Shark Fin Soup!
I’ve had shark fin soup before, and more than just once. My first few times I was far too young to even know what I was drinking/eating. Recently I had it at a wedding.
The qualms I have with shark fin soup is that it doesn’t taste like anything. The soup broth is delicious. The broth doesn’t absorb into the fin itself, so the shark fin doesn’t actually have any taste.
The consistency/texture of shark fin itself is ridiculous. It is literally the texture of noodles. Like tasteless, bland, rice noodles.
People pay ridiculous amounts of money for an ingredient that has no taste. I recently saw a video of Gordon Ramsey trying shark fin soup for the first time and I entirely agree with his sentiment that you can justify eating it/the cost if it were the most amazing taste ever. But it isn’t.
Not to mention the horrendous animal cruelty involved with getting this dish.
Rare or nearly extinct species of sharks have their fins cut off before they reach reproduction age and are tossed back into the water. Thousands of shark fins are laid out to dry on rooftops and sold at exorbitant prices to restaurants all over the world.
And I will admit that it is mainly Asian countries that value this dish so much. They consider it a delicacy. More than anything, buying shark fin soup for a wedding or larger group proves that:
1) You are rich and can afford such luxury
2) You have ‘sophisticated’ tastes
3) Money is no problem when it comes to pleasing your guests
I’ve known for a long time about the cruelty and irrationality of having shark fin soup, but people still order it. Restaurants would be hard-pressed to take it off their menus since it’s in such high demand… but after trying it, I would be entirely flummoxed if someone told me they loved it.
What do they love? It has no taste. It has the texture of $1 noodles from a 7-11. So that can’t be it. It must be some other immeasurable thing I haven’t thought of.
Stop having shark fin soup! Sharks for the win!
No comments:
Post a Comment