Culinary Atrocity

[J.D. Daily]

Rotten is Chinese fish sauce or Vietnamese nuc mom (fish sauce).  I remember the daily olfactory assault when driving through the Tay Ninh market.  

[Henry T Harrison]

 

It's not rotten - it's fermented, and WAY good for you.  At least they don't bury it in the ground like kimchi (which I also eat).  I'm not picky about the delivery method.  But I'm not eating any rotting/fermented animal matter.

Let’s see you take shredded cabbage pack it in salt and stick it in the basement. I don’t care what you call it it’s still rotten and when it’s packed in SALT it sure isn’t healthy 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

 

Let’s see you take shredded cabbage pack it in salt and stick it in the basement. I don’t care what you call it it’s still rotten and when it’s packed in SALT it sure isn’t healthy 

It’s the way our ancestors had to survive the winter.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

All I have to say is one word.

 

Hakarl.

 

That it exists speaks to how desperate- and tough- the Icelanders are.

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

My life would be complete if I never heard of or smelled nuoc mam. 

[MizPete]

 

Rotten is Chinese fish sauce or Vietnamese nuc mom (fish sauce)

OK, forget what I said about no rotten or fermented animal products.  I use both of these.  They smell to high heaven, but taste great and lend a richness to dishes.  Just can't believe they're rotten.

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

OK, forget what I said about no rotten or fermented animal products.  I use both of these.  They smell to high heaven, but taste great and lend a richness to dishes.  Just can't believe they're rotten.

 

Also Worcestershire Sauce.  Mmmm....fermented anchovies!

[J.D. Daily]

 

OK, forget what I said about no rotten or fermented animal products.  I use both of these.  They smell to high heaven, but taste great and lend a richness to dishes.  Just can't believe they're rotten.

One of the Bizarre Foods episodes was in VN.  Andrew Zimmern the host visits VN.  One place he visits is Hanoi.  On an island in the harbor there is a historical business that manufactures a world renowned nuoc mam.  Manufacturing is placing fish in barrels & adding salt.  The fish is then mashed & left to rot for 1 year.  The liquid is removed & filtered before bottling.

[Wayward Slim]

Have any of you ever been around Surstromming?  It is probably the most foul smelling and looking thing I have ever come across.  But videos of people trying it are hilarious.... 

 

 

 

[MizPete]

 

The fish is then mashed & left to rot for 1 year.

Thanks, JD.  This is one of those occasions when ignorance would have been bliss.

[Pat Riot]

 

Have any of you ever been around Surstromming?  It is probably the most foul smelling and looking thing I have ever come across.  But videos of people trying it are hilarious.... 

 

 

I looked this up on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surströmming

 

This statement right here ended any curiosity about trying this but in itself is interesting:

Chemical process[edit]

The fermentation happens through autolysis and starts from a lactic acid enzyme in the spine of the fish. Together with bacteria, pungent smelling acids are formed, such as propionic acid, butyric acid and acetic acid. Hydrogen sulfide is also produced. The salt raises the osmotic pressure of the brine above the zone where bacteria responsible for rotting can thrive and prevents decomposition of proteins into oligopeptides and amino acids.^{[citation needed]} Instead, the osmotic conditions enable Halanaerobium bacteria to thrive and decompose the fish glycogen into organic acids, making it sour (acidic).^[6]

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

Have any of you ever been around Surstromming?  It is probably the most foul smelling and looking thing I have ever come across.  But videos of people trying it are hilarious.... 

 

 

 

 

 

Well..
I think I'll set aside my plate of smoked salmon, capers, thinly sliced onions, and thinly sliced bread for a while. 

Thanks.

[Wayward Slim]

A coworker bought a can off Amazon and we opened it on the back deck at the office.  I was 10 feet from the can when it opened.  I could not get the smell out of my nose....actually had to go home and shower just to get rid of the smell.  I was not willing to try to eat any of it. 

[Alpo]

Pat, did you read the whole article?

 

The last paragraph of the section about EATING.

 

Some people do not care for surströmming. It is a food which is subject to strong passions, as is lutefisk.

 

Subject of strong passions.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

 

 

 

Well..
I think I'll set aside my plate of smoked salmon, capers, thinly sliced onions, and thinly sliced bread for a while. 

Thanks.

I'm glad that I decided not have that smoked herring as a mid afternoon snack.

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

I vote for C Ration pork sausage patties. I remember a whole six by full of grunts puking after one dolt opened a can.

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

 

I vote for C Ration pork sausage patties. I remember a whole six by full of grunts puking after one dolt opened a can.

My dad fought in the South Pacific in WWII. He wasn't a big fan of C Rats either!

JHC

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

 

One of the Bizarre Foods episodes was in VN.  Andrew Zimmern the host visits VN.  One place he visits is Hanoi.  On an island in the harbor there is a historical business that manufactures a world renowned nuoc mam.  Manufacturing is placing fish in barrels & adding salt.  The fish is then mashed & left to rot for 1 year.  The liquid is removed & filtered before bottling.

Used to watch that a lot. Remember one episode from Japan that there was ONE family left that made this stuff from one kind of fish from one certain lake. They took a bunch of these fish (about the size of a smallish bluegill) packed it in a barrel layered in rice, let it rot for so many months/years, took the fish out, repacked it in more rice and repeated the process. One of the few things I ever saw on the show AZ couldn't eat. Sure seemed like a lot of time and trouble to make something that nasty!

JHC

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Another thing AZ was never able to eat was Durian, though he tried it several times. Never tried it myself, but from all accounts I think I'll pass.

JHC

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian

Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:

 its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.^[46]