yum, crab

Lucky for me, my neighbor Gary loves sharing Hong Kong culture with me. Mostly in the form of food.

Apparently food is a key part of any Asian culture though so it works nicely.

Except when I'm pressured into eating a whole crab.

Thank goodness it tasted alright.

I really don't know if it is a genuine desire for me to try local foods, or just the enjoyment of my reaction when I find out what exactly I'm eating.

A fabulous trick I've learned is to wait to ask what exactly it is until it is already in your mouth.

The more you have to pick a food apart to eat it, the weirder it gets.

Eating this crab was quite a challenge.

I literally had to be coached through every step.

There is a real art to it, I kept telling Gary he could probably get famous on YouTube making a video teaching people how to eat crabs.

Here is how the crab looks while you prepare it by boiling it or whatever.

This is the phase when you unwrap the crab, make friends, then get ready to chow down.

Here is the underside, look at those pinchers.

Oh yum, stomach, guts, etc.

I can taste it now.

These legs were the tricky part. you have to pop them apart joint by joint.

Then squeeze/peel the meat out depending on your skill level.

Really the moments I savor the most being here in Hong Kong are when all the Chinese people are gathered around staring at me eating some sort of strange local food for the first time. Usually prefaced with a question like "Have you never had this before?" to which I respond, "Are you kidding?! Of course not!" Then followed up with "Did you like it?" typically while the food is still in my mouth which makes it easy for me to shake my head yes and put on a fake smile while I chew. Ohh the joys of being a foreigner.

On a completely random side note, the highlight of my night tonight...

Me: "I'm from Utah."

Chinese boy: "Oh, Utah."

Me: "Yeah, have you heard of it?"

Chinese boy: "Utah Jazz!"