Giant Deep Sea Isopod Ramen!

[bmathison1972]

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article-food-and-drink-giant-isopod-ramen-intl-hnk/index.html

[stargatedalek]

If they are impossible to release successfully, it's better to eat bycatch than to just dispose of it. This seems like a potentially great idea.

[JimoAi]

I wonder what heavy metals the isopod may contain

[MudpupWaterdog]

I was able to eat a deep-fried deep-sea isopod at a restaurant in Yokohama once, it tasted like a very dry crab.

I've seen giant isopods at fish markets here in Vietnam from time to time, for surprisingly low prices. Maybe one of these days I'll grab one and make some deep-sea tacos or something fun.

[NSD Bashe]

I feel mixed on sea food; I used to like eating crab legs and little octopuses, but then one time I got very bad food poisoning from a squid and pretty much swore off most sea food after that.  I eventually started eating the occasional tuna sandwich or fried fish nuggets again, but I still feel uneasy around most oceanic dishes.  No more squid rings for me.  But to eat a giant isopod, I don't know...

[Sable Antelope]

The most important question is but does it taste good? 🤔

[MudpupWaterdog]

Look what I happened to find in my local fish market...

I didn't ask prices, but I think I'll go back and get one next week to cook it with a friend. Any suggestions for recipes?

[JimoAi]

Look what I happened to find in my local fish market...

I didn't ask prices, but I think I'll go back and get one next week to cook it with a friend. Any suggestions for recipes?

is this Thailand? I'm from not too far down in Singapore and we don't have these but we do have Tasmanian Giant crabs

[MudpupWaterdog]

is this Thailand? I'm from not too far down in Singapore and we don't have these but we do have Tasmanian Giant crabs

It's in Vietnam, I've seen a handful in markets and advertised online over the past year, but I never saw them for sale before this past year.

I'll have to buy the smallest one just to make sure it fits in my pot, but this particular market is also a restaurant so if I do go for it I may just have them prepare it.
 

[AnimalToyForum]

Well, we have one or two preserved in fluid here in the museum, I've actually picked some out for display in the future, but I've never seen them in the local supermarket or on a restaurant menu.

[NSD Bashe]

I just realized how much that image reminds me of that one scene in the Emperor's New Groove, as a kid I just assumed those were made up   

[MudpupWaterdog]

Update: it was too expensive so I didn't eat it.

The fish market wanted almost $150 US for it, which was more than I was willing to pay to eat another isopod. The one I had in Japan, though smaller, only cost about $25 US. The fishmongers were excited to talk me about it though, they were really proud to have about six of them in the tank for sale.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

This is so interesting. I personally am very averse to eating seafood myself, but I am so very curious by "new" options that pop up now and then. I remember when I watched a documentary on jellies and it mentioned that the Japanese were learning how to cook them. Its a solution to an overpopulation/ecology problem of this particular jellyfish. Something so tasteless (at least that I heard) turned into a new food fad? I think its great.

Was this market asking for so much because they are a new exotic item?

[MudpupWaterdog]

The staff told me that it was expensive because it was rare/precious (quý hiếm), a word sometimes also used for discussing endangered species. I mostly spoke with the restaurant hostess and a nearby security guard, who may not have known much about isopods other than how to cook and sell them. I saw one about a year ago in a different fish market/restaurant, but other than that sighting isopods are not common or trendy as food items in Vietnam yet.

Along the Vietnamese coast jellyfish noodles are pretty popular, they're even considered one of the "must-try" regional specialties of one of my field sites in Nha Trang. I've had jellyfish noodles a few times there and in other spots on the central coast, it's not a bad dish but kinda bland and very rubbery. I had a jellyfish salad in Shanghai almost 20 years ago that I remember being better but mostly just because it had better spices. I don't think jellyfish would take off in the west but I would encourage it for ecological reasons.