 A rare delicacy in rural Shanxi... |
Sitting down to the first banquet of the day on a gastronomical tour of China that incorporated 19 banquets over 10 days, not including the ubiquitous breakfast banquet, I was craving some plain steamed rice. However, I was going to have to wait a little longer as an elegantly arranged platter of scorpions on a bed of rice appeared on the table.
Looking around our table, my companions’ reaction ranged from revulsion to anticipation as they considered this local delicacy. Taking hold of a delicately crisp scorpion’s tail I placed it between my lips, closed my eyes and crunched firmly into it mid belly, feeling its tiny little body shatter between my teeth.
The tangy little critter, the size of a large shrimp, tasted a lot like a salted peanut, albeit a peanut with legs. Drawing a line in the sand for future banquets, I declared myself to be a scorpion vegetarian, vowing to eat only vegetables for the rest of our gourmand’s tour through northwest China.
Contact Fiona Harper to commission this article. Images are available.
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