Weird Seafood
Weird Seafood
Each time we visit our town in Zamboanga Del Sur, I make it a point to try a variety of seafood of which we could eat fresh from the nearby beach. The mention seafood was literally terrible and I will them weird seafood. Weird in a since that it looks awful that no one can imagine that it could be eaten. I wasn’t not force to eat them neither enjoy my discomfort but I really wanted to since I grew up near the sea.
1. Wood worm (Tamilok)- The tamilok, a wood worm which tastes like your familiar oyster, is a famous delicacy found in Palawan. Although it looks like a worm, it is actually a mollusk found inside rotting mangroves. The word ‘tamilok’ was surprisingly coined by two Americans. They started calling one of their friends - "Tommy, look!", after seeing the locals eating the tree worm. The locals adopted this term to refer to this wood worm delicacy
2. Sea Urchin (Echinoidea) - People that like Sea urchin describe it as being rich, creamy, and a bit sweet. It is briny with a slightly nutty flavor and one person I spoke to said that it has a slight sweetness that is similar to raw scallops. Some people also describe sea urchin roe as the foie gras of the sea, saying that the texture is smooth and custard like. Some people like the taste of sea urchin right away and others describe it as an acquired taste but most people agree that it needs to be fresh because it can go bad quickly.
3. Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea) – It tasted like Beef Kilawin. I also learned from my mom that the pansit we order from the Chinese restaurants have "balat" as an ingredient. We prepare the kinilaw version of which we only put vinegar and some spices. Sea cucumber has leathery skin and an elongated body found in the sea floor. It can be used also as food and
Each time we visit our town in Zamboanga Del Sur, I make it a point to try a variety of seafood of which we could eat fresh from the nearby beach. The mention seafood was literally terrible and I will them weird seafood. Weird in a since that it looks awful that no one can imagine that it could be eaten. I wasn’t not force to eat them neither enjoy my discomfort but I really wanted to since I grew up near the sea.
1. Wood worm (Tamilok)- The tamilok, a wood worm which tastes like your familiar oyster, is a famous delicacy found in Palawan. Although it looks like a worm, it is actually a mollusk found inside rotting mangroves. The word ‘tamilok’ was surprisingly coined by two Americans. They started calling one of their friends - "Tommy, look!", after seeing the locals eating the tree worm. The locals adopted this term to refer to this wood worm delicacy
2. Sea Urchin (Echinoidea) - People that like Sea urchin describe it as being rich, creamy, and a bit sweet. It is briny with a slightly nutty flavor and one person I spoke to said that it has a slight sweetness that is similar to raw scallops. Some people also describe sea urchin roe as the foie gras of the sea, saying that the texture is smooth and custard like. Some people like the taste of sea urchin right away and others describe it as an acquired taste but most people agree that it needs to be fresh because it can go bad quickly.
3. Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea) – It tasted like Beef Kilawin. I also learned from my mom that the pansit we order from the Chinese restaurants have "balat" as an ingredient. We prepare the kinilaw version of which we only put vinegar and some spices. Sea cucumber has leathery skin and an elongated body found in the sea floor. It can be used also as food and