Hongeohoe

Doesn't look so bad, but this Korean delicacy is one of only two foods in the world that I will never voluntarily eat again (the other is durian)

This is fermented skate. My host informed me that the fermentation is achieved by wrapping the raw skate in rice stalks, then burying the package in dung for several weeks. That kind of detail doesn't disturb me. What does disturb me is when my food smells like industrial strength ammonia. The texture is also particularly unpleasant, a double whammy of gristle and mush. The pieces are served at a size that requires several gut churning seconds of chewing before they can be swallowed. I (barely) made it through three pieces of this before I noticed that none of my Korean hosts were eating! After I realized I didn't need to eat any more of the foul creation, they all admitted shock that I went back for a second and third piece. Liberal quantities of soju (strong korean rice wine) helped to rinse away the taste memory.

This dish was featured on an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and even he couldn't stomach more than one bite, so I feel pretty good about choking down 3 pieces.