'You dare to eat?' New frog ramen dish in Taiwan leaves netizens baffled

How adventurous are your tastebuds?

And would you dare to try exotic meat outside of the usual chicken, pork, beef and lamb? 

On Monday (June 12), Yuan Ramen - located in Yunlin County, Western Taiwan - announced its new frog ramen dish called Frog Frog Frog Ramen on its Facebook page, and netizens were quick to react, questioning the restaurant's decision to create such a dish. 

In the post, the ramen restaurant asked customers to guess what its new special flavour would be, alongside a photo of a whole frog laying on top of a bowl of noodles. 

It seems the eatery was influenced by the recent introduction of an isopod ramen dish by a Taipei noodle bar, and decided to cook up its own unusual ramen dish. 

Priced at NT$250 (S$10.92), the frog ramen dish consists of  the restaurant's classic fish soup base, ramen noodle, clams and an "uncut, unpeeled" 200g frog, sprinkled with green onions, according to another Facebook post by the restaurant. 

The restaurant will serve the unusual dish only on certain days with a limited number of bowls available, with some days being as few as two bowls and the most being six. Customers will need to make a reservation to pre-order the frog ramen dish.

In addition, the Facebook caption also notes an extra fee of NT$100 for customers whose sole purpose of ordering the Frog Frog Frog Ramen is for photo-taking and not for consumption. 

Not so unusual

While some netizens called out the unusualness of having a whole frog with a bowl of ramen, frog cuisine is actually common in Western Taiwan. 

Often referred to as "field chicken" or "tiger-skinned frog" in Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong and other Chinese communities worldwide, frogs are commonly cooked in different ways, whether fried, stir-fried or stewed.

Some netizens shared their interest in the dish, with one commenter saying: "Frog dishes are not unusual. Frogs are delicious."

However, some commenters pointed out that although frog dishes are seen as normal in Taiwan, the way the frog is prepared in the ramen dish is unappetising: "I like eating 'field chicken' but I do not dare to eat when the frog is like this [unpeeled and uncut]."

The dish sparked the question of whether people would dare to consume it, with one commenter tagging others asking: "You dare to eat?" 

How about an isopod ramen? 

On May 22, Taipei-based noodle bar The Ramen Boy announced its newest item on the menu – a bowl of ramen topped with a 14-legged sea creature, referred to as an isopod.

The dish sparked a range of opinions from netizens, from curiosity to disgust.

Some Facebook users commented on Yuan Ramen's Facebook post, comparing its frog ramen dish with The Ramen Boy's isopod equivalent and asking others: "This frog ramen or isopod ramen, which would you choose?"

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crystal.tan@asiaone.com