Off The Grid, where fifteen to twenty food trucks join together in one spot. The one thing that’s great about Off The Grid is that not one food truck is alike. The trucks you see their range from Asian cuisine, to French crème brulee, or a sticky rice flavored Popsicle truck, to drinking ginger beer. It was amazing to see how this new culture and atmosphere brought together so many different types of people from all over San Francisco and other parts of the world. I’ve been there only twice but some of the food trucks that I got to indulge in was a garlic noodle truck, a Chinese pork belly taco and duck taco, Filipino Seisig burrito and taco, Mexican French fry burrito, mac n cheese truck, strawberry nutella and Mexican chocolate coffee crème brulee, ginger beer, and shrimp pork skewers. I liked how all the trucks gave a little twist of American, Chinese, French, and even Spanish culture into foods that you would never expect. Many new flavors for the pallet. This place is for people who like trying new kinds of food and are willing to adventure into our cultures new food craze.
These are some of the buns/ Asian tacos you can get off the grid.
Adam Louie
3/25/12
There are certain alcohols all over the world that we wouldn’t normally find or be accustomed to in our everyday liquor store. One drink that I’m sure people have heard of before is the Mexican tequila with the worm or grub at the bottom of the bottle. Some might get scared or freaked out to drink something like that but I have found another drink that makes a worm in a bottle seem like nothing. There is a certain kind of drink that you can buy filled about a quarter of the way on the bottom of the bottle a bunch of dead mice. Tasting like gasoline, baby mice wine is a traditional Chinese and Korean health tonic. Close to when the baby mice are born, they are shoved in a bottle to ferment in rice wine. I was so shocked to see that because I can only imagine the diseases the mice could have had and now you’re drinking it, gross. If anything I think that bugs in your drinks is better because bugs end up in our drinks all the time anyway. But for mammals in my drink I feel it would be a completely different outlook. I think of it as having a squirrel in your punch bowl or a guinea pig in your beer bong.
Adam Louie
3/20/12
Something that I never enjoyed is eating the eggs of other animals. I know there are many cultures around the world that eat certain eggs as delicacies. One off the easiest kinds of eggs that are the easiest to eat and are the most accepted in society is the salmon egg that we eat in sushi. These are the clear orange crunchy balls that are on top of most sushi rolls. Other eggs on the menu that I would never try is a dish made in Mexico called Escamoles. This dish is made mostly of the giant black Liometopum ant, that live in the root systems of maguey and agave plants. Retrieving the eggs to eat is extremely difficult because the ants are venomous. Having the taste and consistency of cottage cheese, escamoles is most popular when eaten in tacos with guacamole. Another egg that I wouldn’t want to try is the Filipino egg Balut. This is a duck egg that is almost hatched but then boiled alive so when you crack it open, you eat a duck fetus with egg and yoke. The bones of the fetus give the egg a uniquely crunchy texture.
Adam Louie
((Click here for more details.))
On October 3rd, 2011, 19 year old Pvt. Danny Chen was found dead in his barracks from a gunshot wound to the head while stationed in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. He died supporting Operation Enduring freedom, but the circumstances of his death are still under investigation and the truth has not been released by the U.S. Army. In other words, the circumstances of his death are being covered up.He was the only Asian-American assigned to his base. The Army has released information that Danny was subject to racially charged bullying and abuse by his fellow soldiers and his superior officers before his death. Whether this is murder or suicide, (And knowing Danny personally, I can tell you it’s not. He was happy to be in the army, it was his dream. And he never gives up half way.) his story is not getting the attention it deserves. His family, friends, and all the people who’s lives he’s touched deserve the truth.
Please, reblog and help spread awareness. Having a kind heart will not make your blog ugly.
What happened to Private Danny Chen?
If you recall, Danny Chen was a 19-year old from Manhattan’s Chinatown who died while in Afghanistan. Reports claim that racially charged bullying may have led to his death.
OCA-NY (awesome organization, you should definitely look into it) put together this letter to the Secretary of the Army requesting a public and detailed investigation into his unfortunate death.
October 17, 2011
The Honorable John McHugh
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310-0101
Dear Honorable McHugh:
On behalf of OCA-NY, and the undersigned organizations and individuals, we are requesting a meeting with you to discuss the community’s concerns regarding the recent tragic death of Private Danny Chen, a resident of Manhattan’s Chinatown.
Founded in 1976, OCA-NY (formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans) is a civil rights organization and one of 80 chapters and affiliates nationwide of OCA, a national organization based in D.C. Our mission is to protect and advance the civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of Asian Americans.
Two months ago, Private Danny Chen of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division was deployed to Afghanistan. On October 3, 2011, Private Danny Chen died, but not from combat injuries. He was found dead in the living quarters of the army base where he was stationed in Afghanistan with an alleged gunshot wound below his chin. The community deserves to know the truth in a timely manner as to the circumstances leading to Private Chen’s death and the cause of his tragic death.
Each year, tens of thousands of brave young men and women, including thousands of Asian American sons and daughters are recruited into the army to serve and risk their life for America. These brave young men and women need to make an informed decision before putting their life on the line. They need to know what affirmative steps the army is taking to integrate, support, and protect its soldiers, particularly minorities who are living and training at these bases. Our community needs guarantees from the army before their sons and daughters enlist that they will be respected and protected by their peers and superiors, especially in the living quarters of an army base where they should have an expectation that they are safe among comrades.
We ask that you please contact Liz OuYang, President, OCA-NY, lizouyang@aol.com, (718) 650-1960 or Tom Hayashi, Interim Executive Director, OCA National, (202) 223-5500 to arrange a meeting.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth R. OuYang, President of OCA-NY
To sign the petition, click here.
Read the rest of the story. The kid was harassed by superiors, ethnic slurs were used against him, he suffered physical abuse by superiors & fellow servicemen. He killed himself. So who is to blame? The kid? The superiors? The State which overlooks shit like this all the time until it’s too late then finds some scapegoats (besides itself) to put blame on?
(CNN) — Eight U.S. soldiers have been charged in connection with the October death of a fellow soldier in Afghanistan, the Army said Wednesday.
Pvt. Danny Chen, 19, was found dead in a guard tower, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Chen’s family says that until they see the autopsy results themselves, they cannot confirm or deny it was suicide.
The eight officers and enlisted servicemen face various charges, including dereliction of duty, making false statements, maltreatment and involuntary manslaughter, the Army said in a statement.
The Army did not specify what alleged acts by the soldiers resulted in the charges, which were filed Wednesday.
But in correspondence with his family before his death, Chen complained of harassment by his fellow soldiers….
#14
Hi my name is Adam Louie, I am a sophomore that commutes from San Carlos. I work at a restaurant and my favorite part about my job is that I get to munch on the food all the time. The bad thing is being on your feet for seven hours. I enjoy traveling to different countries and experiencing different cultures. I have been to many places; Mexico, Canada, Galapagos Islands, Peru, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Taiwan, different parts of China. I love tasting the different foods they have in other countries. I once ate an alpaca steak, one of the most tender pieces of meat I ever had. Italian gelato is amazing, any of the fruit flavors are so sweet, and the ice cream ones just melt. I love playing sports, never really been a fan of watching sports though. I played soccer and baseball every year from elementary school to high school. Been sky diving once. Used to have a hobby of colleting bouncy balls. I used to live in San Francisco when I was younger but my family moved out here. I don’t really like to read book, I like to listen to them on audio tape instead. Like instead of reading the harry potter series I listened to it on audio cd. I have one brother and used to have fish and turtles but no dogs or cats because my parents are allergic to fur. Even though I am Chinese, I still celebrate Christmas and Chinese new year.
adam Louie
