A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles.
Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant.
“It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be identified only as Hu, as he held up a giant isopod while customers took pictures.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“As for the cooking method, we use the simplest way, steam, so there is no difficulty to process it,” Hu said.
The restaurant steams the isopod for 10 minutes before adding it to the top of a bowl of ramen with thick chicken and fish broth. Each bowl costs NT$1,480 (US$48).
A customer said the meat tastes like a cross between crab and lobster, with a dense texture and some chewiness.
Giant isopods — a distant cousin of crabs and prawns — are the largest among the thousands of species in the crustacean group, NOAA Ocean Exploration says on its Web site.
They are usually found about 170m to 2,140m deep in the ocean, with 80 percent of them living at a depth of 365m to 730m, Taiwan’s Animal Planet said in a Facebook page.
A Taiwanese expert identified the species as Bathynomus jamesi, discovered near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙島) in the South China Sea. They are thought to be caught at between 300m to 500m.
Since the ramen launched, some academics have expressed concerns over the potential ecological impact of bottom trawling fishing tactics as well as possible health risks.
However, customers at the restaurant disagree.
“If it’s just a special menu, and the giant isopods were caught unintentionally like the restaurant owner says they were, everyone should try it if they get a chance,” said 34-year-old Digell Huang, who works as a genetic counselor.
“I am very honored to have this opportunity to taste it,” she added as she ate from a bowl of the isopod-topped noodles.
However, an academic warned against potential health risks, saying the largely unknown species might contain toxins or heavy metals such as mercury.
The Bathynomus jamesi species was recognized officially in Taiwan last year and there is not much data on it, said Huang Ming-chih (黃銘志), a biotechnology associate professor specializing in deep-sea invertebrates at the National University of Tainan.
“The best practice would be to do more research ... build a complete database and then allow people to eat, it would be better that way,” he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS