Mushrooms:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★
Every year, people die because of their own choices—a recurring event that includes suicide, swimming, and picking mushrooms. Foraging for wild mushrooms in the mountains for picnics and cooking seems to be a pastime for many gourmands, leading to cases of mushroom poisoning every year. Perhaps the charm of over 300 varieties of edible mushrooms, which are antiviral, delicious, nourishing, and uniquely savory, is more potent than the poison of the 100-plus types of toxic mushrooms. People are unafraid of death! The Japanese youth are even more reckless; a drug called "magic mushrooms," made from several species of mushrooms containing narcotic components, has recently become popular as a "non-addictive but hallucinogenic" psychedelic.
Goose Liver:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
It is a noble delicacy with a fragrant and mellow texture, and paired with a 1870 vintage, it becomes a floating feast of extravagance. Little do people know that this fatty delicacy is actually the liver of a goose that has a liver disease. While our time-honored traditional cuisine does not include goose liver, the French devised a method of force-feeding geese for four weeks with a mixture of wheat, corn, fat, and salt to induce "fatty liver disease." A large size, heavy weight, and pure color mark the highest quality. Besides its maddening tenderness and rich aroma, it is also rich in lecithin.
Shark Fin:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
Sharks are now hunted worldwide, largely because some "evil scientist" discovered: "Of all animals in the world, sharks are the only ones that do not get cancer." In our daily anxiety about whether our bodies have developed cancer, sharks have become a life-saving straw on a dangerous dinner table. Shark liver oil is made into expensive health supplements in Norway; shark fin at banquets represents a status symbol in China. There are hundreds of shark attacks on humans each year, making headlines, but humans eat sharks every day. Humans consume 800,000 tons of sharks annually. Furthermore, studies warn that taking large doses or long-term use of shark liver oil can lead to poisoning.
Pufferfish:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★★
1 gram of tetrodotoxin can kill 500 people, but "no poison, no delicacy." The exquisite taste of pufferfish has become the "Diaochan" of Chinese cuisine—the more dangerous, the more coveted. The poet Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty wrote in his poem "Pufferfish": "In spring, green reeds sprout, willow catkins fly. When pufferfish are in season, their price exceeds that of fish and shrimp." Pufferfish diners thus adopt the "heroic spirit of the Yi River," though they always have the waiter taste it first before feasting. The Japanese diners also share this spirit; they have developed safe methods for preparing pufferfish. The Chinese folk method is pufferfish meat plus radish. Every spring, several people fall ill, but there are always successors in China.
American Beef:
Tastiness Index: ★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★★
To date, over 100 people worldwide have died from eating beef infected with mad cow disease, and it is estimated that more than 2 million people have been infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (the human form of mad cow disease). The incubation period for this disease is 10-30 years, so the danger still lurks within the body. "If a person eats the meat, brain, or blood of a cow with mad cow disease, they may contract the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The human brain will also turn spongy like a cow's, leading to madness and eventual death." Such descriptions are truly terrifying. Fortunately, although Western food is becoming more popular, Chinese people are not a nation that is particularly fond of beef. Instead, we worry about a "mad chicken disease" outbreak one day.
Salmon:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
Its lovely pink color actually comes from colorings in its feed, and its rich, firm texture is due to antibiotics added during artificial farming. The chemical toxins remaining in its body are now sufficient to damage the human immune and reproductive systems. Of course, its delicate and fresh taste still makes it the most popular fish for sashimi. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for the brain, retina, and nervous system, enhancing brain function, preventing stroke and heart disease, and guarding against vision loss. It is truly a "treasure of the water," and given the current level of pollution, it is not enough to make people give up eating it entirely.
Civet Cat:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★★
As a representative dish of the "wild game" faction, the unique flavor of civet cat is fading from the Chinese palate, although it is still a terrestrial wildlife species with mature captive breeding techniques and is allowed on people's dining tables. But "coincidentally," the SARS-like virus found on civet cats is remarkably similar to the SARS virus that infected humans. It is also rumored that among the first group of people infected with SARS in China, one was a chef from a wild game restaurant. The SARS panic shrouded the world for over a year, and civet cats had to temporarily retire. However, Chinese people's interest in wild game remains unchanged. Without civet cats, they'll just find "foxes."
Dog Meat:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
Humans cannot outrun dogs—unless they use poison. As the most intelligent animal around humans, dogs never expected that Chinese people would not abide by the rules of fair play and would use cyanide to hunt and slaughter them. South Koreans were boycotted by foreigners during the 2002 World Cup because of their dog-eating practices. "Dog meat boiled three times, even gods can't stand it." Not being gods, Chinese people hide behind their own doors, flouting animal lovers, risking nosebleeds, and taking a chance with toxic cyanide, all driven by an inner desire that dog meat is an aphrodisiac.
Oysters:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
The ultimate aphrodisiac, oysters, were also the lifelong love of the great lover Casanova. His secret for being with dozens of women a day may be attributed to his daily habit of swallowing 40 raw oysters. The beauty of oysters lies in their freshness, so the advice to "cook them for at least 5 minutes before eating" is basically an impractical "safety myth" that shows a lack of understanding of true delicacy. The best oysters in the world come from Europe, North America, and Japan. If you don't have enough money to eat in these reliable and sanitary places, you'll have to suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. The reason is simple: our farming environments and oceans are suffering from industrial pollution, and like their bodies, oysters are **recyclers**.
Crab:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
The first person in China to eat a crab has long since passed away. In the golden autumn season, holding a crab and drinking wine is one of life's great pleasures for the Chinese people. But this scavenger is also a diarrhea-inducing menace to the digestive system. It is especially inadvisable to eat with persimmons, as the combination can cause immediate food poisoning. Other foods with similar reactions include: pears, peanuts, eggplant, muskmelons, and even ice and tea. To eat a crab, you have to avoid so many things, but can you really avoid them all? You will eventually fall victim. Furthermore, rumors about hormones used in crab farming, the severity of "red tides," and the practice of feeding birth control pills to crabs during their spawning season make crab, a signature dish in numerous seafood restaurants, an inevitably high-risk food item.
Soft-Shelled Turtle:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
The saying "A soft-shelled turtle eats a soft-shelled turtle—recognizing no kin" may speak to the creature's absurdity, but it is indeed delicious. However, the problem is: if it's a wild soft-shelled turtle, it is a long-lived animal with a large number of internal parasites that must be guarded against. If it's farm-raised, it has been exposed as being grown with sex hormones, with a 7-year growth cycle condensed into just 7 months. Is its meat light or a "trigger food" for illness? It's terrifying. Doctors also warn: "Patients with hepatitis should not eat soft-shelled turtles. Its rich protein will加重 the liver burden, and in severe cases, it can rapidly worsen the condition,诱发 hepatic coma, and even lead to death."
French Fries:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★
This was a sensational discovery two years ago when Swedes found that "some starchy foods produce varying amounts of acrylamide after being processed at high temperatures such as frying, roasting, or baking," with french fries and potato chips made from potatoes containing the most. Acrylamide is a carcinogen. According to the standards set by the World Health Organization, the amount of acrylamide an adult should absorb from drinking water each day should not exceed 1 microgram. However, one kilogram of french fries contains an average of 1000 micrograms of acrylamide. Yet, french fries and potato chips are still a favorite snack for many people because they are crispy, high in calories, and convenient.
Cured Meats:
Tastiness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★
In the old days, when logistics were poor, people had to take matters into their own hands and preserved meat by drying it to make cured meats like bacon and sausages. But in today's world with efficient logistics, eating cured meats has become a matter of taste. They offer a concentrated flavor of five-spice and a nostalgic sense of experiencing the autumn breeze. Thus, we risk consuming colorings, stabilizers, preservatives, and other potential carcinogens, willing to take the "unsubstantiated" chance of developing esophageal, stomach, or even intestinal cancer. We don't even care if it was made from sow meat next to a ditch. If there's anyone to blame, blame the "autumn wind."