Nov 14th, 2017: Bat Soup

[xoxoxoBruce]

Google says...

Palau is an archipelago of over 500 islands, part of the Micronesia region in the western Pacific Ocean. Koror Island is home to the former capital, also called Koror, and is the islands’ commercial center. Larger Babeldaob has the present capital, Ngerulmud, plus mountains and sandy beaches on its east coast. In its north, ancient basalt monoliths known as Badrulchau lie in grassy fields surrounded by palm trees.

So like Japan, an island nation which gets most of it's protein from the sea making meat
a delicacy. I this case the meat is Fruit Bat, because eating fruit makes them sweet.
Kind of like munching children after Halloween.

PK ordered a Bat Soup (with Ginger) for US$30 and waited nervously. As he waited, reassuring thoughts passed through his mind such as “How different can bat be from beef or chicken, anyway?” and “It’s probably just a part of the soup stock or minced into little meatballs or something.”
Boy, was he wrong.

PK stifled a scream, as through the murky broth the whole lifeless body of a bat could be seen soaking, with its face defiantly piercing the surface. He wasn’t really sure what to do with this, but luckily his server took the lead and began to remove the bat.

So as not to be rude, PK again had to internalize an instinctive “GYAHHHH!” thinking he saw the bat suddenly move while the server placed it on a separate dish. “Just drink the soup first,” she kindly instructed, and then took away the bat for further preparation.

PK described it as tasting like the chiai of a tuna. The term “chiai” refers to the dark red section of a fish that tends to have a bloody smell and texture more like red meat than fish. It is rarely used in sushi or sashimi and usually relegated to cat food, although it does have its fans.

After one bite he gave the rest to some Jap tourists at the next table.

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