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.
A free exhibition aimed at teaching the public about air-raid shelters and basic emergency personal protection skills today opened on the concourse level of the Taipei MRT's Ximen Station. The event, organized by the National Police Agency, aims to raise awareness about disaster preparedness ahead of nationwide air raid drills scheduled from July 15 to 18, which are part of broader urban resilience exercises. The exhibition outlines the recommended actions people should take depending on whether they are indoors, commuting or outdoors when air-raid sirens sound. It also teaches people how to equip air-raid shelters and pack emergency "go bags," with displays
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
An electric bus charging facility at Taipei Metro’s Beitou Depot officially opened yesterday with 22 charging bays to serve the city’s 886 electric buses. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told a ceremony to mark the opening of the facility that the city aims to fully electrify its bus fleet by 2030. The number of electric buses has grown from about 650 last year to 886 this year and is expected to surpass 1,000 by the end of the year, Chiang said. Setting up the charging station in a metro depot optimizes land and energy use, as the metro uses power mainly during the
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
RSS