What's the worst smell you've ever encountered in something that is meant to be eaten? Durian, some say is the worst, but the truly evil smell is burped-up durian, which goes on for up to a whole day after you've eaten it.
Nay, what is truly evil for me is the smell of sour preserved plum (called sing buay). I always have to hold my nose when I walk past a shop selling preserved things that claim to be edible. It's not the sharpness of vinegar, which I can handle, but the sickly sweetness that accompanies it. Some people love it, or eat it to keep seasickness at bay. I smell it, it makes me retch even if I am not sick.
Last night I had to cope with the smell of sing buay and smelly cheese in an air-conditioned apartment. The smelly cheese was a supersoft liquid you had to eat with a spoon, a souvenir from portugal. The port however made up for it.
Japanese Tuna appetiser
I tasted this over a sake reunion with my philosophy classmates along with fried leatherjacket (recommended by the auntie) which tasted like sweet dried cuttlefish. Very good with drinks.
So I haven't made the appetiser yet but I think this is how they do it.
canned tuna - plain flavour in spring water
finely shredded carrot
toasted sesame seeds
tiny flakes of nori seaweed (this wasn't in the original but I can't see why it couldn't work)
Mix the above with
sesame oil
shoyu or soya sauce
mirin
and sugar to taste
It is meant to be salty-sweet.
