Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Fish Monger

Yesterday, Jennylui and I went to the seafood market to investigate the strange things we found inside the lobsters. Tricia discovered a long skinny thing that resembled sliced red pepper. She and J-Lui each ate some and I abstained. When we got to the market, we learned the following things from the delightful Chinese man working at the counter:
1. Lobsters pee out of their faces
2. The red stuff was "delicious roe" and should be eaten
3. All the other stuff in there was "shit" (a word the man used liberally) and lobsters have shit in their heads.
4. According to Chinese legend, lobsters have shit in their heads because the waves of the ocean tumble them upside down and shove the shit into their heads
5. All of the stuff in the head is ok to eat as long as you boil the lobster long enough. We will probably all abstain from eating the things inside the lobster head next time regardless of its safety.

Can you imagine how weird it would be to pee from your face? The pee comes out right above the lobster mouth. The whole demonstration was very strange. The man walked us over to the tank and pulled out some lobsters. He took us on a little anatomical tour of the lobster body. Best trip to the Strip ever.

2 comments:

Jane said...

When I was last in Maine I ate lobsters daily. It is the food of gods in my book. Sorry you never got to meet Grandpa Ernie, who put the lobsters on the kitchen floor to walk around before boiling them. The Red Ones are part of the Lechner culture!

freya said...

you need to read 'the secret lives of lobsters'. it's awesome. i think you'd love it and your lobster knowledge will expand 10,000 fold. i have all sorts of fun cocktail-party lobster facts now.