There’s a lot of food in China that visitors consider strange. Fried rabbit heads, pickled chicken’s feet, civet cat, dog hot pot, and a plethora of organ meat-based dishes. From a western perspective, yes, these dishes are indeed strange.

There’s a linkage in between Chinese foods and health. Josh at Far West China recently posted a notice from his local health department on food combinations to avoid. Chinese traditional medicine is an interesting practice. I think it is grounded in the belief that medicine must make you sicker to make you better. Newts, sea horses, root and berries can be combined to restore you chi and make you well.

This gruesome tale combines both Chinese medicine and Chinese food. I guarantee, this is something you don’t want to try.

Lin Zongxiu, from the southwestern province of Sichuan, heard in 2008 that soup made with a man’s head could help cure her daughter who had suffered from psychiatric problems for years, the Chengdu Commercial newspaper reported.

Lin and her husband decided to enlist the help of a man in December who knocked unconscious a drunk 76-year-old passer-by before beheading him, the paper claimed. The couple then gave their 25-year-old daughter soup made from the man’s head, and duck.
Source: The Telegraph

Yikes! I was always worried about waking up in a bathtub full of ice, missing a kidney. This adds an entire new dimension to my travel fears. I could be returning to a hostel, tipsy, and wake up the next morning beheaded. Damn!

The murderer was sentenced to death, with a two year reprieve (which means if he’s a good boy the sentence will likely be commuted to life in prison). Ms Lin was convicted of helping destroy evidence, although some in the culinary community will think the dish she concocted deserves severe punishment.

There was no word on whether the “cure” worked. There is a certain tit-for-tat: An insane act to cure insanity. I didn’t think Hannibal Lecter’s Cookbook had been yet translated into Chinese.

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